By Phyllis Kirkwood
A look into the minutes of the Women’s
Christian Temperance Union Newberg Chapter from 1888, held in the archives of
George Fox University, reveals a small but active group of ladies dedicated to
educating the community about the evils of drinking. Mrs. Haworth, Mrs. Edwards, and Mrs. Hoskins
were among these prohibition warriors who organized dinners, passed out
literature, and monitored the polls.
Their influence may have helped to delay the advent of liquor sales in
Newberg until the year 1966.
![]() |
Evangeline Martin, one of the members of the Newberg Women's Christian Temperance Union, with her Newberg Friends Church Sunday school class, including a young Herbert Hoover on the far right front row. Circa 1885. Photo courtesy of the George Fox University Archives. |
The
Superintendent of Press Work sent a weekly column to the newly- established Newberg
Graphic. The Committee on the Band of Hope held meetings with children and
youth in which the young people were encouraged to sign a pledge not to
drink. Delegates were sent to District
and State Conventions. The Union maintained an extensive list of honorary
members, including men who agreed with their cause.
An ecumenical
group, meetings were often held in the members’ homes, Friends Hall, the
Evangelical Church or “The Academy” (precursor to Pacific College, founded in
1891, which became George Fox University).
They would often pay a man fifty cents to build a fire in the stove.
Meetings consisted of devotional readings, essays written and read by members,
committee reports, and strategic planning.
Committee superintendents not turning in a report might be fined and their
names listed in the minutes as being delinquent.
Prohibition was
not the only concern of the Union. The
Committee on Sabbath Desecration visited the owner of Wald’s Drug Store to
encourage him not to open the store on Sunday.
The Ladies were influential in having inappropriate pictures removed
from the train station and created an attractive reading room with wholesome
literature. They supported the
Industrial Home in Portland, the efforts of White Shield to aid
unwed mothers, and distributed information on personal hygiene. They advocated for public kindergarten nearly
a hundred years before its adoption in Oregon.
The W.C.T. U.
minutes, written in the swirling Spencerian penmanship of the day, provide a
window into community activism more than a century ago, the spirit of which continues to this day.
Comments
Post a Comment