Outreach to Women Voters in 1935 — Check out the Yiddish-language Signs!

Source: International Ladies Garment Workers Union Photographs, Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University Library

The ILGWU (whose members were also Workers Circle members) labored to register new citizens eligible to vote and provide information about issues and candidates by reaching out in the language they spoke. This critical approach helped new Americans understand that their vote was their voice and their vote mattered. And in case you didn’t know, the Workers Circle worked relentlessly for the New Deal’s passage! 

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its reauthorizations in 1982 and 2006, has been critical to making voting accessible to Americans whose first language is not English. Too many Americans were effectively excluded from participation because they could not understand the process or ballots. Learn more about language access rights from the US Department of Justice site.