News from Democratic Women of DuPage Countydwdc.weebly.com/uploads/8/8/2/0/882018/may_newsletter_2010_dw… · Democratic Women of DuPage County Newsletter Reflecting Back and Reaching

In this issueMessage From thePresidentNote from theTraining/EducationCommitteeMother JonesLisa Madigan EventRobin Kelly EventSave the Date:Campaigns 101Your Membership

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Democratic Women of DuPage CountyNewsletter

Reflecting Back and Reaching Forward May 2010

The Democratic Women of DuPage County (DWDC) isrecognized by the Democratic Party of Illinois and wasfounded to create a forum for Democratic Women towork together to promote the ideals of the DemocraticParty and to foster the participation of women in alllevels of the Democratic Party.

Our objective is to unite women of the DemocraticParty and to encourage full participation of women inevery level of the Democratic Party Structure:

To recruit, develop and support women;To promote cooperation among women inpolitics;To enhance the participation of DuPage Democratic women by providingeducational, social and networking experiences and opportunities.

Message From the PresidentIt is never a dull moment in Democratic politics,something is always happening. At times, itseems like we are in the middle of a three-ringcircus, with the main act in the center and otheracts at either end to keep things moving. As theelection year continues to unfold, the DemocraticWomen of DuPage County continue jugglingmany projects with the goal of retiring some ofthe tired elephants from the center ring andreplacing them with some sure-footed donkeys.

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Two Newsletters ago, I discussed the dearth ofwomen on governmental and corporate boards incomparison to other countries. It was no surpriseto hear Attorney General Lisa Madigan mention

similar statistics in her keynote address at the annual Illinois Democratic Women(IDW) Convention in Springfield on April 30. At the convention we were treatedto inspirational speeches by Lisa Madigan, Toni Preckwinkle, Sheila Simon andRobin Kelly. While the entire weekend was energizing, it was particularly excitingwhen the IDW voted to elect Jill Morgenthaler as Co-President of theorganization. We hope that this will offer more opportunities to engage womenfrom the Chicago area with the IDW.

The day after we returned from the convention, several members of theLeadership Team enjoyed hearing Lt. Governor Candidate Sheila Simon as thekeynote speaker at the York Township Democratic Organization's St. Patrick'sDay Dinner in May. Comptroller Candidate David Miller also captivated theaudience with his positive message. Later this month, the Naperville TownshipDemocratic Organization will be hosting its "These Magic Moments" fundraiserwith special guest, Lisa Madigan on May 27th (www.napervilledemocrats.org).

This quarter, we worked on plans for one networking event and one educationalevent. Dates were barely finalized for a Meet and Greet event with Illinois StateTreasurer Candidate Robin Kelly on June 5th and Campaigns 101 for June 27th,when the planets aligned for us to also host a late afternoon event with AttorneyGeneral Lisa Madigan on May 27th. As we often experience, life happens whileyou are making other plans. Details of all three events are included in thisNewsletter.

Looking ahead, campaigns from the County Board races to the U.S. Senate willcontinue to ramp up, needing your support in this challenging election year. Wehave momentum continuing from the County Board races from 2008, and muchto look forward to with exciting candidates for State Representative, StateSenator, all the Illinois Constitutional Offices, the House of Representatives andthe U.S. Senate. DWDC has established an endorsement process and is currentlyreviewing candidates for endorsement. Endorsed candidates will reflect theideals of the Democratic Party, as well as the objectives of DWDC. We hope thatall of our members will work hard to elect our endorsed candidates, who will beannounced in an upcoming issue of our Newsletter.

Until next time, keep the ball moving, enjoy life, and watch out for the clowns.

Karol Sole, President

Note from the Training/Education Committee


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The work of the Training/Education Committee will be to assist and support ourmembership in exploring new concepts, technologies and issues of the day andto review, reinforce and build upon our understanding of our basic organizationalfoundation of who we are as a Party.

The Training/Education Committee will coordinate programs for our membershipthat we hope will stimulate and engage learning, growth and action within theDemocratic Party and beyond. One goal we hope to accomplish this year is tochallenge ourselves to grow out of our comfort zones.

Carol Di Cola, Chair, Training/Education Committee

Mother JonesMother Jones' birthday is celebrated on May 1st. She lived during a gilded agewhen the middle class had evaporated and a wealthy few lived in vast luxury. Anage that bears remembering as our own middle class dwindles, as weakenedcampaign finance laws give corporate strength to forming our government andas unions are weakened by outsourcing and global competition.

We all must find a balance between pragmatism and idealism in order to moveforward. Mother Jones did not appear to suffer the agony this can cause many.She was a true activist who distained compromise and would not back down.This is not always wise but it seemed to work for her.

Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was born in May 1830 in Cork, Ireland into a familyof agitators during the British/Irish conflict. After her grandfather, an IrishFreedom Fighter, was hanged by the British, her father was forced to flee Irelandwith his family in 1835. She attended public school in Toronto and graduatedwith qualifications to teach grammar school.

She taught in Michigan and then at a Convent School in Tennessee where shemet and married George Jones, an iron molder and activist in the Iron MoldersUnion, in 1861. She seems to have had a traditional married life with fourchildren until 1867 when her husband and children all died in a yellow feverepidemic. She moved to Chicago to make a living as a dressmaker. Againtragedy struck. Her property was destroyed in the 1871 Chicago fire leaving herhomeless. She never again had a home of her own.

She was 41 years old. Her immediate family was dead. Her home and all herpersonal belongings had been destroyed. From this adversity, Mother Jones, thelabor organizer and human rights activist, emerged.

She became involved in labor unions through the Knights of Labor. She keptChicago as her home base but traveled to industrial areas throughout the nation,living with the workers in tents or shanty towns. America was changing from an


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agrarian nation to an industrial nation. This changed the nature of work and ofworkers. Waves of immigrants and displaced farmers dug the nation's coal andforged its steel. All too often, they received in return only starvation wages andnightmarish conditions. Within these men smoldered the sparks of class conflictwhich Mother Jones would fan for 50 years. To these workers, she would becomean anchor to the past and an arrow toward a better future.

During strikes she helped organize and support the strikers or led educationalclasses. She participated in strikes, raised funds for unions and organizedwomen and children in protest marches to dramatize the situation. In 1890 shebecame an organizer for the United Mine Workers.

One of her best known activities was leading a march of miners' wives whochased strikebreakers with brooms and mops in the Pennsylvania coalfields in1902. Another was leading the "children's crusade", a caravan of striker'schildren from the textile mills of Kensington, Pennsylvania, to PresidentTheodore Roosevelt's home in Long Island, New York, in 1903, to dramatize thecase for abolishing child labor.

In 1905 she was one of founders of the Industrial Workers of the World; she wasthe only woman of the 27 persons who signed its founding manifesto.

She came to national attention when she was arrested at 83 years old afterleading a series of marches of miner's children and protests in the violent PaintCreek Cabin Strike in West Virginia in 1912-1913. She was convicted by amilitary court and sentenced to 20 years. The controversy of her arrest led thegovernor to pardon her. She was arrested again that year in Colorado for leadingprotests against the working conditions of the miners. She was imprisoned twicewith sentences of less than one month which she did serve.

Mother Jones went on to participate in 1915 and 1916 in the strikes of garmentworkers and streetcar workers in New York, and in the strike of steel workers inPittsburgh in 1919. In January 1921, at the age of 91, as a guest of the Mexicangovernment, she traveled to Mexico to attend the Pan-American Federation ofLabor meeting. Those who knew her well said it was the high point of recognitionin her role in the labor movement.

In 1922 Mother Jones left the United Mine Workers. She disagreed with thepolicies of John L. Lewis, and Lewis did not reappoint her as an internationalorganizer. Although she was hospitalized several times, she continued to speakwhen her health permitted. Her last known public address was in Alliance, Ohio,in 1926, when she was the guest of honor at a Labor Day celebration. Her lastpublic appearance was at her 100th birthday party, May 1, 1930, at a receptionin Silver Spring, Maryland. She died in November of that year.

Mother Jones suffered the loss of her family, her home and all personalbelongings. She moved on without looking back to a new life fighting the


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injustice she saw around her. She used everything at her disposal in that fight!Her womanhood, her age, her personal talents as well as her homelessness andloss of family which gave her the freedom to reach out to others with anabandonment of all her other dreams, as well as with ammunition for battle.

Her story is a remarkable one that should be remembered now by all women. Aswe remember her, we should reassess ourselves searching for the treasure inwhat we regard as our liabilities. Her achievements, her struggles, her ornery"never take no" for an answer should be held high as we, women of America,move forward!

Carol B. Davis, ChairYork Township Democratic Organization

Lisa Madigan EventCome out and join women from across DuPage County and meet our HonoraryDWDC member, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Thursday, May 27thfrom 4:30-6:30pm at the home of Carla Feinkind, 5710 Astony Court,Hinsdale. Cookies and refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to Libby [email protected].

As Illinois' chief legal officer, Madigan advocates for the people and the state ofIllinois. Since being sworn into office in January 2003, she has worked to pass alifetime supervision law to keep our communities safe from dangerous sexualoffenders, led efforts to protect children from online predators, fought to ensureintegrity in Illinois' gambling industry, secured passage of laws to help stop thespread of methamphetamine and repeatedly defended consumers fromfraudulent practices. In an effort to ensure open and accountable government inIllinois, Madigan has taken the lead in enforcing the state's sunshine laws.

Madigan has been a champion of open government, receiving the "SunshineAward" from the Society of Professional Journalists for her efforts to ensure thatcitizens, elected officials and government bodies understand the state's sunshinelaws -- the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act. In December2004, she created the position of Public Access Counselor and through thatposition, has taken an aggressive role in training citizens, government officialsand journalists on the sunshine laws and responding to complaints concerningthe application of these laws by government bodies around Illinois. The responseto the creation of the Public Access Counselor, especially from citizens, has beenoverwhelming. In its first year of existence, 75% of the more than 1,000inquiries submitted to the Counselor came from private citizens, and as a result,Madigan's office has taken action to obtain compliance with FOIA and OMA bygovernment bodies across the state, from agencies of the state government tothe CTA to local municipalities.


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Prior to her election as Attorney General, Madigan served as a State Senator andwas a litigator at a Chicago law firm. Before becoming an attorney, she workedas a teacher and community advocate on Chicago's west side, helping preventchildren from becoming involved in gangs and drugs. After graduating fromcollege, Madigan traveled to apartheid-era South Africa, where she was avolunteer high school teacher.

Lisa Madigan received her bachelor's degree from Georgetown University andher J.D. from Loyola University Law School. She and her husband, Pat Byrnes,have two daughters.

Kim Savage, Past President, DWDC

Robin Kelly EventThe Democratic Women of DuPage County are pleased to host an afternoon withRobin Kelly, Candidate for Illinois State Treasurer on Saturday, June 5th from3:00-5:00 p.m. The event will be held at the home of Megan Schroeder, 6036Ridge Ct. in Downers Grove. Please RSVP to [email protected].

Robin Kelly is a proven leader that Illinois residents can count on to make apositive difference in their lives. From her public service in central Illinois andthe south suburbs to her groundbreaking work as Chief of Staff to the IllinoisState Treasurer, Robin has demonstrated she can create jobs, protect taxpayerdollars and serve as a consumer advocate for Illinoisans.

The Chicago Tribune, recognizing Robin's record of accomplishment, endorsedher in the February Democratic primary stating, "We're really impressed withKelly's performance in the legislature and her work in the Treasurer's Office".The Sun-Times' endorsement said Kelly was the only candidate with "the rightexperience, temperament and background for the job". And the PeoriaJournal-Star endorsed her as a "better fit in a cash-strapped state". Robin'sbroad appeal led her to victory in the primary, winning 94 out of 102 counties.

The first African American woman to serve as Chief of Staff for a ConstitutionalOfficer, Robin has pursued a progressive agenda that promotes small businessjob creation, innovative investment strategies and financial literacy inunderserved areas.

As a former State Representative of the 38th District, Robin brings extensivelegislative experience to the Treasurer's Office. She successfully sponsored billsto protect consumers from fraud, support economic development and increasethe minimum wage. She also led the fight for landmark legislation to protectvictims of domestic violence and improve public safety.


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During her tenure in the Legislature, Robin mentored progressive candidates andencouraged new leaders, including one of her colleagues, Barack Obama, in hissuccessful 2004 bid for U.S. Senate.

Originally from New York, Robin moved to Illinois to attend Bradley University inPeoria where she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees. She later receivedher Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University. She currently lives in Matteson withher family.

Donations to Friends of Robin Kelly for the campaign and to DWDC to defrayexpenses of the event are welcome.

Kim Savage, Past President, DWDC

Save the Date: Campaigns 101The Training/Education Committee is planning a fun workshop, Campaigns 101,that will entail three sessions which deal with the Freedom of Information Act,Communication and Today's Technologies and a Campaign Simulation Game thatputs you in the center of a campaign.

Refreshments will be served and a nominal fee of $10.00 will be charged.

So, Save the Date: June 27th, starting a 1:00 pm for Registration and SocialNetworking. The program will begin at 1:30 pm.

Look for more information in June's DWDC Newsletter.

Carol Di Cola, Chair, Training/Education Committee

Your MembershipAre you interested in helping women get elected? Women who care about thesame issues you care about and will fight for those issues?

Are you interested in networking? If so, then membership in the DWDC is foryou! The DWDC works together to promote the ideals of the Democratic Partyand to foster the participation of women in all levels of the Democratic Party.

To become a member or to renew your membership, simply send your check for$25.00 to

Democratic Women of Dupage CountyP.O. Box 224Glen Ellyn, IL 60138


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New members: Please add a $5.00 processing fee.

We look forward to your participation in helping our membership grow andelecting more Democratic women to office.

When women vote, women get elected!

Laura Fletcher, Vice President, Membership

Paid for by the Democratic Women of DuPage County. A copy of our report is (or will be) available forpurchase from the Du Page County Clerk. Donations to the Democratic Women of DuPage County are

not tax deductible.

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News from Democratic Women of DuPage Countydwdc.weebly.com/uploads/8/8/2/0/882018/may_newsletter_2010_dw… · Democratic Women of DuPage County Newsletter Reflecting Back and Reaching