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The '''Woman's Christian Temperance Union''' is an American woman's group based in pietistic Protestant with the mission of purifying the nation, especially by reducing drunkenness and eliminating saloons. The members soon discovered they needed the vote to become politically effective, so they fought for woman suffrage.  

The '''Woman's Christian Temperance Union''' was an American woman's group based in pietistic Protestantism that had the mission of purifying the nation, especially by reducing drunkenness and eliminating saloons. The members soon discovered they needed the vote to become politically effective, so they fought for women's suffrage.  

The Women's Crusade of spring 1874 led to the organization of the national and state Woman's Christian Temperance Union - the first major women's organization to exclude men. It gave women a sense of solidarity, a public forum in which to train in politics, a broadened outlook, and interdenominational contacts. Members were married, well-educated, affluent, and of main-line Protestant, professional families.<ref>see [http://www.wctu.org/crusades.html WCTU statement</ref> the WTCU was a prominent support force for [[Prohibition]] in the late 19th century.  It had hundreds of local affiliates across the U.S., Canada and Australia. The WCTU was a watershed in the self-perception of women which represented a real, if only partially conscious, commitment to the idea that women could legitimately function in the public realm. Linked backwards to the national issues of abolition and revivalism in the 1830s and continued by the public debate over liquor licensing in 1873-74, the temperance crusade, by working within the traditional bounds of home and morality, widened the accepted spheres of women's activity.<ref> Bordin (1981)</ref>  

The Women's Crusade of spring 1874 led to the organization of the national and state Woman's Christian Temperance Union - the first major women's organization to exclude men. It gave women a sense of solidarity, a public forum in which to train in politics, a broadened outlook, and interdenominational contacts. Members were married, well-educated, affluent, and of main-line Protestant, professional families.<ref>see [http://www.wctu.org/crusades.html WCTU statement</ref> the WTCU was a prominent support force for [[Prohibition]] in the late 19th century.  It had hundreds of local affiliates across the U.S., Canada and Australia. The WCTU was a watershed in the self-perception of women which represented a real, if only partially conscious, commitment to the idea that women could legitimately function in the public realm. Linked backwards to the national issues of abolition and revivalism in the 1830s and continued by the public debate over liquor licensing in 1873-74, the temperance crusade, by working within the traditional bounds of home and morality, widened the accepted spheres of women's activity.<ref> Bordin (1981)</ref>  

The WCTU based its broad reform campaigns on women's "natural" moral superiority and on the public virtue of motherhood. Such a conservative foundation, combined with the organization's commitment to a very wide range of social issues, permitted the active involvement of both conservatives and radicals. The World WCTU Convention of 1920 addressed world peace, suffrage, domestic violence, and prostitution, as well as alcoholism.  

The WCTU based its broad reform campaigns on women's "natural" moral superiority and on the public virtue of motherhood. Such a conservative foundation, combined with the organization's commitment to a very wide range of social issues, permitted the active involvement of both conservatives and radicals. The World WCTU Convention of 1920 addressed world peace, suffrage, domestic violence, and prostitution, as well as alcoholism.  

Purity crusades, including efforts to stamp out pornographyt and prostitution, were major activities. The Department for the Promotion of Purity in Literature and Art was established in 1883. Its strategy was to use "pure culture" to effect the moral transformation of youth. The WCTU worked for legal censorship, published magazines for children and young adults, distributed inexpensive reproductions of famous paintings, and promoted and produced pro-temperance films. In this way, middle-class Americans sought to create and support middlebrow culture.<ref> Alison M. Parker, "'Hearts Uplifted And Minds Refreshed': The Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Production of Pure Culture in the United States, 1880-1930." ''Journal of Women's History'' 1999 11(2): 135-158. 1042-7961 </ref>  

Purity crusades, including efforts to stamp out pornography and prostitution, were major activities. The Department for the Promotion of Purity in Literature and Art was established in 1883. Its strategy was to use "pure culture" to effect the moral transformation of youth. The WCTU worked for legal censorship, published magazines for children and young adults, distributed inexpensive reproductions of famous paintings, and promoted and produced pro-temperance films. In this way, middle-class Americans sought to create and support middlebrow culture.<ref> Alison M. Parker, "'Hearts Uplifted And Minds Refreshed': The Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Production of Pure Culture in the United States, 1880-1930." ''Journal of Women's History'' 1999 11(2): 135-158. 1042-7961 </ref>  

The WCTU archives are in the Frances E. Willard Memorial Library, Evanston, Illinois,  

The WCTU archives are in the Frances E. Willard Memorial Library, Evanston, Illinois,