Joplin native, Emily Newell Blair, was a prominent suffragist, writer and elected official. She helped form the Missouri League of Women Voters which was organized October 14, 1919. A few weeks later, a local league was formed in Blair’s hometown of Joplin. At a national level, the League of Women Voters was the result of reorganization among suffrage groups. Anticipating the ratification of the nineteenth amendment in 1920, the League was created to help women exercise their right to vote. This goal evolved, and the League worked to improve election laws and the welfare of women and children. Today, there are over seven hundred Leagues across the United States, including the League at Joplin.
The State Historical Society of Missouri houses several League of Women Voters collections from across the state, including the papers of the Joplin League. This collection contains correspondence with early suffrage groups and the members of the newly founded Joplin League from 1919 to 1921. For more information on Emily Newell Blair, visit her Historic Missourian’s page on our website.
To explore this collection and more, visit the Springfield Research Center inside MSU’s Meyer Library or find us online at SHSMO.org.