Third Annual Meeting of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union

Third Annual Meeting of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union
Third Annual Meeting of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union
Status	Active
Genre	Conference
Date(s)	October 25-28, 1876
Frequency	Annually
Venue	Central Methodist church
Location(s)	Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Most recent	150th Annual N.W.C.T.U. Convention, Reno, Nevada, August 2023
Previous event	Second Annual Meeting of the N.W.C.T.U., Cincinnati, Ohio, November 1875
Next event	1877, Chicago, Illinois
Area	United States
Activity	Temperance movement in the United States
Leader	President, Annie Turner Wittenmyer

Last updated October 02, 2023

The Third Annual Meeting of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (N.W.C.T.U.) was held in Newark, New Jersey, October 25-28, 1876. Twenty-two State unions were represented at this meeting, and local unions were reported as having been formed for the first time in Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas, preparatory to State organizations. No officer of the N.W.C.T.U. received a dollar for services or traveling expenses during the year.^[2] Robert's Rules of Order was adopted as the parliamentary authority for the N.W.C.T.U.^[3]

Background

Annie Turner Wittenmyer, President

Frances Willard, Corresponding secretary

Sarah Knowles Bolton, Assistant corresponding secretary

Mary Coffin Johnson, Recording secretary

Mary Towne Burt, Assistant recording secretary

Abby Fisher Leavitt, Treasurer

The convention of the U.S. National Centennial year was held in Newark, New Jersey, in the Central Methodist church, October 25-28. On the first morning, a Bible Reading was conducted by Hannah Whitall Smith, whose name thus appears for the first time, in connection with the W.C.T.U. The addresses of welcome were given by "Mother Hill" of Newark, and Mary R. Denman, New Jersey state president, while the response was voiced by Mary Torrans Lathrap of Michigan. Robert's Rules of Order was adopted as the parliamentary authority for the N.W.C.T.U.^[3]

Disregarding the earnest pleading of her friends, Frances Willard repeated her "women's suffrage speech" at the packed church. Though she was applauded after finishing her speech, the conference chair, Annie Turner Wittenmyer came forward saying, "I wish it clearly understood that the speaker represents herself and not the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, for we do not propose to trail our skirts through the mire of politics."^[4]

It was at this Newark convention that the N.W.C.T.U. motto, "For God and Home and Native Land," was first endorsed. It had come to Frances Willar's thought early in the work and been accepted as the motto of the Chicago W.C.T.U., then of the State of Illinois, and lastly, of the nation. It was at the Newark convention that a majority of the members pledged themselves to pass the cup untasted at the sacramental table, if they knew that it held alcoholic wine.^[4]

At the Newark convention, the N.W.C.T.U. organ was found to be so heavily in debt that its committee of publication resigned, and Jane M. Geddes, of Michigan, Mary Towne Burt, of New York, Caroline Brown Buell, of Connecticut, and Frances Willard volunteered to save the day for this new journalistic venture and literary outgrowth of the Women's Crusade by putting in what money they had as a free-will offering, gathering up gifts from their friends, and agreeing to give several months' gratuitous work to the paper.^[4]

Reports

The corresponding secretary gave reports from 26 states, not all of which were regularly organized. The treasurer reported receipts from 22 states and a total of US$657.85 during the year, with a balance of US$213.63 in the treasury. The report of the corresponding secretary was given by states, and showed marked progress. The following paragraphs sum up of the whole:

"Through the efforts of our committee appointed for that purpose, an International Temperance Convention of Women was held in the Academy of Music, Philadelphia (June 7 to 9 inclusive), which was attended by delegates from nearly all of the states, also from Canada, Great Britain and Japan, and from which resulted an International Woman's Temperance Union, the purpose of which is to bind the hearts and hands of women in all lands in earnest efforts for the overthrow of home's worst enemy.^[3]

Under the auspices of the National Temperance Society (Hon. William E. Dodge , president), an International Convention of temperance men and women immediately succeeded ours, in the same city, our delegates being welcomed to participate in all its deliberations, and several of their number furnishing essays, by special invitation."

Frances Willard also recorded the setting apart of special days for the W.C.T.U. at the large summer gatherings, Old Orchard Beach, Lake Bluff, Chautauqua, Thousand Island Park, and others. The fact that Annie Turner Wittenmyer and Mary Denman had made a trip to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Louisiana in the interests of the organization, and that Mary Coffin Johnson and Mother Stewart had visited Great Britain under the auspices of the International Organisation of Good Templars,^[2] was chronicled. Willard also said:^[3]

"Our Union has circulated the petition to Congress for a Commission of Inquiry into the cost and results of the liquor traffic in America. The desired Commission of Inquiry has been ordered by the Senate, in response to the wish of the united temperance societies of the land, but the subject did not come before the House at the last session."

Certain practical recommendations were given by the secretary. They were: 1. Industrial and evening schools. 2. Work for young women in schools and colleges. 3. A unification of the juvenile work. 4. Union church temperance prayer meetings once a quarter to be secured through the influence of local unions. 5. The circulation of a petition for Home Protection, asking that the ballot on the license question be given to women, also that liquor dealers be required to obtain the signatures of the majority of voters and of women over eighteen years of age before opening shops for the sale of intoxicating drinks.^[3]

The report was accepted, copies were ordered to be published at once for distribution among the delegates, and the recommendations were referred to the Business Committee. Important reports were presented by the Committee on Medical Commission (Wittenmyer, chair), by the standing committee on Young Ladies' Leagues (Willard, chair), by the Lyceum Bureau (Sarah A. McClees, chair), by the Committee on Juvenile Work (Mrs. Dr. Crane, chair), by the Standing Committee on Bible Wines (Wittenmyer, chair), and by Hannah Whitall Smith, chair of the Committee on Resolutions. The first and second resolutions were as follows:^[3]

Resolved, That by prayer, persuasion and petition, we will seek to influence those strongholds of power, the National Congress, state legislatures, and municipal authorities whence the rum-shop derives its safeguards and its guarantees, and

Resolved, That to this end we will combine our efforts to secure such legislation as shall require the liquor dealers in every state, except in such states as have a prohibition law in actual force, to obtain the signatures of a majority of the women over twenty-one years of age, as well as that of the voters of any locality, before opening a place for the sale of intoxicating drinks.

This resolution was adopted and a committee appointed to prepare the Home Protection Petition, Caroline Brown Buell, chair.^[3]

Notable people

The officers elected were the same as the preceding year, (President, Annie Turner Wittenmyer; corresponding secretary, Frances Willard; recording secretary, Mary Coffin Johnson; assistant recording secretary, Mary Towne Burt; treasurer, Abby Fisher Leavitt) with the addition of Sarah Knowles Bolton, who, at Willard's request, was made assistant corresponding secretary.^[3]

At this convention, the name of Lillian M. N. Stevens of Maine was first recorded. She was made chair of the Press Committee.^[3]

Related Research Articles

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far-reaching reform strategies based on applied Christianity." It plays an influential role in the temperance movement. Originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement, the organization supported the 18th Amendment and was also influential in social reform issues that came to prominence in the progressive era.

Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Willard became the national president of Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1879 and remained president until her death in 1898. Her influence continued in the next decades, as the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were adopted. Willard developed the slogan "Do Everything" for the WCTU and encouraged members to engage in a broad array of social reforms by lobbying, petitioning, preaching, publishing, and education. During her lifetime, Willard succeeded in raising the age of consent in many states as well as passing labor reforms including the eight-hour work day. Her vision also encompassed prison reform, scientific temperance instruction, Christian socialism, and the global expansion of women's rights.

Lillian M. N. Stevens (1843–1914) was an American temperance worker and social reformer, born at Dover, Maine. She helped launch the Maine chapter of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.), served as its president, and was elected president of the National W.C.T.U. after the death of Frances Willard. Stevens also served as Editor-in-chief of the W.C.T.U.'s organ, The Union Signal.

Mary Greenleaf Leavitt was an educator and successful orator who became the first round-the-world missionary for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Setting out on virtually non-stop worldwide tours over a decade, she "went to all continents save Antarctica," where she crusaded against alcohol and its evils including domestic violence; and advocated for women's suffrage and other equal rights such as higher education for women. In 1891 she became the honorary life president of the World's WCTU.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annie Turner Wittenmyer</span> American temperance activist

Sarah "Annie" Turner Wittenmyer was an American social reformer, relief worker, and writer. She served as the first President of the Women's Christian Temperance Union from 1874 to 1879. The Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home was renamed the Annie Wittenmyer Home in 1949 in her honor.

The Woman's Temperance Publishing Association (WTPA) was a non-commercial publisher of temperance literature. Established in 1879 in Indianapolis, Indiana during the national convention of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), it was a concept of Matilda Carse, an Irish-born American businesswoman, social reformer and leader of the temperance movement.

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union Administration Building is a historic building in Evanston, Illinois, United States. It has served as the publishing house and national headquarters of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union since its construction in 1910. The organization had an important role in the national discussion on prohibition and women's suffrage.

Mary Towne Burt was a 19th-century American temperance reformer, newspaper publisher, and benefactor from Ohio. Burt was identified with temperance work nearly all her life. She was the first president of the Auburn, New York branch of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and beginning in 1882, served as president of the New York State Society of the Union. In 1875, she became the publisher, and subsequently the editor, of Our Union, the organ of the society, and in 1878–80 was the corresponding secretary of the National Union. For several years, Burt had charge of the legislative interests of the union, and several laws for the protection of women and young girls resulted from her efforts.

Caroline Brown Buell was an American activist who lectured and wrote on behalf of temperance and suffrage. She served as the assistant recording secretary (1878–80), corresponding secretary (1880–93), and a member of the Our Union publication committee (1876–83) of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU); as well as the president (1904) and corresponding secretary (1875–86) of the Connecticut WCTU. She also originated the plan of the Loyal Temperance Legion, the children's society of the WCTU. Buell wrote extensively for temperance publications, and other papers and magazines. She made her home in East Hampton, Connecticut.

Mary Helen Peck Crane was a 19th-century American church and temperance activist, as well as a writer. She was the mother of the writer, Stephen Crane. She died in 1891.

The Temperance movement began long before the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was introduced. Across the country different groups began lobbying for temperance by arguing that alcohol was morally corrupting and hurting families economically, when men would drink their family's money away. This temperance movement paved the way for some women to join the Prohibition movement, which they often felt was necessary due to their personal experiences dealing with drunk husbands and fathers, and because it was one of the few ways for women to enter politics in the era. One of the most notable groups that pushed for Prohibition was the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. On the other end of the spectrum was the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform, who were instrumental in getting the 18th Amendment repealed. The latter organization argued that Prohibition was a breach of the rights of American citizens and frankly ineffective due to the prevalence of bootlegging.

Mary Jane Aldrich was an American temperance reformer, lecturer, and essayist of the long nineteenth century. She served as vice-president of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and president of the Iowa union. At the time of the division in the ranks of the WCTU, Aldrich, with the Iowa union, adhered to the non-partisan temperance work, and became evangelistic secretary of the Non-Partisan National Woman's Christian Temperance Union. As a temperance worker, she was characterized as sanguine and practical. As a speaker, she was bright, forceful, entertaining and logical. She was the author of "Church and Sunday School Temperance Work" (1898).

The Polyglot Petition for Home Protection was the first world-wide proclamation against the manufacturing and international trade in liquor and drugs as well as the prohibition of legalised vice. It served as a first major campaign to raise public awareness of the need for international agreements on controls for opium and its derivatives.

The First Woman's National Temperance Convention was a founding event in the establishment of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).

Women's Christian Temperance Union of New Zealand is a non-partisan, non-denominational, and non-profit organization that is the oldest continuously active national organisation of women in New Zealand. The national organization began in 1885 during the visit to New Zealand by Mary Clement Leavitt, the first world missionary for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. The WCTU NZ was an early branch of the World Woman's Christian Temperance Union and a founding affiliate of the National Council of Women of New Zealand. Men may join the WCTU NZ as honorary members.

The Union Signal is a defunct American newspaper. It was the organ of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (N.W.C.T.U.), at one time, the largest women's organization in the United States. Established in 1874 aa The Woman's Temperance Union, it was renamed in 1877 as Our Union. When Our Union merged with another temperance paper, The Signal, in 1883, the organ's name was changed to The Union Signal. Published in Chicago, Illinois, it focused on the woman's temperance movement in the U.S. Initially, a weekly 16-page illustrated newspaper, it shifted location and publishing schedule before it ceased publication in 2016. The last edition of the N.W.C.T.U.'s quarterly journal, titled The Union Signal, was published in 2015, the main focus of which was current research and information on drugs.

Susanna M. D. Fry was an American educator and temperance worker. Her teaching career began in the primary department of the village school, but her superior ability as a teacher led her swiftly into positions of greater responsibility. Fry was a professor who held the chair of English literature at Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Illinois and at the University of Minnesota. She served as president of the Minnesota Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.), and managing editor of The Union Signal, the organ of the National W.C.T.U. During her career as a professor and as an official of the W.C.T.U., Fry was a frequent speaker in Prohibition campaigns and at temperance conventions. Fry was the only woman chosen from the Methodist church to speak before the Parliament of the World's Religions, 1893.

Margaret Dye Ellis was an American social reformer, lobbyist, and correspondent active in the temperance movement. She served as Superintendent, Legislation, for the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.). in Washington, D.C. for 17 years, looking after reform measures in Congress. Throughout those years, she contributed to the W.C.T.U.'s organ, The Union Signal, a weekly, "Our Washington Letter". She favored woman suffrage and was a social purity activist. Ellis, aided by local and State unions, helped greatly in securing the passage of many reform laws.

Mary R. Denman was an American temperance activist and social reform leader. She was one of the organizers and served as the first president of the New Jersey Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Home for the Friendless and was prominent and active in other charities.

The Second Annual Meeting of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (N.W.C.T.U.) was held in St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal church, Cincinnati, Ohio, November 17-19, 1875.

References

↑ "National Woman's Christian Temperance Union Convention attended by the Jents". fortscott.biz. 16 August 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
1 2 Arthur, Timothy Shay (1888). "The Second Year's Work". Grappling with the Monster: Or, The Curse and the Cure of Strong Drink. Hubbard Bros. pp. 229–230. ISBN 978-1-4142-4822-6 . Retrieved 1 October 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Stevenson, Katharine Lent (1907). "1875-Cincinnati". A Brief History of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union: Outline Course of Study for Local Unions (Third ed.). Evanston, Illinois: Union Signal. pp. 13–24. Retrieved 1 October 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
1 2 3 Willard, Frances Elizabeth (1889). Glimpses of Fifty Years: The Autobiography of an American Woman. G.M. Smith & Company. pp. 351–52. Retrieved 1 October 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

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[fortscott-1] "National Woman's Christian Temperance Union Convention attended by the Jents". fortscott.biz. 16 August 2023. Retrieved 1 October 2023.

[Grappling1888-2] 1 2 Arthur, Timothy Shay (1888). "The Second Year's Work". Grappling with the Monster: Or, The Curse and the Cure of Strong Drink. Hubbard Bros. pp. 229–230. ISBN 978-1-4142-4822-6 . Retrieved 1 October 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

[ABrief1907-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Stevenson, Katharine Lent (1907). "1875-Cincinnati". A Brief History of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union: Outline Course of Study for Local Unions (Third ed.). Evanston, Illinois: Union Signal. pp. 13–24. Retrieved 1 October 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

[Glimpses1889-4] 1 2 3 Willard, Frances Elizabeth (1889). Glimpses of Fifty Years: The Autobiography of an American Woman. G.M. Smith & Company. pp. 351–52. Retrieved 1 October 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

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