The Temperance Speaker
Dublin Core
Title
The Temperance Speaker
Description
The Temperance Speaker represents an American-produced contribution to the vast offerings of juvenile temperance “reciters.” It was published by the National Temperance Society and Publication House (NTS), which was founded in 1865 in Saratoga Springs, New York. The society was made up of two committees that combined organizational activism with the circulation of temperance literature. The Publications Committee published and distributed books, tracts, pamphlets, textbooks, and monthly periodicals for children and adults.
J. N. Stearns served as the publishing agent for the NTS during the 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s, and he edited many of its volumes. In his Preface to The Temperance Speaker, Stearns articulated temperance activists’ special concern for young people: “If the Temperance Reformation is ever to be successful, the children and youth must be early taught the blessings which result from a life of total abstinence, and the evils which arise from the use of the intoxicating cup.” Like the Onward Reciter, The Temperance Speaker also expresses a desire to bring high-quality literature to young people: “Among the Speeches, Dialogues, and Recitations will be found gems of the first water from some of our best writers and speakers… they not only have weight as thoughts on the great question of Temperance, but they also have literary merit of a high order, and will command the attention of men and women of culture for their artistic value and their beauty of rhetorical expression.”
Intended for use in day schools, Sunday schools, and temperance youth groups, the dialogues, “declamations in prose,” and “declamations in verse” address the effects of a father’s drinking on his family; the dangers of taking one drink; total abstinence as preferable to moderate alcohol consumption; signing the temperance pledge; and fighting for political and legislative change. Many pieces, including “Woman’s Influence,” “Woman’s Mission,” “Woman’s Duty,” and “What Two Little Girls Did,” celebrate women’s reform work and female moral influence. While these selections implied that women bore responsibility to reform drunken men, they also encouraged girls to see themselves as active participants in the temperance movement through organizational activism and personal interaction.
J. N. Stearns served as the publishing agent for the NTS during the 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s, and he edited many of its volumes. In his Preface to The Temperance Speaker, Stearns articulated temperance activists’ special concern for young people: “If the Temperance Reformation is ever to be successful, the children and youth must be early taught the blessings which result from a life of total abstinence, and the evils which arise from the use of the intoxicating cup.” Like the Onward Reciter, The Temperance Speaker also expresses a desire to bring high-quality literature to young people: “Among the Speeches, Dialogues, and Recitations will be found gems of the first water from some of our best writers and speakers… they not only have weight as thoughts on the great question of Temperance, but they also have literary merit of a high order, and will command the attention of men and women of culture for their artistic value and their beauty of rhetorical expression.”
Intended for use in day schools, Sunday schools, and temperance youth groups, the dialogues, “declamations in prose,” and “declamations in verse” address the effects of a father’s drinking on his family; the dangers of taking one drink; total abstinence as preferable to moderate alcohol consumption; signing the temperance pledge; and fighting for political and legislative change. Many pieces, including “Woman’s Influence,” “Woman’s Mission,” “Woman’s Duty,” and “What Two Little Girls Did,” celebrate women’s reform work and female moral influence. While these selections implied that women bore responsibility to reform drunken men, they also encouraged girls to see themselves as active participants in the temperance movement through organizational activism and personal interaction.
Creator
J. N. Stearns
Source
The Temperance Speaker: A Collection of Original and Selected Dialogues, Addresses and Recitations, for the Use of Temperance Organizations, Schools, Bands of Hope, Anniversaries, Etc. ed. J. N. Stearns (New York: National Temperance Society and Publication House, 1876).
Publisher
National Temperance Society and Publication House
Date
1876
Files
Collection
Reference
J. N. Stearns, The Temperance Speaker, National Temperance Society and Publication House, 1876
Cite As
J. N. Stearns, “The Temperance Speaker,” Performing Temperance, accessed April 20, 2024, https://franceswillardhouseperformingtemperance.omeka.net/items/show/10.