On this date in 1906, the Hope Pioneer reported on a meeting of the local Women’s Christian Temperance Union. The purpose of the organization was to educate about the dangers of alcohol and drugs, and to promote prohibition. During its heyday, the organization played an important part in North Dakota history, expanding its concerns to include women’s suffrage, labor laws, and prison reform.
Susan B. Anthony organized the WCTU in 1874 because men would not allow women to participate in Christian Temperance Meetings. The guys even adding “Men” to the name of their group to make it clear that women were not welcome.
Jamestown hosted the state’s first WCTU convention in 1890. The meeting drew a huge crowd, largely because the keynote speaker was Susan B. Anthony. The organization quickly caught on across the state.
Prohibition has a solid history in North Dakota. In 1887 the territorial legislature gave communities the right to enforce prohibition on a local level. When the vote on the state constitution was held, an amendment approving prohibition passed on a narrow vote. The saloons closed on July 1, 1890. North Dakota became a dry state, but illegal alcohol remained readily available.
As part of its effort, the WCTU urged members to erect public drinking fountains. The hope was that men would take advantage of the free water instead of going into the secretive illegal saloons for stronger drink. One of the remaining WCTU fountains can be found in Park River.
The North Dakota chapters also supported the goal of national prohibition. This was accomplished when the 18th Amendment was passed in 1919. As prohibition became a nationwide reality, the membership of the WCTU began to decline.
After prohibition was repealed in 1933, North Dakota also began to relax liquor laws by allowing beer sales. Hard liquor followed in 1936. The “noble experiment” was officially a failure.
The WCTU is still active today, opposing the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs. It operates a publishing house and offers programs to schools, but the membership is just a sliver of its peak in 1931.
Dakota Datebook by Carole Butcher
Sources:
Hope Pioneer. “W.C.T.U. Meeting.” 22 November 1906. Hope ND. Page 1.
Merry Helm. “Susan B. Anthony.” Dakota Datebook. 28 September 2005.
Minnesota State University Moorhead. “Women’s Christian Temperance Union of Fargo-Moorhead.” https://www.mnstate.edu/northwest-mn/guide/s4860.aspx Accessed 28 October 2018.
NDSU Archives. “Women’s Christian Temperance Union.” https://library.ndsu.edu/fargo-history/?q=content/womens-christian-temperance-union Accessed 28 October 2018.
History. “Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.” https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/womans-christian-temperance-union Accessed 28 October 2018.
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. https://www.wctu.org/home.html Accessed 28 October 2018.
Mandan Historical Society. “The Battle with the Bottle.” http://www.mandanhistory.org/areahistory/prohibitioninmandan.html Accessed 28 October 2018.
