League of Women Voters, Dallas Chapter

Dallas became the fifth city in Texas to establish a local League of Women Voters when a group of sixteen women formed the Dallas Branch of the Texas League of Women Voters on April 13, 1938. The name was changed to Dallas County League of Women Voters in 1942, and in 1953 the present name was adopted: League of Women Voters of Dallas.

Mrs. E. L. DeGoyler was elected first president of the Dallas League, and Mrs. H. Abbott, vice president. The Dallas League began its first full year in September, 1939, with 60 members. General membership meetings were held monthly with speakers from outside the League, as well as two study/discussion groups that met every other week. Meetings took place in members' homes, although some special membership teas and other functions took place at the Stoneleigh and Melrose hotels. Some of the first unit meetings in 1942 were conducted by Miss Edna Rowe, longtime teacher at Forest Avenue High School and later principal, at Cokesbury Book Store in downtown Dallas.

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