Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

Physical characteristics and conditions affect use of this material.

Preferred Citation

Woman's Christian Temperance Union Collection (M 101), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

2004.0001, 2013.0160

Processing Information

Processed by Ashley Swartwout, 1 July 2014

Historical Information

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union was founded in November 1878 in Cleveland, Ohio. The organization encouraged abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, and drugs as part of its mission of reform. Local chapters of the WCTU were called unions. While unions worked closely with the state and national organizations, they were largely autonomous and could choose to work for reforms that would be most beneficial in their local communities.

Loudoun County was home to several unions of WCTU. The Lincoln WCTU was founded in 1878 (the first local union in Virginia), the Young Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Hamilton in 1894, and the Purcellville WCTU in 1913. All the clubs worked to decrease alcoholism among the people of Loudoun County, and they all promoted the value of temperance to children. The Purcellville WCTU had a special emphasis on teaching children about the dangers of alcohol. The clubs taught children through school textbooks, speech contests, and Sunday school programs. The unions raised money through membership dues and by hosting bazaars and dinners. They used these funds, along with charitable donations, to purchase temperance literature from the National WCTU Publishing House in Evanston, Illinois, and to send members to the Virginia WCTU annual state convention. The unions also actively worked to promote the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the production, transportation, and sale of alcohol. The amendment eventually passed and took effect in 1920, but the women of the WCTU continued their work of discouraging the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. The Lincoln WCTU was the most active union in Loudoun County, and it remained active into the 1960s.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of minutes and treasurer's books from the Hamilton, Lincoln, and Purcellville WCTUs, as well as an assortment of documents from the state-wide Virginia WCTU and undated literature from the National WCTU Publishing House. Additionally, the Lincoln WCTU has bank records, processed checks, and used checkbooks.

Arrangement

Chronological

Related Material

None

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Ironmonger, Elizabeth Hogg, and Pauline Landrum Phillips. History of The Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Virginia and A Glimpse of Seventy-Five Years, 1883-1958. Richmond VA: Cavalier Press, 1958.

Woman's Christian Temperance Union Collection (M 101), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Early History. www.wctu.org/earlyhistory.html (accessed 7 July 2014)

Other Finding Aid

None

Technical Requirements

None