By Kathryn Hobbie, Communications Team Member, LWV of Clark County

Washington students have benefited for decades from a striking, colorful textbook that tells them where they came from and how their government works. “The State We’re In” is published by the League of Women Voters of Washington Education Fund.  

Now, a grant from the fund is bringing the book to individuals in state prisons as well. “The State We’re In” played a role in curriculum planning for Civics Academy, a new prison-based program, said David Lund, criminal justice specialist with the Secretary of State’s office.  

“When I first got hold of the book, I thought ‘super cool’ — this is such a broad view of state government, including not just white government but native ones as well,” he said. 

The idea for Civics Academy stemmed from the 2022 change in Washington law allowing prisoners to vote as soon as they are released, Lund said: “So it was important to let them know about voting and what it means.”  

Lund taught the pilot civic education program last summer at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton. The eight-week course covers “everything from why we have a government to how a bill becomes a law,” he said.  

Most of the 20 participants were learning about civics for the first time and were hungry for knowledge. Lund said he could relate, having served time himself — a fact that helped build trust in the classroom.  

“Some of my students were close to release, and the course showed them how being engaged civically can help them succeed,” he said.  

“Others were facing 30 years but were still interested.” 

As Lund planned the program, “I thought how great it would be to have a personal copy of the book for every student,” he said. He mentioned the idea to Deb Carstens, a Seattle King County League member who works on criminal justice.  

She and fellow League members Karen Verrill, Karen Peacey and Eleanor Walters secured the $2,000 grant to purchase 120 books. That is enough for upcoming Civics Academy classes at Harbor Heights youth correctional facility in Aberdeen, Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor,and some future locations.  

Verrill, a League member for 39 years, has a long history with “The State We’re In.” She served as the project manager for 25 years and recalls that the national League encouraged every state to produce such a book back in the 1980s.  

At first, the book’s focus was simply on state government, but author Jill Severn and designer Leslie Hoge urged a broader approach. 

“The State We’re In” now includes information about tribes and other marginalized groups, plus extensive graphics and photos. There is also an edition for elementary grades.  

Most other states produce much simpler versions of the book, if they produce one at all, Verrill said: “Ours is pretty special.” 

Teachers, librarians, the Washington State Council for the Social Studies, the Washington State Indian Education Association, and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction all endorse it,and individual English- and Spanish-language print versions of both editions are also available for purchase.  

Free PDF versions, including a Chinese translation, are also available online through a partnership with Washington Open Educational Resources.  

The TSWI project team recently completed a survey of teachers statewide to gather input on how the books are being used in the classroom. They are exploring updates to the 8th edition, printed in 2018, as well as enhanced teaching tools. One of the goals is to expand coverage of the Black and Hispanic experience in Washington state.  

David Lund is impressed, not only by ”The State We’re In,“ but by the League of Women Voters itself.  

“When I started my job, I was unfamiliar with the League,” he said. “Now, I encounter them everywhere I go, and they are so eager to help. I hugely appreciate the book donation and look forward to more collaboration.” 

“The State We’re In” is a useful tool, he says, to help his graduates bridge the gap between prison and the world outside.  

“My goal is for them to see themselves as part of the civic fabric again,” he said. “I want them to understand that their voices matter, and that they can use what they’ve learned to advocate for themselves, their families, and their communities.” 

Pre-council events for "The Power of Us" begin Friday afternoon with a tour of the Capitol grounds followed by a dine-around at area restaurants. Above, members who attended the 2024 council stop for a break mid-way through the Capitol grounds tour.   

League members from throughout the Evergreen state will gather in Lacey this weekend for “The Power of Us,” the League of Women Voters of Washington’s biennial council. 

Featuring workshops, caucus sessions and training, “The Power of Us” is best characterized as an Innovation Lab, said President Karen Crowley. “It’s a place where members and leaders come together to learn, share and shape the future of the League.” 

Crowley said the League, now 106 years old,remains steadfast in its commitment to nonpartisanship as well as to its mission of empowering voters and defending democracy. 

More than a year ago, she added, the League of Women Voters of the United States declared the United States is facing a constitutional crisis, a decision that has prompted the League to launch added initiatives to mobilize 8.5 million voters to protect and preserve the democracy.** 

The declaration has also resulted in League members being more public in their communities and neighborhoods, speaking out more about voting rights and challenges to the rule of law, she said. 

“The League never endorses a candidate or political party, but after extensive study and consensus of our members, we do take positions on issues,” Crowley said. “Those positions reflect our commitment to democracy and healthy communities and a better America for all.”  

The title of this year’s council reflects the multiple-layered strength of the League:  

The power of individual members and leaders to influence change in Washington communities; the power to innovate boldly, integrating new practices into the League’s work of empowering voters and defending democracy; and the power of unity, of standing strong in coalition with the many partners with whom the League shares a vision. 

Speakers include the Honorable G. Helen Whitener of the Washington State Supreme Court, who is the featured keynote at Saturday’s dinner, and several coalition partners.  On Sunday, Braver Angels will offer a roadmap for conversations in these polarized times: “How to disagree better.” 

The League returns to South Puget Sound Community College this year after hearing from members who attended the event there in 2024 that they found the location readily accessible. League membership stretches from Whatcom County in the north to Clark County in the south and from Thurston County east to Whitman and Spokane counties. 

As of last week, more than 150 delegates had registered for the event. Activities begin Friday, June 5,with a walking tour of the Capitol grounds, and continue through Sunday, June 7, with the election of new officers and directors.

** The 8.5 million figure is based on research out of the Harvard University Kennedy School that has found nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts and that nonviolent protests involving 3.5 percent of the population have never failed to succeed. According to the University of Florida, approximately 245 million Americans were eligible to vote in the 2024 General Election.  Thus, in line with the Kennedy School research, 8.5 million people — or about 3.5 percent of the eligible voting public — engaging in nonviolent protest would lead to meaningful change. 

By Susan F. Martin and Lydia Zepeda, "Protecting the Rights of Immigrants" study co-chairs, LWV of Washington

This is a busy and consequential month for the League of Women Voters. On June 6-7, the Washington state League will hold its biennial council meeting in Lacey, where members and leaders come together to learn, share and shape the future of the League. On June 25-28, the U.S. League of Women Voters will hold its biennial convention in Columbus, where members will vote on the program of work for the next two years.  

Immigration policy and the rights of immigrants in the United States will play an important role in upcoming activities for Leagues. The US League already has a position on immigration policy — for example, rules for admission of immigrants — but it does not have a position on the rights of immigrants living in the U.S.  

This may change at the national convention, at which League members from across the country vote to concur with the LWVWA position, “Protecting the Rights of Immigrants.”  

The U.S. League has already recommended adoption of the position, recognizing that it complements the immigration position and fills gaps in the ability of the League to lobby for legislation protecting immigrant rights. 

The consequences of current immigration enforcement and the attack on immigrant rights go well beyond undocumented migration. Since most immigrant households are of mixed status, immigration policies affect U.S. citizen spouses and children, often leading to family separation.  

Businesses and universities are also affected when pathways to legal entry for employees and students are blocked, as is the case today. Moreover, lives are at risk because of new restrictions on entry and the status of refugees and asylum seekers. For example, hundreds of Afghans who worked for the U.S. military have been barred from entry despite threats to their safety at home. In addition, many Afghans already admitted are being detained and facing deportation. 

Adopting a position on the rights of immigrants is a tremendous first step.  

However, positions have no impact without action. Programs to educate the public about immigrants and immigration policy, effective advocacy and lobbying, as well as partnerships with like-minded organizations are essential. The LWVWA has been working on each of these steps, seeing many wins and some losses during the most recent Washington legislative session. 
 
To increase our efforts, the LWVWA will hold a workshop at the state council to discuss how we can strengthen our efforts to protect the rights of immigrants as well as the integrity of the U.S. immigration system.  

We hope the workshop will result in three outcomes: an affinity group on immigration and immigrant rights; recruitment of members to the immigrants issues lobby team to track state legislation that affects immigrants and refugees; and a committee to track city and county ordinances and policies that affect immigrants and refugees. 

The LWVWA immigrant rights concurrence group and the LWVUS Discussion Group on Immigration will host back-to-back breakout sessions at the June Convention. The LWVWA’s session will focus primarily on concurrence, to buttress the number of members who will vote ‘YES’ on Protecting the Rights of Immigrants.  

A second session hosted by the discussion group will focus on issues affecting the lives of immigrants country-wide, such as the impact of mass deportation, both human and economic; the role of sanctuary jurisdictions; detention of migrants; curtailment of legal immigration; and barriers to the protection of asylum seekers, refugees and persons granted temporary protection.  

Martin also is a member of the Board of Directors of the LWVWA and the Donald G. Herzberg Professor Emerita of International Migration at Georgetown University. Zepeda is an Issue Chair  of the LWVWA Lobby Team, professor emerita of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.   

By Kathy Gill, LWV of Snohomish County

One of America’s most widely read historians, Heather Cox Richardson, will join the League of Women Voters of Washington live, on Zoom, to discuss her book, “How the South Won the Civil War.”

The noon July 29 discussion will be the inaugural event of the state League’s civic book club series marking America250, the commemoration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Save the date and watch for registration information.

Professor of history at Boston College, Richardson is an expert in 19^th-century America. Her nightly newsletter, Letters from an American, reaches more than 6 million readers. Her articles and reviews have been published in the Washington Post, the New York Times, and The Guardian.  

You might wonder what the Civil War has to do with today's politics and the nation’s history. Historian Richardson has spent her career answering that question. Members will have the opportunity to submit their own questions to her in advance to help shape the July 29 discussion. (Non-members may be able to watch via a YouTube stream. Stay tuned.)

Future books in the series will spotlight indigenous history and contributions in the Northwest, plus the story of a trailblazing Washington woman leader. League members are being asked to send more recommendations for good reads.

Meanwhile, local Leagues are encouraged to host their own traditional book club discussions—to dig deeper locally, connect with fellow members, and bring the conversation home. We will provide discussion guides to get things started.

Courier Herald editor Ray Still meets with League members from Enumclaw. 

Reported by Cathy Dormaier, LWV Seattle King County, SE King County/Enumclaw Unit Leader

Members of the Southeast King County/Enumclaw Unit heard about the local news crisis from up close when they met with editor of the Enumclaw Courier Herald in mid-February.

“It was very enlightening to get a newspaper editor’s firsthand knowledge about this phenomenon that we are seeing today across our country,” said Cathy Dormaier, Unit Leader.

Ray Still, who has edited the Courier Herald for 15 years, told League members gathered for the lunch meeting that his staff numbered 18 in 2010. Today that count is down to a single employee. 

Still juggles duties as the Courier Herald’s only reporter, writer, editor, website manager and intern mentor. He said the outlet is expected to keep the paper going this summer but will close the downtown office where he works.

As a starting point for their conversation, League members turned to LWVWA’s 2022 study “The Decline of Local News and Its Impact on Democracy.”

The Courier Herald was one of more than two dozen Sound Publishing publications acquired by Alabama-based Carpenter Media. Staff layoffs have been common at Carpenter Media outlets. For another example, Everett’s once-robust Daily Herald has seen at least half of its newsroom positions eliminated.

Still said he welcomed work in the 2025 and 2026 legislative sessions by Sen. Marko Liias, who sponsored SB 5400, The measure, which did not get out of committee this year, would have generated $26 million a year from a nominal tax surcharge on social media outlets and search engines, including Google, Meta, Microsoft and Tik Tok. Proceeds would have been distributed as grants to outlets, based on the number of journalists they employ.

Liias and other stakeholders are reviewing their next legislative steps.

“We are all wondering what the future will hold for our small but mighty local Enumclaw Courier Herald paper and its one paid, multi-faceted employee,” Dormaier said.

The editor closed his presentation by mentioning his dream, which is to see the Enumclaw paper become a non-profit funded by local organizations and individuals.

He suggested the name “Friends of the Courier Herald” for a group that might be able to donate enough funds to keep the outlet operating.

What’s a very popular read that you won’t find on the New York Times Best Seller list?

The U.S. Constitution, according to members of the LWVSKC North King County League.

Impressed by the document’s popularity at a gathering at Shoreline in late January, League members are sponsoring a public reading of the U.S. Constitution on Sunday, May 3, in the Lake Forest Park Town Center.

League Unit coordinator Phillippa Kassover said she and fellow volunteers were pleasantly surprised by how many event-goers scooped up the pocket-sized constitutions they were handing out at their table at the Activists Assembly at Shorewood High School.

“We heard comments from those who stopped by that it was literally decades since they had read it in school,” Kassover said. “People said they wanted to remind themselves of the document that forms the bedrock of our society and legal system – especially now when it is so much in the news.”

She added, “We quickly ran out of all of our copies.”

Joined by fellow League member Jenny Muilenberg, senior director of the Health Sciences Library at the University of Washington, and her husband, Matt Muilenberg, a Lake Forest Park city council member, Kassover and others have secured a number of participants for the public reading, including Mayor Tom French and other local elected officials.

“We are reaching out to local schools, scout troops, the Rotary Club and all our communities in North King County,” said Kassover. 

“Everyone is welcome to join us and if you would like to be a reader, please sign up at www.LFPreads.com.”

LWVWA President Karen Crowley's fiery words receive applause from Washington State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti, Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin, and Washington State Senator Marco Liias.

From Bellingham to Spokane, from the San Juan Islands to Yakima, League of Women Voter members across Washington State showed up at No Kings rallies on March 28 to defend democracy. Proudly wearing League T-shirts and displaying banners, members shared voter and civic education information, marched and chanted. League spirit was on display at small-town street corner gatherings and the massive 90,000-person rally in Seattle.

In Everett, several thousand people packed the Snohomish County Campus to hear a lineup of national, state and local speakers, including U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene and LWVWA President Karen Crowley.

As the nation looks to mark the 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this summer, League members across the state are planning a variety of events and activities.

Helping to guide the planning is the Washington’s 250 Committee, chaired by Lt. Gov. Heck. The committee calls for June 14 Days of Service, special activities on July 4 and Days of Civic Engagement on Sept. 17.   

Partnering with a local library, the Kitsap County League is working on a First Amendment panel discussion, likely to be between Sept. 17-19. Local President Ursula Volwiler said the event will feature panelists whose experiences are directly impacted by the First Amendment, such as a journalist, a legal professional, a member of the clergy, an educator and an activist.

“We want to use storytelling and personal narratives to help people understand the importance of the First Amendment, what it means, and what ways it is under threat right now,” Volwiler said.

Skagit County League plans to participate in a birthday bash on June 16 at a recovery café along with other area nonprofits that support the community, local League President Jane Vilders said. In mid-July the Skagit League will host another birthday celebration planned at the Anacortes Family Center with games, art activities and cake. Finally, in September, Skagit members are making plans for a trivia night at a Mount Vernon restaurant where at least one round of civics questions will be on tap.

Other League plans are still in the brainstorming stage.

In Mason County, local League leader Peggy Morell said she is looking forward to an activity on the Day of Civic Engagement. She noted the local’s civic engagement storytelling project with the Office of the Secretary of State is a nod to the 250th anniversary. 

In Spokane County, Lunell Haught said League members plan to produce an information card for distribution to libraries and schools and at tabling events. It will feature a timeline showing when voting rights were extended to different groups of people. The flip side will include references to lesser-known facts, including how some ideas promoted by Revolutionaries about creating a democratic republic originated from Native Americans, and perspectives Abigail Adams shared with her husband about the role of men and women in the new government.

The Spokane League will also collaborate with news outlets to raise awareness about the League mission of empowering voters and defending democracy. 

The many options for commemorating the anniversary present a challenge and an opportunity, Haught said. “There isn’t a ‘rule’ about what we can do to mark the occasion and the structure is flexible enough to allow for creativity.”

Michael Bowman with the Office of the Secretary of State, and Peggy Jewell, of the Mason County League, discuss the civic storytelling project.

By Dee Anne Finken, Communications Portfolio Director, LWV of Washington

Carolyn Maddux knows a thing or two about storytelling. After all, with 25 years as a reporter and an editor at the Shelton-Mason County Journal under her belt, Maddux estimates she’s written 12,000 stories in her lifetime.

So, it makes sense Maddux is involved in the Mason County League’s Civic Storytelling Project, an effort the local League has undertaken with the Office of the Secretary of State to boost civic engagement through first-person narrative stories.

“It puts a face, it puts a voice, a human response to all the events of the local world that play into where we go in our future,” Maddux said. The project launched in September with a $2,000 grant from the LWVWA Education Fund. The grant covers the cost of recording equipment, digital tools and transcription services.

“That’s where we’re really going with this,” said Maddux, who has worked with Peggy Morell, Peggy Jewell and a handful of other Mason County League members.

Morell, a transplant to Mason County from Portland, Oregon, leads the project. Under her guidance, volunteers help produce and then collect 15-minute oral histories aimed at finding out what motivates people to become more engaged in their communities. The first participants have been League members, followed by other area residents.

The first participants were encouraged to discuss what drew them to the League with this prompt: Describe the political or personal journey that led you to join the League of Women Voters.

Maddux uses other prompts to prod memories: Who in your community has inspired you? When do you feel most patriotic? Describe a time when you felt politically powerful.

The volunteers are assisted by Michael Bowman, the rural civic engagement specialist at the Office of the Secretary of State. They connected with him last year at his Civics 101 workshop at the Olympic Public Library.

“We often have experienced a particular kind of civic engagement in our schools, but that’s abstract and distant,” Bowman said. As a result, “as adults we might not identify ourselves as being civically engaged.”

Getting people to slow down and reflect on ways they have engaged or seen others in their community be civically engaged can prompt even more interaction and connection.

One obstacle in getting people to tell their stories is their frequent misconception that they don’t have stories to tell. Maddux’s experience as a writing teacher and reporter comes in handy as she helps people think through what they’re going to say.

While Mason County is the only League Bowman has worked with on a special project, he has engaged with League members who have visited a civic story-telling booth elsewhere. In Everett, he interviewed Brenda Mann Harrison, a former journalist who serves on the state League’s local news committee. As she talked about her passionate interest in journalism—a vital catalyst of civic engagement—she recalled a conversation with a hospital nurse.

“She described how, when people were in the waiting room or waiting with their loved ones in a hospital room, that if they pulled out the newspaper and started reading … for a moment, it brought a sense of normalcy to them because it kept them connected to the outside world, to their community,” said Mann Harrison in the recording. “And I thought, ‘Wow.’”

Later this year, recordings from the Mason County League storytelling project will be accessible to anyone through the Washington State Digital Archives. For example, the recordings might be helpful to students or others researching Mason County local history, said Bowman.

Morell added, “We want to make civic storytelling a permanent part of the League’s work and preserve these stories in our archives.”

A League of Women Voters of Washington position that calls on elected officials to condemn xenophobia, discrimination and anti-immigrant rhetoric is a step closer to becoming a national policy of the nonprofit, nonpartisan League of Women Voters of the United States.

If adopted in June by the national organization, the position also would empower members in more than 800 state and local Leagues to advocate for legislation and establish programs to ensure immigrants—regardless of immigration status or citizenship—have access to essential state-funded services, legal representation, the opportunity to live and work in safety, and to be treated with dignity.

In recent weeks, against a backdrop of an increasing number of assaults by the federal government on immigrants and U.S. citizens supporting immigrants’ rights, the LWVWA has learned that dozens of state and local Leagues support its policy.

“Los Angeles and New York City notified us of their intent to vote for concurrence, along with many local Leagues throughout their states,” said Susan Martin, co-author of the study “Welcoming Immigrants to Washington State” and former Executive Director of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform.

Concurrence is the process used by the League to adopt a position based on the research, consensus, or study materials produced by another League or committee.

Martin, professor emerita of International Migration at Georgetown University, said support from Los Angeles and New York is particularly welcome because both cities are expected to send large delegations to the convention, to be held June 25-28 in Columbus, Ohio.

Delegates to the June convention, where the voting will take place, are not bound by the decisions of their state or local Leagues, but individual delegates tend to vote in alignment with their affiliations.

So far, eight state Leagues also have notified the LWVWA that they support the position, including Illinois and Minnesota, both recent targets of increased federal crackdowns on immigrants. The others include two border-hugging states, Arizona and New Mexico, along with Delaware, Utah and West Virginia.

The Washington state League adopted its position in June 2025 after the two-year “Welcoming Immigrants to Washington State” study led by Martin and Lydia Zepeda.

Martin and Zepeda, along with fellow immigrants study committee members Janet Lenart and Shelley Kneip, invested many hours explaining how concurrence would empower Leagues nationwide to advocate for the protection of the rights of immigrants.

“We continue to reach out to state and local Leagues to urge their support,” Zepeda said. “We continue, too, to hone our arguments to address the skeptics and to respond to questions asked by supporters.”

One out-of-state League already adopted the position independently, months before the convention, so its members could use the LWVWA position immediately to pursue better practices. “It was a request we were happy to fulfill,” Zepeda added.

Nonpartisan since its founding 106 years ago, the League never endorses candidates or political parties. Taking positions on issues, such as the treatment of immigrants, is central to the League’s mission of defending democracy and empowering voters. But the League only takes positions on issues after extensive study and with the agreement—or consensus—of its members.

Other concerns on which the League has adopted policy positions include reproductive rights, health care, environmental protection, education and the protection of democracy.

Two years ago, the national organization also adopted the LWVWA’s position on Local News & Democracy, allowing members across the country to advocate for legislation and other programming to address the local news crisis.