The Harriet Kenderdine Lecture

• The Harriet Kenderdine Lecture Series
• The League of Women Voters of Lancaster County
• The Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program
• Center for Civic Responsibility & Leadership
• Center for Public Scholarship & Social Change
• President’s Commission on the Status of Women
• American Association of University Women Club

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: 

• 1985 - Paul Warnke, presenter of the first Kenderdine Lecture.
• 1986 - Robert E. White, former U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador and expert on Central America, presented "Current Affairs in Latin and South America."
• 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 governor of Vermont, presented “Do Women Leaders Make a Difference?” 
• 1993 - Nina Totenberg, NPR’s American legal affairs correspondent, presented “Covering the Supreme Court.” 
• 2001 - Dr. Christopher Edley Jr., professor of law at Harvard University and co-director of The Civil Rights Project, presented "Not All Black and White: Affirmative Action and American Values."
• 2008 - Ishmael Beah, author, presented "A Long Way Gone: Story of Redemption and Hope."
• 2015 - Abigail Hurst, PA Coalition Against Domestic Violence, presented "It's On Us: Dating Violence Realities and Responses" in conjunction with the YWCA.
• 2016 - Danny Hayes, professor of political science at George Washington University, presented “Why Women Run from Office, and How that Can Change.”
• 2024 - Dr. Sarah Sobieraj, professor of sociology at Tufts University, presented on her recent publication, Credible Threat: Attacks Against Women Online and the Future of Democracy (Oxford Studies in Digital Politics).
  • Stacie Blake, CEO of YWCA Lancaster, spoke on voting access in Lancaster and Pennsylvania as the reception guest speaker to celebrate the return of the lecture series to campus.
•  2025 - Barbara McQuade, University of Michigan law professor and former federal prosecutor,  discussed her recent publication, Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America.

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The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization encouraging informed and active participation in government. It influences public policy through education and advocacy. We never support or oppose any political party or candidate.

The League of Women Voters has two separate and distinct roles.

• Voters Service/Citizen Education: we present unbiased nonpartisan information about elections, the voting process, and issues.
• Action/Advocacy: we are also nonpartisan, but, after study, we use our positions to advocate for or against particular policies in the public interest.