Harriet Webb Kenderdine (1899-1982) was an active member of the League of Women Voters at the national, state and Lancaster County levels and who had a deep interest in international affairs. When Mrs. Kenderdine died in September 1982, she left a bequest to the League of Women Voters of Lancaster County. She set aside funds for lectures that the public could attend on behalf of the LWV, underwriting the costs as long as the speaker was representative of their ideals, which include empowering voters and protecting democracy. Over the years the lecture series hosted many wonderful speakers: 

• 1990 - Cokie & Steven Roberts, NPR’s Congressional Correspondent presented “U.S. Politics in the 1990s: Challenges Facing the Nation and the World”

• 1992 - Joan Mondale, author, (married to former US Vice President & Senator, Walter Mondale) presented “Women as a Political Force” and Madeleine Kunin, former VT governor presented “Do Women Leaders Make a Difference?”

• 1993 - Nina Totenberg, NPR’s American Legal Affairs Correspondent presented “Covering the Supreme Court”

• 1996 - Conner Cruise O'Brien, former undersecretary of the United Nations presented “Ireland in Context” & Michael Dyson, author & nationally syndicated columnist presented “Race Rules”

• 1999 - Carl Bernstein, Author and Journalist, presented “The Decline of Politics and the Rise of the Media State”

• 2001 - Christopher Edley Jr., PhD, Harvard Law Professor & Co-Director of the Civil Rights Project, presented “Not all Black and White: Affirmative Action and American Values”

• 2016 - Danny Hayes, Professor of Political Science, The George Washington University presented “Why Women Run from Office, and How that Can Change”

And many more. The series has been dormant since 2016 and LWVLC is excited to relaunch it for 2024-2025. We are able to do so with the support of Millersville University’s:

• Center for Civic Responsibility & Leadership,

• Center for Public Scholarship & Social Change,

• President’s Commission on the Status of Women, and

• the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program

Learn more about Harriet Kenderdine here.