League of Women Voters Luncheon

One hundred years ago today … the NY chapter of the League of Women Voters held a luncheon to celebrate the end of a ten-day membership drive that had seen them add 2,638 voters (New York Times, 15 May 1921, p. 25).  Legendary suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt was one of the speakers.

Catt resided at 171 Madison Avenue (between 33rd and 34th Streets) (according to the News). The luncheon would have been a short walk across town for her; it was held at the McAlpin Hotel, 1282 Broadway between 33rd and 34th Street, on the southeast corner of Herald Square. When built in 1912, was considered the largest hotel in the world. It has since been converted to an apartment complex, the Herald Towers:

In 1921, postcards of the McAlpin were available, which allow us to compare it with a 2011 photograph.

Prior to May 14th luncheon, the League had also met that week on May 11th at the Parish Hall, 550 W 155th Street, for a discussion of bills facing the state legislature (New York Herald, 11 May 1921, p. 10).

Note: We discussed the League of Women Voters in relation to Eleanor Roosevelt’s 1921 activism just a few days ago.

Catt would speak again at another League event on May 26th at the Thirty-Ninth Street Theater to argue for disarmament, a popular concern for the organization (New York Tribune, 26 May 1921, p. 22).

– Jonathan Goldman, May 14, 2021

TAGS: women’s history, suffrage, elections, activism, politics, voting, architecture, war