CANFIELD — A mere three years separated when the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote was ratified and when a local organization committed to empowering women and girls was officially launched.

“A large group of women decided to band together and felt that more influence was needed on the politics of the day,” Jorine Stone, president of the American Association of University Women’s Youngstown branch, said.

A century later, current local AAUW branch members were in a celebratory mood as they celebrated the organization’s 100th anniversary during a dinner program Monday at A La Cart Catering, 429 Lisbon St. More than 50 people attended.

The local branch, which has been in existence since 1889, officially became the AAUW in 1923 with several women’s groups heading it. The grassroots organization celebrated its 100-year anniversary this year because the Warren chapter had done so last year, Stone noted.

The Youngstown AAUW seeks to advance equality for women through education, advocacy, philanthropy and research, according to its mission statement.

Specifically, the area AAUW chapter is dedicated to empowering women and girls to have a stronger voice in a multitude of local, regional and national decisions, with a high priority on education, equity and greater economic security. On average, a woman is typically paid about 80 cents for every $1 a man earns performing the same work, Stone said.

“It still is true that women are not paid the same as men,” she added.

The local branch also is committed to addressing what many members feel are coordinated attempts to weaken public education. Those include efforts to restrict what kind of history can be taught, as well as the ways some voucher systems are set up to drain funds from public schools, Stone said.

Additional priorities on the local AAUW’s plate include researching gender equality issues in education and the workplace, supporting challenges to sex discrimination, offering lifelong learning opportunities for women and working to prevent violence via fighting against human trafficking, sexual assault and domestic violence, and leveling the playing field for women and girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

To that end, the AAUW chapter has a close partnership with Youngstown State University to support its STEM and leadership programs, along with STEM efforts for middle school girls.

Also, the branch works with the YWCA of Youngstown and its science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) program, Stone said.

In addition, local AAUW members wish to see the Equal Rights Amendment ratified.

The ERA was initially drafted in 1923 by Crystal Eastman and Alice Paul, both of whom led the women’s suffrage movement, and with the belief that many barriers women faced would be overcome if gender equality was enshrined in the Constitution. In March 1972, after much resistance, the ERA amendment was passed with bipartisan support, then sent to the states for ratification, with a seven-year deadline.

Support in the 1970s, however, began to wane, and by 1977, only 35 of the necessary 38 states had ratified the ERA. Today, 38 states have done so, but it remains unclear if its provisions and protections will be added to the Constitution.

Also during Monday’s program, Denise Walters Dobson, a former YSU professor who was introduced to the local branch more than 25 years ago, held a candle in memory and honor of the Youngstown AAUW’s past presidents whose names and tenures appeared on a screen. Walters Dobson also serves as the local branch’s co-vice president of membership.

In addition, the late Louanna C. Jacobs, a longtime educator, and Clydine G. Watson Dickey were honored for having been 50-year AAUW members.

The national AAUW chapter was formed in 1881, and its past members include former U.S. Supreme Court justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg, along with Lady Bird Johnson, wife of President Lyndon B. Johnson, and former U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm, who in 1968 became the first black woman elected to Congress.