Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of minute books, financial records, correspondence, programs, and miscellaneous notes, publications, and other materials documenting the meetings, membership, and activities of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) in Putnam County, Illinois, both on the county and local level from the late 19th through the mid-twentieth century.
Records from the local Magnolia Center/McNabb W.C.T.U. make up the bulk of the collection. Begun in June 25, 1889 as the Magnolia Center W.C.T.U., in 1907 members voted to change its name to the McNabb W.C.T.U. after another local union was established at Magnolia. Minute books record summaries of the group's meetings held in members' homes once or twice a month, as well as membership rolls and the pledge and/or constitution of the organization. They detail songs sung, scripture passages read, topics and publications discussed, talks and instruction given, charitable and social welfare efforts, as well as district, state, and national W.C.T.U. connections. Two histories of the group, circa 1920 and 1958, a set of membership slips from 1927, and correspondence including an exchange with Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt are also included.
In addition to local records, there are minute books for the annual or biannual Putnam County W.C.T.U. meetings. These include updates from local unions, resolutions passed, and other details. The collection also includes programs from several local, county, and district meetings, state and national publications, and miscellaneous financial and other records. A minute book for another local temperance group, the Center Red Ribbon Club, which sent delegates to the Putnam County W.C.T.U. convention, is also included among the records. The club's monthly meetings included a combination of discussion questions, recitations and remarks, speeches, papers, and music.
The records are believed to have been acquired by the Library in the late 1970s as part of an accession primarily composed of Religious Society of Friends records.
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