Forgotten Temperance Reformers

This book is a collection of biographies of leaders in the temperance movement: Margaret Fison, Sir Thomas Whittaker, Arthur Sherwell, Jessie Forsyth and Guy Hayler. All five of the forgotten temperance reformers were prolific writers. Recovering the lives and works of these forgotten women and men enhances our understanding of the temperance movement. This book will be of special interest for anyone interested in the lost history of social movements, academics and researchers.

Excerpt from The Temperance Reformation: Its History, From the Organization of the First Temperance Society to the Adoption of the Liquor Law of Maine, 1851; And the Consequent Influence of the Promulgation of That Law on the Political Interest of the State of New York, 1852 Reformation. I understand he is about publishing it. I trust it Will find its way into every family in the nation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The truth behind the amazing work of the women of the temperance movement. In a time when women had no vote, their temperance work made the voices of many heard and their actions count. Exploring a forgotten but vital element of women’s history, Scandal, Salvation and Suffrage demonstrates how closely the temperance campaign was linked to the fight for suffrage. Told through the true stories of real women, we see how they rose above their status as ‘the weaker sex’ to campaign for restrictions on the sale of alcohol, having recognised that many social problems were caused by excessive drinking – an issue still prevalent today. Some women were admirable but not likeable, while others were more radical and ahead of their time. Sex, slander and scandal all feature in their stories. This book leaves the reader to decide whether there are any lessons to be learned today from the work of these remarkable women and encourages us to remember their hard work and determination. Based on considerable research but written in an accessible way, Scandal, Salvation and Suffrage aims to celebrate the work of these extraordinary women and will appeal to those who enjoy social and women’s history. It is not aimed at totallers; readers can – and should – raise a toast to these extraordinary women.

Sabine N. Meyer eschews the generalities of other temperance histories to provide a close-grained story about the connections between alcohol consumption and identity in the upper Midwest. Meyer examines the ever-shifting ways that ethnicity, gender, class, religion, and place interacted with each other during the long temperance battle in Minnesota. Her deconstruction of Irish and German ethnic positioning with respect to temperance activism provides a rare interethnic history of the movement. At the same time, she shows how women engaged in temperance work as a way to form public identities and reforges the largely neglected, yet vital link between female temperance and suffrage activism. Relatedly, Meyer reflects on the continuities and changes between how the movement functioned to construct identity in the heartland versus the movement's more often studied roles in the East. She also gives a nuanced portrait of the culture clash between a comparatively reform-minded Minneapolis and dynamic anti-temperance forces in whiskey-soaked St. Paul--forces supported by government, community, and business institutions heavily invested in keeping the city wet.

Given the current concerns about binge drinking, the national alcohol strategy, and the new Licensing Act, alcohol issues are high on the policy and public agendas. However, the history in this debate is relatively under-exploited and the historical role of temperance rarely drawn upon. This timely report looks back at the role of temperance and considers how the lessons learned and the principles of the Temperance Movement can be applied to alcohol use in today's society. It draws on existing literature about temperance and reviews how the models it offered can be brought into present day thinking and debate. The report also examines whether abstinence changes personal behaviour, and and how it corresponds with structural factors, such as licensing and taxation, as well as environmental improvement. Whilst the nineteenth century mass movement of temperance cannot be recreated in the same way today as it was in Victorian Britain, the author argues that it does present models for current strategies and can lead to discussion of how to achieve cultural change in mass society. Temperance outlines how the legacy of temperance has been expressed in recent decades and how this may be built upon today, raising issues for current policy making.