Ms. George Stewart portrait

Portrait of Marguerite Rice Stewart of Norwalk, Ohio. Stewart (1872-1941) was included on the "Ohio State Honor Roll" from the League of Women Voters of Ohio, ca. 1930, which listed prominent Ohio women involved in the suffrage movement. Her brief biography from the Honor Roll reads: "Marguerite Rice Stewart was born in Wilmington, Delaware, of old Colonial stock. Early in her married life, her interest in childhood and its conservation led her to espouse the Suffrage Cause where greater opportunities were sought for women in this work of conservation. With the full sympathy and cooperation of her husband, Mr. George S. Stewart, the Stewart Colonial home was the first to be opened to the propagandists of the Suffrage Cause, and Mrs. Stewart became the first Vice President of the Huron County Equal Franchise League, raising more than the county's quota of names in the petitions for the vote. The League of Women Voters was the fruition of the achieved Suffrage cause and Mrs. Stewart was made Director of the Thirteenth District of the Ohio League of Women Voters from its beginning to 1924. She was next unanimously elected Director at Large of the State League in 1924 in place of Miss Belle Sherwin, and since 1926 she has been a Trustee of the State League. For the year 1928-29 Mrs. Stewart was President of the Norwalk League of Women Voters, and has served as Finance Chairman, raising the League's quota almost year since its inception." This photograph comes from the League of Women Voters of Ohio Collection. The League of Women Voters was first formed at the national level in early 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt, President of the National Woman Suffrage Association. Soon, additional leagues began to form at the state and local level, with the League of Women Voters of Ohio being organized in May 1920 in Columbus. The League was first formed to empower women to use their newfound right to vote, and today its primary purpose remains citizen education. To this goal, it supports voter registration efforts, provides information on candidates and issues, sponsors debates and offers publications on public policy and voter engagement topics