Browse Items (30 total)

Total Abstinence Teaching in Recitation and Story, National WCTU Publishing House

Billed as “stories for the adult to tell and the child to recite,” these selections were approved for the WCTU’s junior speech contests, which were…

Tags: children, contest, elocution, oratory, recitation, story, storytelling, temperance, twentieth century, WCTU, woman's christian temperance union

Jane Good, The Uncrowned Queen, Northwestern School of Speech, 1939

The Uncrowned Queen was advertised to Woman’s Clubs, Parent-Teacher Associations, churches, “Business and Professional Women’s clubs” and other groups…

Tags: children, creative drama, drama, elocution, Frances Willard, monologue, northwestern university, solo performance, temperance, theater, twentieth century, WCTU, woman's christian temperance union

J. N. Stearns, The Temperance Speaker, National Temperance Society and Publication House, 1876

The Temperance Speaker represents an American-produced contribution to the vast offerings of juvenile temperance “reciters.” It was published by the…

Tags: children, children's literature, dialogue, elocution, lecture, literature, lyceum, national temperance society, nineteenth century, oratory, poetry, public speaking, recitation, story, temperance, WCTU, woman's christian temperance union, women's history

Lizzie Penney, The Temperance Platform, National Temperance Society and Publication House, 1896

The Temperance Platform, again compiled by Lizzie Penney, was intended for an older audience. Penney claimed that the book was created “In answer to a…

Tags: elocution, lecture, lyceum, national temperance society, nineteenth century, oratory, public speaking, temperance, twentieth century, WCTU, woman's christian temperance union, women's history

George Melville Baker, The Temperance Drama

George Melville Baker’s collection features eight original temperance dramas that were also published separately “for the convenience of performers.”…

Tags: blackface, drama, farce, George baker, George melville baker, nineteenth century, parlor drama, parlor guide, temperance, theater

Doris Smith, The Spirit of Frances Willard: A Pageant, National WCTU Publishing House, 1923

Doris Smith’s “pageant play of Health and Temperance” was written “particularly for Frances Willard Day in our public schools.” Frances Willard is to…

Tags: children, drama, Frances Willard, pageant, temperance, theater, twentieth century, WCTU, woman's christian temperance union

William Darrah, The Onward Reciter, 1872

The Onward Reciter is a product of the Band of Hope movement in Northern England, specifically Lancashire and Cheshire. Most of the selections were…

Tags: band of hope, Britain, children, children's literature, elocution, England, lecture, lyceum, nineteenth century, oratory, poetry, recitation, story, temperance, youth group

Lizzie Penney, The National Temperance Orator, National Temperance Society and Publication House, 1884

The National Temperance Orator is one of the many “reciters” compiled by Lizzie Penney for the National Temperance Society, for which Penney also…

Tags: elocution, lecture, lyceum, national temperance society, nineteenth century, oratory, public speaking, temperance, WCTU, woman's christian temperance union, women's history

Mrs. W. P. Chase, The Crusade Story: A Pageant, National WCTU Publishing House, ca. 1925

This pageant is an adaptation of the story of the Woman’s Crusade as described by Elizabeth Putnam Gordon in Women Torch-Bearers: The Story of the…

Tags: adaptation, drama, nineteenth century, pageant, temperance, theater, twentieth century, WCTU, woman's christian temperance union, women's crusade

Anna A. Gordon, The Children's Tribute to the Prohibition States: A Prohibition Playlet, National WCTU Publishing House, ca. 1916

Anna Gordon, Frances Willard’s personal secretary and fourth president of the WCTU, authored many stories, verse, and songs for children. Sales of her…

Tags: Anna Gordon, children, drama, Frances Willard, pageant, play, playlet, prohibition, temperance, theater, twentieth century, WCTU, woman's christian temperance union