Women in the United States Prohibition movement

Women's Crusade The Women's Crusade was the precursor to the Women's Christian Temperance Union. It was also known as the Women's Praying Crusade in response to their tactic of praying publicly in front of saloons. It started as a religious group, motivated by their determination to end the alcoholism that they saw as a social ill. The Crusade was organized in Ohio in 1874 and created an opportunity for women to promote national temperance. Unlike the WCTU, the Women's Crusade was not a political organization and had the sole focus of temperance. The movement started due to the lectures given by Dr. Diocletian Lewis, who told the story of his mother getting a saloon to close by praying and singing. Though his techniques had been tried before, they had had limited success. The movement began to have success in Hillsboro, Ohio, where men and women who heard his lecture excitedly decided to try his methods. Men provided financial and emotional support, but women were the face of the movement. Hillsboro had moderate success, but it was after another one of Lewis’ lectures in Washington Court House, Ohio, that the movement really began to have success. After Hillsboro and Washington Court House, crusades erupted in small towns all over Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. There was some success in towns like Philadelphia, but the most successful crusades were in smaller towns. Nationwide a total of 750 breweries closed, and many shopkeepers pledged to sell alcohol only to those with prescriptions. == Women's Christian Temperance Union ==

The Women's Christian Temperance Union was organized on November 18, 1874, in Cleveland, Ohio. The organization did not purely focus on temperance, but also promoted other social controls and the issue of equality for women. These other issues were part of Willard's “Do Everything” policy. The WCTU was united under a common leader, Willard, but had significant autonomy for local chapters. Willard often traveled the country to promote the WCTU and visit local chapters. She visited Texas in 1882 and California in 1883. These visits inspired rapid membership growth. == Notable women in the movement ==

There were many women that gained prominence during the Prohibition era, whether supporting or fighting the 18th Amendment. Among them were Presidents and members of the WCTU, and founders of the WONPR. Annie Wittenmyer Annie Wittenmyer was born Annie Turner in Ohio in 1827. After the Civil War, Annie aligned herself with the Women's Crusade. She went to a convention in Cleveland, Ohio, where the Women's Christian Temperance Union was formed and she was voted as the first official president. Annie worked closely with Frances Willard, who was the secretary. They had opposing views regarding the WCTU's involvement in women's suffrage, so Annie became president of a new faction, the Non-Partisan Women's Christian Temperance Union (the group would not involve itself with women's suffrage). Willard was a very spiritual woman due to her upbringing and a brush with death when she was 19. She was very interested in the Women's Crusade, and eventually became the President of the Chicago chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, despite a higher paying job offer at a college. Five years later she was voted into the Presidency of the entire Women's Christian Temperance Union. As the President, she gained national recognition and was praised for her competence. She is most famous for her extreme opposition of alcohol and taking action by destroying bars and saloons with a hatchet. Carrie was very religious and would often pray or sing while swinging her hatchet across the United States. During her time and in history books, Carrie has been depicted as unnecessarily violent and domineering in her support of the Prohibition movement. No group claims that she was a part of what they stood for (feminists, various Christian religions, the WCTU). Carrie also published The Smasher’s Mail newspaper where people sent in their reactions to the destroying of saloons, which Carrie saw as a noble cause. Some people praised her actions, while others were more than angry with the way she handled violations of the Prohibition. Anna Gordon Anna Gordon was born in Boston on July 21, 1853. She joined the Women's Christian Temperance Union after becoming Frances Willard’s private secretary. Pauline Morton Sabin Pauline Morton Sabin was born in 1887 to a wealthy family. After her divorce and subsequent remarriage to Charles Hamilton Sabin, she became involved in charity and political work. She organized Republican meetings and parties on her estate, leading her to eventually found the National Women’s Republican Club in 1921. She was the first woman to serve on the National Republican Committee. She continued work in politics, eventually campaigning for Herbert Hoover in the 1928 election. Her work in Prohibition was inspired by her distaste for the hypocrisy of politicians who supported Prohibition only in public and the clear ineffectiveness of the law. She had supported Herbert Hoover, a Prohibitionist, but after his inaugural address decided to organize the anti-Prohibitionist women of America against the party’s platform. == Opposition ==

There was opposition to Prohibition during and after the fight for it. The belief that women would vote as a block, a widespread fear during the suffrage movement, was proven wrong with the development of the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform. There were also many women who joined auxiliary groups to fight alongside their husbands or other male relations against the Eighteenth Amendment. Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform The Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform was organized on May 28th, 1929 in Chicago. Five national committees were formed, including: Investigation, Publicity, Speakers’ Bureau, Legislative, and Membership. The organization was financed by voluntary contributions and not membership dues. At their peak they had over a million members. Bootleggers Most recorded bootleggers were men involved in shady business that had connections to crime lords, but women were typically overlooked in this particular practice. There were many female bootleggers, but only 173 individual cases were recorded. Of those recorded cases, there were certain demographic patterns. Most female bootleggers were mothers who were trying to financially support their families, whether they were widows or not. Mothers usually stayed home to take care of their children and brewing alcohol was not a challenge with privacy and access to kitchens. A majority of female bootleggers were immigrants. They felt more justified in their actions since they had come from various cultures that did not see the creation or consumption of alcohol as an issue. Changes in social life Before Prohibition women generally stayed away from saloons and bars, mostly drinking behind the closed doors of their own homes. During Prohibition, however, women started occupying more public areas such as speakeasies. Breaking rules seemed to appeal to a large population of women and drinking in a public setting was no longer limited to those considered to have low morals. == African American women ==

Bootlegging Out of the 173 cases of recorder female bootleggers, six of them were African American women. It is unknown as to why this ratio is low. African Americans generally opposed Prohibition, but there has been little investigation on their role in bootlegging. They were either majorly unrepresented, or they followed the law despite their general feelings about Prohibition. == Reactions to the movement ==

There were mixed reactions to the movement. Some thought that they were pursuing a noble cause, but others believed that Prohibition was a failure and an overreach on the part of the government. The newspaper Carrie Nation was an editor for in Topeka, Kansas, was titled The Smasher’s Mail and published scathing reviews of Nation's actions the first week of February, 1901. Some of those that wrote in claimed that God was in favor of saloons and criticized her for saying she was a follower of God. Others praised her for her actions. == See also ==