The White Ribbon Army Reconsidered

In honor of the WCTU’s 150th anniversary, The White Ribbon Army Reconsidered provides a much-needed reflection on what was once the largest and most influential women’s political organization in the United States.

Originating as a series of local temperance crusades in 1873, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) coalesced in November 1874 and soon became the largest women’s political organization in the United States. As champions of social reform, members identified themselves by the white ribbon bows they pinned to their dresses, a symbol of purity and commitment to the temperance cause, inspiring the nickname “the White Ribbon Army.”

Following president Frances Willard’s command to “Do Everything,” the WCTU developed a wide sphere of influence in social reform circles—well beyond Prohibition, and well beyond the United States. The WCTU’s global agenda included other reforms related to women’s traditional role as the center of the home and family, including suffrage, prison reform, and education. In the twentieth century, its message and methods inspired and mobilized not only white evangelical Protestant women but also those from other Christian denominations, racial and ethnic minorities, and their husbands and children who joined auxiliary organizations.

But what was once a powerful, organized global force has become an amorphous and contradictory caricature. The WCTU has been portrayed as socialist and ultra-conservative, ineffectual and powerful, inclusive and divisive. Its long-term legacy as an influential women’s network has been left underexamined, and there is a need for a reevaluation of the organization.

Marking the WCTU’s 150th anniversary, The White Ribbon Army Reconsidered brings together scholars from women’s and public history, political science, rhetoric, and religious studies. Its twelve essays explore the WCTU’s broad impact on politics, society, and culture, acknowledging the WCTU’s complexities and contradictions to provide a fresh reassessment of this once-powerful organization and to inspire further research.

Adam Chamberlain is professor of political science at Coastal Carolina University.

Janet Olson is the former archivist at the Frances Willard House Museum and WCTU Archives in Evanston, IL.

Alixandra B. Yanus is professor of political science at High Point University and the former Daniel German Visiting Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Appalachian State University.