Twentieth Century Temperance Drama

Twentieth Century Temperance Drama

As the twentieth century ushered in changing forms of dramatic and narrative media, temperance advocates adapted their reform message to new print and performance genres. Early cinema directors drew on nineteenth-century temperance melodramas as source material. WCTU members, meanwhile, attempted to censor movies they deemed offensive or potentially dangerous for young viewers while creating their own “wholesome” and educational films. In 1925 the National WCTU renamed its Department for the Promotion of Purity in Literature and Art the Department of Motion Pictures. The National WCTU also formed a Department of Radio that was particularly active during the late 1930s and 1940s. At the behest of the national department, members of state and local unions wrote and delivered their own radio plays.

Temperance reformers also recognized the potential of the growing field of children’s drama. The WCTU published plays, skits, and pageants for amateur and educational settings. These were printed by the National WCTU Publishing House, which was located in Evanston at what is now the Frances E. Willard Memorial Library and WCTU Archives. Some of these dramatic materials utilized aspects of the Creative Drama methodology developed by theater educator Winifred Ward at the Northwestern University School of Speech. Ward studied elocution with Northwestern Professor Robert Cumnock, the same man who had trained Frances Willard.

The WCTU Archives contain 260 plays, skits, pageants, stories, and dialogues written, published, and staged by WCTU members. What follows is a small sample. These scripts address a variety of political, social, and religious topics, including temperance, prohibition, child welfare, woman’s suffrage, international relations, peace, health, scientific temperance, religious education, missionary work, charity, and social service. Many dramatize the life and work of Frances Willard, the revered second President of the National WCTU. After her death in 1898, she became a legendary figure in the temperance movement.