Oberlin Temperance Alliance Records

Collection

Identifier: RG 31-032

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The records (2 vols.) are mainly those of the executive committee plus newspaper clippings that report upon annual meetings and other activities of the Alliance. The clippings are pasted into the volumes in chronological sequence. The first 18 pages of volume one contain records of the “Oberlin Temperance League,” February 1, 1870, to May 1, 1874. This group apparently disbanded on the latter date because all cash on hand was turned over to the newly formed Alliance. Included are a few financial records, 1902-17, consisting of a bank book and receipts. There is also a “History of the Oberlin Temperance War,” 1882 (20 pp.; printed).

Dates

Creation: 1870-1917
Creation: Majority of material found in 1874-1910

Creator

Oberlin Temperance Alliance (Organization)
Oberlin Temperance League (Organization)

Conditions Governing Use

Unrestricted

Administrative History

The Oberlin Temperance Alliance was founded in March 1874 with the statement that its object was “by all lawful measures, to suppress the traffic in, and use of, intoxicating liquors.” Anyone could become a member by signing a pledge. The immediate cause of its creation was to put a stop to the sale of liquor at Oberlin drugstores. The executive committee of the Alliance was empowered to call public meetings, raise funds by subscription and otherwise, to prosecute law suits, and in other ways to support the interests of total abstinence in the community. Oberlin College President James Fairchild was the Alliance’s first president. The membership of the Alliance was apparently all male, since the Women’s Christian Temperance Union organizations worked in cooperation with it.

The Alliance rallied public sentiment against liquor sales and use, supported legislation prohibiting the sale of alcohol, tried to talk saloon keepers into closing operations and druggists out of selling intoxicants, and helped defend members if they were legally threatened for their activities. Its methods included keeping watch upon the activities of suspected individuals or firms, and in order to do this sympathetic students were occasionally paid to frequent the billiard hall or other “questionable” place.

Note written by William E. Bigglestone.