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Obituaries

Life as a Suffragist's Daughter

Well-known Civic Leader and McLean Resident, Sibyl Vanneman, Dies at Age 90.

Sibyl Vanneman, McLean resident and longtime member of the League of Women Voters, was voting before she was born.

Her mother, suffragist, Augusta Street (1889-1976), thrilled at the news of the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 finally giving women the right to vote, showed up to vote on election day. She was very pregnant with twins (Sibyl and her sister) who would be born two weeks later.

Her mother was refused at the polls.  "This was at a time when a respectable lady in an advanced stage of pregnancy did not appear in public," said a story in the February 2011 edition of the Fairfax Voter, that was based on a conversation that Vanneman had with League of Women Voters historian and author, Bernice Colvard.

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Sibyl Vanneman died August 20, at age 90.  Vanneman was well-known in the community for her active involvement both in the Fairfax County McLean Unit of the League of Women Voters, and the Falls Church League of Women Voters.  She was also an avid gardener, and a longtime member of OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at George Mason University.

Vanneman, who lived in McLean since 2002, was charter member and a founder in 1951 of the Falls Church League of Women Voters.  She also served as the second President of the Falls Church League. The League was organized to insure that women voters were informed about candidates and issues regardless of their party affiliation.

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Vanneman also recounted that it was most likely the refusal of her grandfather  to support her mother's wish to become a doctor that led to her mother's interest in the women's suffrage movement.  Additionally, the family's move from Louisville to St. Louis led to Augusta's meeting of Edna Fischel Gellhorn (1878-1970), a well-known leader in the suffragist movement, one of the founders of the national League of Women Voters, and its first Vice President.

Vanneman, clearly impacted by her mother's passion for the suffragist movement, had been a member of the League of Women voters for more than 60 years.  She carried with her at all times a copy of a 1931 article from the St. Louis Post Dispatch titled "My Experience on a Locked Jury."

"It was a delightful article," Gail Huh, a good friend from the  McLean League of Women Voters recalled. The article recounted the story of how Vanneman's mother, Augusta, was selected for jury duty.  At that time it was extremely uncommon for women to serve on a jury.  In fact, states strongly discouraged women from such service long after women won the right to vote.

When the court heard that Augusta had four children, it was suggested that she not serve.  "But I want to serve," she said. She was eventually selected to serve on a District of Columbia jury. A great aunt moved in to take care of Vanneman and her siblings.  The jury was sequestered for ten days. And during that time Augusta endeared herself to other jury members, all men, by offering assistance with mending, providing advice on healthy menus, and not complaining about their cigar smoking.

"I just loved her," Huh said.  "We used to meet in the Community Center, then we transferred to a big round table in the Star Nut Gourmet.  She was a very special person." 

"Sibyl was not your doddering 89-year old woman," said Huh. "She was bright. She didn't talk much. But when she did, it was straight from the shoulder...And she was very well-read."

Sibyl and her husband Samuel Vanneman, an economist with the USDA who predeceased her, had four children and one grandchild.  She will be remembered at a private service in Falls Church.

NOTE: Readers who would like to learn more about the League of Women Voters and the suffragist movement may be interested in reading author Bernice Colvard's books listed below.)

Tracing Our Roots: From Seneca Falls, New York to Fairfax, Virginia and Virginia Women and The Vote 1909-2009

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