Percy Maxim Lee [1] | |
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Born | |
Died | November 9, 2002 96) | (aged
Percy Maxim Lee was an American political and social reformer who was involved in leadership roles in various institutions. Most notably, she was the President of the League of Women Voters of the United States from 1950-1958. She was almost always called Mrs. John G. Lee in newspaper coverage.
Lee was president of the League of Women Voters of the United States from 1950 to 1958, during the period when Joseph McCarthy was alleging communist influence throughout the US government and other institutions. In 1951, in order to educate its members and the public about the importance of freedom of speech and thought, the League created a Freedom Agenda Committee, which published a document Individual Liberty USA. In 1955, the American Legion attacked the Freedom Agenda as disloyal to the United States. Percy Lee gave a speech in Indianapolis refusing to repudiate it. [2] : 247–258 This was also the beginning of the period of the largest membership growth in League history, from 1950 to 1970, growing from 126,000 members in 1954 [3] to 156,780 in 1969. [2] : 247
Throughout her term as president Lee promoted the League's policy of supporting international cooperation. Before the 1952 convention of the League, Lee said that "Support of United States policies to strengthen the United Nations and to bring about international economic development continues to be a subject of great interest to membership." [4] In 1952, she announced a campaign to improve citizens' understanding of United States trade policy. [5] In 1953, she was active in a League of Women Voters campaign to promote "more solid backing of the United Nations, a more liberal international trade policy, and restoration of technical assistance (Point Four) funds" to foreign countries. [6] [7] Under her leadership in 1954, the League program reaffirmed support of the United Nations and for "United States participation in international programs for regional defense, economic development, and technical assistance". [8] She later testified against the Bricker Amendment limiting Presidential treaty-making powers and strongly supported the League's study of international trade and individual liberty. [9] [10] In 1955, as League president, she testified at a Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights hearing "against Senator Joseph McCarthy's abuse of Congressional investigative powers". [11] [12] In 1956, Lee was re-elected for the fourth time and the program adopted included "individual liberties with an emphasis on loyalty-security programs and conservation with an emphasis on water resources". In her time as President of the League of Women Voters, Lee was generally referred to as Mrs. John G. Lee in newspaper coverage. [13] [14]
She was president of the Connecticut State League during the time when the League was opposed to the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). She quoted the League position in a letter to a proponent of the ERA that first, that it "would do violence to the political system embodied in our Constitution" by allowing Congress to make rules on matters formerly reserved to local bodies, and later, that it would create confusion and uncertainty and invite litigation. [15]
In her professional life, Lee was a founder of The Renbrook School, served on the Board of Trustees of the Putney School and Connecticut College, and held various appointed positions, including Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Connecticut College, Chairman of the Capitol Region Planning Agency, and Chairman of the Consumer Advisory Council. She also served on the State Library Commission, the Commission on the Status of Women, and The Clean Water Task Force, and acted as a liaison between the public and The Foreign Operations Administration from 1954 to 1955. President John Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson both appointed her to positions, including the Consumer Advisory Council and Public Land Law Review Commission. [16]
Lee had held four honorary degrees (LL.D. from Rutgers University, Drexel Institute, Cedar Crest College, and LH.D. from the University of Hartford). She was married to John Glessner Lee and they had four children. Additionally, during World War II, the Lee family hosted two daughters of Oxford University professors and a German family of three in their home. [16]
Long Branch is a beachside city in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 31,667, an increase of 948 (+3.1%) from the 2010 census count of 30,719, which in turn reflected a decline of 621 (−2.0%) from the 31,340 counted in the 2000 census. As of the 2020 census, it was the 6th-most-populous municipality in Monmouth County and had the 74th-highest population of any municipality in New Jersey.
American electoral politics have been dominated by successive pairs of major political parties since shortly after the founding of the republic of the United States. Since the 1850s, the two largest political parties have been the Democratic Party and the Republican Party—which together have won every United States presidential election since 1852 and controlled the United States Congress since at least 1856. Despite keeping the same names, the two parties have evolved in terms of ideologies, positions, and support bases over their long lifespans, in response to social, cultural, and economic developments—the Democratic Party being the left-of-center party since the time of the New Deal, and the Republican Party now being the right-of-center party.
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the largest membership association of amateur radio enthusiasts in the United States. ARRL is a non-profit organization, and was co-founded on April 6, 1914, by Hiram Percy Maxim and Clarence D. Tuska of Hartford, Connecticut. The ARRL represents the interests of amateur radio operators before federal regulatory bodies, provides technical advice and assistance to amateur radio enthusiasts, supports a number of educational programs and sponsors emergency communications service throughout the country. The ARRL has approximately 161,000 members. In addition to members in the US, the organization claims over 7,000 members in other countries. The ARRL publishes many books and a monthly membership journal called QST.
Hiram Percy Maxim was an American radio pioneer and inventor, and co-founder of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). Hiram Percy Maxim is credited with inventing and selling the first commercially successful firearm silencer, and also with developing mufflers for internal combustion engines.
The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, advocating for voting rights. In addition, the LWV works with partners that share its positions and supports a variety of progressive public policy positions, including campaign finance reform, women's rights, health care reform, gun control and LGBT+ rights.
Rosa Luisa DeLauro is an American politician who has been the U.S. representative for Connecticut's 3rd congressional district since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in New Haven and includes most of its suburbs. DeLauro is the dean of Connecticut's congressional delegation.
Edith Head was an American costume designer who won a record eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design between 1949 and 1973, making her the most awarded woman in the Academy's history. Head is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential costume designers in film history.
Kenneth Lee Salazar is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Mexico. He previously served as the 50th United States Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was a United States Senator from Colorado from 2005 to 2009. He and Mel Martínez (R-Florida) were the first Hispanic U.S. Senators since 1977; they were joined by Bob Menendez in 2006. Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, he served as Attorney General of Colorado from 1999 to 2005.
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Lucy Gallant is a 1955 American drama film directed by Robert Parrish and written by John Lee Mahin and Winston Miller. The film stars Jane Wyman, Charlton Heston, Claire Trevor, Thelma Ritter, William Demarest and Wallace Ford. The film was released on October 20, 1955, by Paramount Pictures.
Anna Lord Strauss (1899–1979) was an influential civic leader who was mainly a feminist and a women's rights activist. Perhaps one of her greatest accomplishments was her push for the creation of the United Nations. She was also recognized widely and appointed to certain positions for her ability to work effectively with women of many different cultures and backgrounds.
The Dallas Equal Suffrage Association (DESA) was an organization formed in Dallas, Texas in 1913 to support the cause of women's suffrage in Texas. DESA was different from many other suffrage organizations in the United States in that it adopted a campaign which matched the social expectations of Dallas at the time. Members of DESA were very aware of the risk of having women's suffrage "dismissed as 'unladylike' and generally disreputable." DESA "took care to project an appropriate public image." Many members used their status as mothers in order to tie together the ideas of motherhood and suffrage in the minds of voters. The second president of DESA, Erwin Armstrong, also affirmed that women were not trying to be unfeminine, stating at an address at a 1914 Suffrage convention that "women are in no way trying to usurp the powers of men, or by any means striving to wrench from man the divine right to rule." The organization also helped smaller, nearby towns to create their own suffrage campaigns. DESA was primarily committed to securing the vote for white women, deliberately ignoring African American women in the process. Their defense of ignoring black voters was justified by having a policy of working towards "only one social reform at a time."
Edith Rosenwald Stern (1895–1980) was an American philanthropist and champion of educational causes in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. She was instrumental in formation of the Stern Family Fund and was recognized as being willing to support causes for which she had conviction even if the causes were controversial at the time. Examples of her philanthropy included supporting voter registration of African-Americans in the American South, the anti-nuclear movement, public-interest law firms, organizing union and tenant groups, and initiation of challenges by shareholders who wanted corporations to become more socially responsible. Additionally, as political causes, Stern stood for anti-corruption, political fairness at the voting polls, and higher education for African-Americans. She was a patron of the arts including for the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra and for promising young artists, especially musicians.
Edith Bornn was an American attorney from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, who became the first woman with a private law practice on the island. Known as an environmentalist, children's advocate and organizer of the island's chapter of the League of Women Voters (LWV), Bornn worked to improve legislation throughout the Caribbean for social and economic development. She served as president of the local chapter of the LWV and was president of the national U.S. organization from 1980 to 1982, as well as serving on numerous commissions for the government of the Virgin Islands.
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