Title: Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Wisconsin Records
Inclusive Dates: 1881-1956

Creator:

• Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Wisconsin

Call Number: Mss 512

Quantity: 2.2 c.f. (2 cartons and 1 archives box)

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:

Treasurer's records, including ledgers of local chapters' financial relations with the state WCTU, cashbooks of receipts and disbursements, a record of receipts for special funds, subscription lists (1928-1946) for Union Signals, and other records.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00512

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The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in November 1874, by Frances E. Willard and delegates from seventeen states. The Union's motto is “For God and Home and Every Land,” and its goals are “the protection of the home, the abolition of liquor traffic, and the triumph of the golden rule in custom and law.” Willard became the organization's first president, and under her direction, the WCTU grew to number 10,000 local chapters in addition to county, state, and national Unions. Many of the WCTU's goals appeared to have been accomplished with the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919; however, the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 reversed the victory. Other WCTU targets have included gambling and the use of tobacco, and the efforts of the organization have concentrated on temperance education in the communities and schools, through newspaper ads and publicity, speakers and programs, and school essay and poster contests. In addition, the WCTU presently concerns itself with the problems of drug addiction and narcotics, as well as with alcoholism.

The Wisconsin Woman's Temperance Alliance was organized in Milwaukee on October 20-21, 1874. The organization became an affiliate of the National WCTU at a convention in Madison in 1880, and its name was changed to the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Wisconsin. Susan B. Steel of Appleton was the first president.

The collection primarily consists of the records of the state treasurer, which have been arranged into three series, Chapter Record Books and Ledgers, Cash Books, and Other Records. The CHAPTER RECORD BOOKS AND LEDGERS contain a complete accounting of each chapter's finances vis a vis the state Union, from 1889 to 1954. These records include dues paid to the state Union, chapter budgets, and records of donations received for the national WCTU and for special funds, and state receipts and disbursements for each chapter. Within each volume, the data are arranged in alphabetical order by chapter name, and chronologically thereunder. In many cases, additional information about each chapter is given, such as the date of organization or termination, or names of officers. The CASH BOOKS list state Union receipts and disbursements for chapters, individuals, salaries, expenses, and for national dues. Volume 27 records the finances of the various WCTU special funds, among them, Union Signals newsletter, Young Crusaders, Loyal Temperance Legion, Life Members, Light Line Unions, and the Lillian Stevens, Frances Willard, and Anna Gordon memorial funds.

Other records in the collection include miscellaneous financial receipts, correspondence, check registers, and state treasurer's annual reports. Additional annual reports may be found in the Cash Books. Also present are a handbook of the Wisconsin WCTU, 1925, and Union Signals subscription lists.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Ethel Cornwell, Stoughton, Wisconsin, 1964.

	Series: Chapter Record Books and Ledgers
	Record Books
Box   1 Volume   1	1889-1890
Box   1 Volume   2	1890-1891
Box   1 Volume   3	1891-1898
Box   1 Volume   4	1898-1904
Box   1 Volume   5	1904-1910
Box   1 Volume   6	1911-1919
Box   1 Volume   7	1919-1923
	Ledgers
Box   1 Volume   8	1923-1928
Box   1 Volume   9	1928-1947
Box   1 Volume   10	Parts 1 and 2, 1945-1954
	Series: Cash Books	⇧
Box   1 Volume   11	1881-1885
Box   1 Volume   12	1891-1893
Box   2 Volume   13	1893-1896
Box   2 Volume   14	1896-1902
Box   2 Volume   15	1902-1906
Box   2 Volume   16	1906-1910
Box   2 Volume   17	1910-1914
Box   2 Volume   18	1914-1919
Box   2 Volume   19	1919-1923
Box   2 Volume   20	1926-1929
Box   2 Volume   21	1929-1932
Box   2 Volume   22	1932-1941
Box   2 Volume   23	1941-1947
Box   2 Volume   24	1950-1952
Box   2 Volume   25	1952-1954
Box   2 Volume   26	1954-1956
Box   2 Volume   27	Other WCTU Funds, 1946-1954
	Series: Other Records	⇧
Box   3 Folder   1	Financial Receipts and Miscellany, 1885, 1945-1946, 1952-1953, 1956
Box   3 Folder   2	State Treasurer's Annual Reports, 1929, 1939, 1944, 1952-1955
Box   3 Folder   3	Miscellaneous Financial Correspondence, 1952-1956
Box   3 Folder   4-5	Check Registers, 1955-1956
Box   3 Folder   6	Handbook of Wisconsin WCTU, 1925
Box   3 Folder   7	Union Signals Subscription Lists, 1928-1946