Celebrating Women’s Contributions to Lionism

What do President Gerald Ford, President Ronald Reagan, President Jimmy Carter, Mayor Thomas Menino, Senate President Karen Spilka, State Representative Carolyn Dykema, Larry Bird, and former State Senator Scott Brown all have in common? Besides being public figures, each of these individuals was or is currently a member of a Lions Club. Lions Clubs International has more than 1.5 million members serving in more than 200 countries and geographical locations around the world.
Lions Clubs were founded in 1917 in Chicago, Illinois by a group of businessmen. It wasn’t until June 30, 1925, at a convention held in Cedar Point, Ohio that Lions found their mission: To preserve eyesight. This mission was a result of one individual: Helen Keller who addressed the Lions Clubs members at their convention. At the time, Helen Keller was part of an organization called the American Foundation for the Blind which began a mere four years previously.
While Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan were considered the first women of Lionism, the history of women in Lions is far more complicated than this sounds. In fact, until 1987, Lions Clubs International had a by-law that strictly prohibited women from being Lions Clubs members. Because of this restriction, there were separate clubs called Lioness Clubs which were primarily made up of spouses of Lions Clubs members. These Lioness Clubs were considered a service project of the all-male Lions Clubs. This changed in 1975 when membership in Lioness Clubs were opened to all women, regardless of whether they were married to a Lions Club member or simply interested in community service. The very first Lioness Club was founded in Mount Pleasant, North Carolina on December 24, 1975. It would be more than another decade before Lions Clubs across the United States voted to accept women as members.
Local Lions Clubs and Women in Leadership
While Lions Clubs International accepted women in Lions in 1987, this move was not without controversy, nor was it a smooth transition. Hundreds of men surrendered their membership when women were allowed. Some Lioness Clubs balked at the idea of being merged with Lions Clubs, and some clubs had “unspoken” rules about banning women from their Lions Clubs.
Fortunately, as men became more accepting of having women participate, they also began supporting elevating women as leaders in their Lions Clubs. This is important because there are constitutional requirements which do not allow members who have not served as a President of their Lions Club to move into leadership positions. In our immediate area, the 2001 Lions year celebrated a milestone. This is when Bette Purvis, a member of the Medfield, Massachusetts Lions Club became the first women elected as District Governor of District 33K. Today, having a woman serve as District Governor is not as unusual. In the years since Bette, women Lions from Franklin, Quincy, Medway, Hyde Park and Millis Lions Clubs have all served as District Governor. In fact, this year’s District Governor is from the Millis Lions Club, Lion Debbie Hayes.
International Leadership Changes
Because of the progression of Leadership, it was several years before women were represented on the Board of Directors of Lions Clubs International. However, in July of 2018, Lions Clubs International members voted in the first women President of the Association, Gudrun Yngvadottir from the Gardabaer, Iceland Lions Club.
This has been an exciting year for women in Lions, and one of the challenges we have taken on is empowering women. The theme for the year is “New Voices” and is one of the programs being heavily promoted by the International President. Towards this end, the Lions leaders in Massachusetts have banded together to offer a Women’s Leadership Forum — Women Empowering Women. This forum will be held on March 23, 2019 at the Mansfield Holiday Inn. Lions from Holliston, Sherborn, Ashland, Bellingham and Medway are expected to be represented at this forum. We are honored to have Senate President and Ashland Lion Karen Spilka and State Representative and Holliston Lion Carolyn Dykema joining us to talk about the importance of volunteering in the Commonwealth during lunch. Consider joining us for this informative session. Registration information can be found on the Multiple District 33 Lions Clubs website or you may email Doreen Martel from the Holliston Lions Club at doreenmartel@doreenmartel.com for additional information.