Citizen's Joint Committee on National Representation for the District of Columbia

Organizational History

The Citizens' Joint Committee on National Representation for the District of Columbia was formed in 1916 and was comprised of thirty local organizations. The committee's activities became dormant after the American entry into World War I, but were revitalized during the 1920s through the early 1940s under the leadership of Theodore W. Noyes. The objective of the committee was a constitutional amendment granting District of Columbia citizens the right to votes in both houses of Congress and the Electoral College. In 1960, when the Senate passed a civil rights bill that included District voting rights, District officials reactivated the joint committee to provide support for the bill during House hearings. In the House, the bill was first reduced to include only voting rights for the District of Columbia, the national anti-poll tax provision having been dropped. Eventually, only voting rights in the Electoral College were approved. The Twenty-third Amendment granting the District the right to vote in presidential elections passed Congress in 1960. At this point, the committee lobbied individual states for its quick passage. The Twenty-third Amendment was ratified in 1961.