Temperance collection

Collection

Identifier: Coll. 2093

Staff Only

Scope and Content note

Materials relating to the temperance movement, chiefly in Maine, but also in the U.S. Includes clippings, correspondence, advertisements, ballot information, short stories and poems, sheet music, Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) information, records of various temperance organizations (by-laws, constitutions, membership statistics), laws, posters, minutes, pledges, tavern records, mss., and printed information. Also contains materials of/and relating to Lillian M.N. Stevens and her daughter Gertrude (Stevens) Leavitt, who were involved in the national and state levels of W.C.T.U. Organizations represented include Sons of Temperance of North America, Independent Order of Good Templars, Temperance Watchmen, Rechabites, Neal Institute, and Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

Dates

Creation: 1830 - 1966
Creation: Majority of material found within 1830 - 1920

Creator

Burden, Charles (Compiler, Person)

Access

Unrestricted

Copyright

Access to collections at Maine Historical Society is not an authorization to publish. Rights and reproduction requests may be submitted in writing to the MHS Image Services Coordinator or Research & Administrative Librarian, subject to format.

Administrative and Biographical note

Collection includes items from various temperance organizations and involved individuals, such as, but not limited to:

Sons of Temperance: Founded in 1842 in New York. The organization's motto was "to protect ourselves and others from the evils of Intemperance, afford mutual assistance, and elevate our characters as men." The Sons of Temperance operated at the local, grand (state/province), and national level.

Good Templars: Founded approximately 1852, Fayetteville, NY. Better know as The Independent Order of Good Templars or I.O.G.T. This organization supported temperance and prohibition. The I.O.G.T. was a co-ed organization.

Temperance Watchman: First organized in Durham, Maine, in 1849. A "brotherhood of temperance workers." A newspaper of the same name published in Portland, Me., appears in this collection.

Rechabites: A temperance organization named for a Jewish sect of biblical times. The original sect refused to participate in agriculture, live in houses, drink wine, or adhere to the decadent lifestyle of the followers of Baal. The refusal of wine and decadent life spawned the use of the name for the temperance organization.

Neal Institute: A rehabilitation center for alcohol and substance abuse. Many field branches, including one on Ocean Ave. in Portland, Maine. Operated in the first half of the 20th century.

Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.): Organized in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1874. An organization of women dedicated to temperance and prohibition. Local, state, national and international branches were formed. The W.C.T.U. was also involved in other endeavors such as the Women’s Suffrage Movement. The organization is still operational as of 2003. Lillian Stevens and her daughter Gertrude (see below) played a large role in the Maine chapter of the W.C.T.U., with Lillian Stevens involved at the national and international level.

Lillian M.N. Stevens (1844-1914): Born to Nathaniel and Nancy Parsons Ames on March 1, 1844, Stevens lived in Dover, Me., as a child. Married Michael Stevens of Stroudwater (Portland, Me.), and had one child, Gertrude Stevens. Earned honorable MA from Bates College. She held many important offices at the W.C.T.U.:

President, Maine W.C.T.U. (elected 1878)
National Vice President at large, National W.C.T.U. (elected 1894)
President, National W.C.T.U. (elected 1898)
Vice President at large, World W.C.T.U. (elected 1900)

Stevens was also closely associated with W.C.T.U. support and campaign efforts for the 18th Amendment and the "Do Everything Movement" (see Box 1/Folder 6). She died on April 6, 1914.

Gertrude Stevens Leavitt (1867-1938): Daughter of Lillian M.N. Stevens and Michael Stevens of Stroudwater (Portland, Me.). She was an author, as well as Editor-in-chief of Star of the East, the official newspaper of the Maine W.C.T.U. Information regarding Estnor Castle relates to Gertrude Stevens as a young girl. Lady Henry Somerset visited the Stevens' house in Stroudwater when Gertrude was young. The items in Vols. 19-21 were property of Gertrude Stevens as a younger girl (see Box 1/Folder 6 and Box 4/Vols. 19-21).

Extent

1 Linear Feet (+ 1 flat box, 30 volumes (in one box))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

Collection includes four boxes. Oversized material found in oversize drawer #12, special collections.

Boxes 1 and 2 contain clippings, correspondence, advertisements, ballot information, short stories and poems, sheet music, W.C.T.U. information, various organizations (by-laws, constitutions, membership statistics), pamphlets, laws, public notices, rehabilitation information (Neal Institute) and response to Maine temperance from outside Maine.
Box 3 contains newspapers printed in relation to or for temperance organizations and posters, as well as loose pieces too large for Boxes 1 and 2.
Box 4 contains 21 volumes relating to various temperance organizations/individuals in Maine.

Provenance

Gift of Dr. Charles Burden, February 2002 and November and December 2003 (acc. nos. 2002.062, 2003.267, and 2003.314).

Dr. Charles Burden of Dresden, Maine, was a collector of Temperance paraphernalia. Dr. Burden donated only a portion of his overall Temperance collection with this gift. The original collection donated included 55 19th century books (see inventory), pamphlets, certificates, ephemera, manuscript records ca. 1840-1880s, and various artifacts now in the museum collection (MHS).

In museum

Items located in the MHS museum collection, as of fall 2003:

Framed items:

Certificate, "Young Volunteers Diploma," for Abbie A. Perkins of Hebron, Maine. Boston, Jan. 1, 1865. Engraving (17 ½ x 13 ½).
Certificate, "Brotherhood of Temperance Watchmen," for Wm. Henry Stetson of Patten (?), Maine (?). November 1, 1851. Bros. Thurston & Co., 68 Exchange St., Portland, Me. Two color engraving (18 ½ x 14 ½).
Certificate, "Young Volunteers Diploma," for Edra E. Kuhn (?) of Waldoboro, Maine. Undated. Certificate printed Gardiner, Me., 1868 (20 ¾ x 16 ¾).
Poster, "Frances Willard Centennial." Portland, Maine (?). Sept. 28, 1939. Painted on poster board (26 ½ x 36 ½).

Objects:

Plate (broken with missing piece) "Neal Dow," England. United Kingdom Alliance for the total suppression of the liquor traffic. Belonged to Lillian Stevens (the Neal Dow house has a whole set given to him by the Bristol Temperance Organization). W. Wildblood, Staffordshire, transfer printed pearl ware (6 ½” dia.).