Browse Items (18 total)

"Signing the Pledge" tableau diagram

In his popular parlor guide The Sociable, George Arnold included a three-part series of temperance tableaux that contrasts the impact of alcoholism on…

Tags: drama, George Arnold, nineteenth century, parlor drama, parlor guide, tableaux, temperance, the sociable, theater

George Melville Baker

George Melville Baker (1832-1890) was a playwright and publisher based in Boston. He first worked for Lee & Shepard publishers before establishing his…

Tags: Boston, drama, George baker, George melville baker, nineteenth century, parlor drama, parlor guide, playwright, publishing, temperance, theater

Lost and Saved

With words by poet and songwriter Eben Rexford and music by singer, teacher, and composer T. Martin Towne, Lost and Saved was quite elaborate,…

Tags: cantata, chicago, drama, Illinois, musical, nineteenth century, parlor drama, temperance, theater

Julia Colman

Julia Colman (1828-1909) was the superintendent of literature for the WCTU from 1875 to 1890, and she also worked with the National Temperance…

Tags: drama, elocution, Julia Colman, lecture, nineteenth century, oratory, public speaking, scientific temperance, temperance, WCTU, woman's christian temperance union

Oratorical Contest Rules Leaflet, National WCTU Publishing House

This twentieth-century leaflet lists rules for participants and judges in WCTU oratorical contests. It features a “Judge’s Blank” and explains which…

Tags: contest, elocution, nineteenth century, oratory, public speaking, temperance, twentieth century, WCTU, woman's christian temperance union, women's history

Oratorical Contest Medals, 1921

The WCTU’s annual catalog featured images of medals that could be ordered and distributed to winners of oratorical contests. The medals came in…

Tags: contest, elocution, medals, nineteenth century, oratory, prohibition, public speaking, temperance, twentieth century, WCTU, woman's christian temperance union, women's history

Oratorical Prize Medals display

These medals were donated to the Archives by members of the WCTU. Many were won during the 1890s. They represent contests for all age groups and were…

Tags: contest, elocution, medals, nineteenth century, oratory, prohibition, temperance, twentieth century, WCTU, woman's christian temperance union

Elocution Lessons By Mail

Enclosed in all of the medal contest reciters were advertisements for correspondence courses in elocution taught by women from small towns in…

Tags: advertisement, correspondence course, elocution, Illinois, nineteenth century, oratory, temperance, twentieth century, WCTU, woman's christian temperance union, women's history