Great Decisions will begin new group discussions with new 2022 topics starting in February. This promises to be an exciting series of discussions about international issues exploring 8 issues over 8 sessions. Books need to be ordered now for this Spring session, so please email Alex Matthews ASAP to order your book. The topics will be Outer Space, Climate Change, Russia and the U.S., Myanmar and ASEAN, Quad Alliance, Drug Policy in Latin America, Industrial Policy, and Biden's Agenda.

If you missed the virtual presentation from Jim McGrath, LWV IL Issues Specialist, at the November Second Tuesday, you can now watch it on our YouTube page or on our website. Guns: They're Killing Us was a program about preventing gun violence. You can watch it on YouTube here.

"Chicago Votes" schedules voter registration drives at the Cook County Jail periodically. The next session is scheduled for December 12. At this time there are enough volunteers for that date, but if you would like to be put on a waiting list to help, you can fill out a form here.

The star-spangled banner waves over the land of the free and the home of four brave Wartime Women Heroes whose patriotism is still remembered today. Read about Deborah Sampson, who fought during the Revolutionary War under the name Robert Shurtliff.

During World War II, Rosalind P. Walter was the inspiration for the "Rosie the Riveter" song. She worked on airplanes during WWII, one of many women at the time who took jobs in the war industry while many men fought overseas. She later became a philanthropist, serving as a trustee for the American Museum of Natural History and Long Island University. Read more about Rosalind here.

There were over 11,000 military women who served in Vietnam during the war, the majority of whom were nurses. These women generally worked twelve-hour shifts six days a week, but during major conflicts, their shifts could last up to thirty-six hours. However, their hard work paid off; 98% of the wounded men who made it to the hospital survived their injuries. When they returned home, many of these women faced the aftermath of war alone — either because they were nurses rather than soldiers, or because of the political controversy surrounding the war. Today, they are honored in the Vietnam Women’s War Memorial in Washington, DC. Take a virtual tour of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial here.

Genevieve Chase enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in 2003 and completed several tours in Afghanistan. After returning home, she suffered from a traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress, and severe depression. These experiences prompted her in 2010 to found American Women Veterans (AWV), a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting female veterans and their families. Watch a video of what the AWV does to help women veterans make the transition from military to civilian life.