Contents

Collection Overview

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

Temperance Collection, 1832-1987

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by mnsss.

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

2003

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Temperance Collection encompasses a broad social movement in which American women played a prominent role from the early decades of the nineteenth century into the twentieth century. They participated in a variety of organizational settings on the local, state, national and international level. While the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is generally regarded to be the leading temperance organization from its beginnings in 1873, other local and national groups were active at different points in the Prohibition movement. That diversity is evident in this collection.

While the bulk of the material comes from the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century, the Temperance Collection also contains material from as early as 1835. There is also a significant amount of material from the post-Volstead Act (the Eighteenth Amendment) period, reflecting the fight to ward off the immediate challenges to national prohibition once it became law in 1920. This struggle, much like the earlier temperance crusade, was carried out and led by women.

Numerous secondary works address the American temperance movement and the critical role played by women in that movement. See, for example, Ruth Bordin, Woman and Temperance: The Quest for Power and Liberty, 1873-1900 (Rutgers University Press, 1990) and Janet Zollinger Giele, Two Paths to Women's Equality: Temperance, Suffrage, and the Origins of Modern Feminism (Twayne, 1995).

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Search Terms

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into four series:

• I. Organizations
• II. Biographical Material and Photographs
• III. Memorabilia
• IV. Oversize Material
• Books on Shelf

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SERIES I. ORGANIZATIONS (1835-1933, n.d.) 1 linear ft

Series is divided into two subseries: Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and Other organizations such as the Anti-Saloon League and the Loyal Temperance Legion. Within the WCTU subseries can be found convention programs; addresses; local and state meeting minutes and correspondence; and a significant assortment of pamphlets. Temperance activities within the state of Maine are especially well documented.

SERIES II. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND PHOTOGRAPHS (1880s-1980s, n.d.) .5 linear ft.

Series contains published biographical articles, autobiographical writings, and photographs of leaders of the American and international women's temperance movements, in particular the life and career of Frances Willard.

SERIES III. MEMORABILIA (1916-40, n.d.) .25 linear ft.

Series consists of an impressive array of temperance-related postcards, most from the early part of the 20th century. Also included are songbooks and stamps from 1939 commemorating the 100th anniversary of Frances Willard's birth.

SERIES IV. OVERSIZE MATERIAL (1894-1918) .25 linear ft.

Series has a few oversize publications from national and state temperance organizations, mostly WCTU. There are additional oversize materials in the flat files.

SERIES I. ORGANIZATIONS (1835-1933, n.d.)

SERIES II. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND PHOTOGRAPHS (1880s-1980s, n.d.)

SERIES III. MEMORABILIA (1916-40, n.d.)

SERIES IV. OVERSIZE MATERIAL (1894-1918)

BOOKS ON SHELF