Title: Women's Christian Temperance Union. Central Union (Madison, Wis.): Records
Inclusive Dates: 1880s, 1914-1962

Creator:

• Women's Christian Temperance Union. Central Union (Madison, Wis.)

Call Number: Mss 443; PH Mss 443 (5)

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes) and 1 photograph

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records of a WCTU Madison, Wisconsin chapter founded in 1880, including a minute book (1934-1944), an historical sketch of the Central Union, and other materials. Also included are minutes, 1940-1955, of the Loyal Temperance Union, a youth group; a file on the Wisconsin Temperance Federation; and a banquet photograph of the 1952 Annual Meeting of the National Women's Christian Temperance Union which includes members of the Central Union.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00443

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Delegates from seventeen states, including Wisconsin, organized the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in Cleveland, Ohio, on November 17-19, 1874. According to its founders, the WCTU “is an organization of Christian women banded together for the protection of the home, the abolition of the liquor traffic, and the triumph of Christ's Golden Rule in custom and in law.” Frances E. Willard (1839-1898) of Evanston, Illinois, became president of the WCTU in 1879 and headed it until her death. The most prominent temperance worker of her generation, Willard impelled the WCTU into a national body with 10,000 local chapters. Ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment on January 16, 1919 marked the zenith of the WCTU; its lowest point came on December 5, 1933 with the repeal of Prohibition. Over the last forty years, the WCTU has concentrated on temperance education among young people by means of essay and poster contests and through Sunday schools. Its anti-liquor polemics have subsided, superseded by the more rational approaches to alcoholism adopted by various drug-addiction research organizations.

The Madison Central Union was founded on January 18, 1880. From the beginning it associated the crusade against alcohol with agitation for woman suffrage. Other activities included supervision of a children's reading room, pursuit of a Constitutional amendment on prohibition, and implementation of a number of temperance education projects. Its efforts produced a ban on beer sales at the county fairgrounds and the closing of the bar in the West Madison depot. In the 1880's the Central Union sponsored a day nursery and an employment agency for women. The local chapter vigorously promoted clean living and social service.

The initial enthusiasm eventually waned, and in 1911 the Central Union rejected a motion to disband by a vote of 5 to 2. The revival of the temperance movement during World War I rejuvenated the Central Union. In 1928 the Dane County WCTU announced a fifteen-point agenda for the forthcoming year. Having routed the liquor forces, the women turned their attention to tobacco addiction, urging, among other things, that “school boards not...hire teachers who are slaves to the habit.” Gambling was another WCTU target. In 1932, the chapter was deemed the most efficient among the local unions of the Madison area. The others were Willard (Madison), Monona, Stoughton, Mazomanie, and Black Earth.

The records in this collection relate to the organization, history, and activity of the Madison Central Union of the WCTU. Minute books and a fragmentary, handwritten historical sketch of the chapter are the collection's most noteworthy items. The correspondence adds little information about the organization. There is a small amount of material on a youth group, the Loyal Temperance Legion, and on the Central Union's participation in other temperance organizations. Back runs of two periodicals, The Motor and Union Signal, along with many books, pamphlets, and leaflets originally part of the collection, have been transferred to the library. The remaining records are arranged in alphabetical order by subject.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. Emily Price, Madison, Wisconsin, October 6, 1970. Accession Number: M70-166

Processing Information

Processed by Richard Bazillion (Intern) and Joanne Hohler, November 1978.

Mss 443	WCTU Conventions
Box   1 Folder   1	Miscellaneous - County and World League Against Alcoholism, 1927, 1947, 1959, 1962
	National
Box   1 Folder   2	Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1941, September 28-October 3
Box   1 Folder   3	1955
Box   1 Folder   4	State - Programs, 1917-1965
Box   1 Folder   5	World, 1937
Box   1 Folder   6	Correspondence--General, 1914-1959
Box   1 Folder   7	Dane County WCTU, 1929-1930, 1933, 1938-1939, 1956
Box   1 Folder   8	Frances E. Willard--Biographical Material
Box   1 Folder   9	Historical and Organizational Material (including Minute Book), 1880s-1944
Box   1 Folder   10	Leadership Training School (National), March 14-21, 1956
Box   1 Folder   11	Minutes--Loyal Temperance Legion, 1940-1955
Box   1 Folder   12	“Organization”: Speech given to the State Convention (Reedsburg), July 21, 1954
Box   1 Folder   13	Political Material, 1962
Box   1 Folder   14	Quiz Sheet on local union activity, undated
Box   1 Folder   15	Speeches to Members, undated
Box   1 Folder   16	State: Annual Reports of the State Treasurer, 1929-1930, 1951-1955, 1957
Box   1 Folder   17	Statements on Liquor Laws, 1932-1933
Box   1 Folder   18	Temperance League of America Research Service, 1953
Box   1 Folder   19	United Temperance Movement of Wisconsin, 1952-1953
Box   1 Folder   20	Willard School, undated
Box   1 Folder   21	Wisconsin Anti-Saloon League--Newsletter, May, 1932
Box   1 Folder   22	Wisconsin Temperance Federation--Constitution and By Laws; Annual Meeting Report, 1949
Box   2 Folder   1-2	Scrapbooks, 1930's-1941
PH Mss 443 (5)	78th Meeting Banquet Photograph, 1952