College Equal Suffrage League

The College Equal Suffrage League (CESL) was an American woman suffrage organization founded in 1900 by Maud Wood Park and Inez Haynes Irwin (nee Gillmore), as a way to attract younger Americans to the women's rights movement. The League spurred the creation of college branches around the country and influenced the actions of other prominent groups such as National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).

The beginning of the CESL dates from the 1900 NAWSA convention in Washington, D.C. Maud Wood Park, a 29-year-old attendee and recent Radcliffe College alum, realized that she was the youngest delegate. Concerned by the absence of younger members in NAWSA and the general lack of interest in suffrage among college women, Park decided to work toward recruiting a new generation to the campaign. She later commented in regard to this decision:

Together with Inez Haynes Irwin, another Radcliffe graduate and suffrage supporter, Park formed the Massachusetts CESL in Boston. Park toured colleges around the United States, talking to recent alumnae in hopes that they would then encourage younger university and high school students to join the movement. Park’s tours eventually sparked the formation of new chapters in 30 states.

In 1906, inspired by the CESL's efforts and as a way to increase their public presence, NAWSA began actively recruiting college students by sponsoring “College Evenings” at their larger suffrage events.

In 1908, the various state chapters of the CESL joined to form the National College Equal Suffrage League and became an official branch of NAWSA. Bryn Mawr College President M. Carey Thomas served as the first president and Maud Wood Park as vice president. The NCESL continued to recruit people to the suffrage cause until 1917 when the organization disband. Many of the League’s members would play major roles in helping to push the Nineteenth Amendment through Congress, campaigning on the federal level and later serving in organizations like the League of Women Voters, which formed in 1920.

...
Wikipedia