Thumbnail Image
Publication

“Children in Misery” or young crusaders?: the political utilization of children by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union

Journal Title
Keywords
Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Social anthropology/ethnography
 Research Subject Categories::HUMANITIES and RELIGION::History and philosophy subjects::History subjects::History
 Women
 Children
 Alcohol
 Women’s Christian Temperance Union
 Prohibition
Readers/Advisors
Journal Title
Term and Year
Publication Date
2020-05
Book Title
Publication Volume
Publication Issue
Publication Begin
Publication End
Number of pages
Collections
SUNY New Paltz Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection
Show all metadata
Files
Thumbnail Image
Murphy_Honors.pdf
Adobe PDF, 10.46 MB
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12648/1625
Abstract
This paper discusses the Women’s Christian Temperance Union’s use of children for political purposes during their fight for Prohibition. In an effort to sympathize their mission and to create a sense of urgency around the banning of alcohol, members of the WCTU created an image of children as victims in their propaganda. However, the WCTU understood the importance of creating future voters, and so often created propaganda that presented children as active heroes. This conflicting portrayal of children showed that the WCTU used children as political tools and used such contrasting portrayals to reach a political goal rather than aptly represent children of alcoholic families. To understand this relationship between the WCTU and children, I analyzed posters created by the WCTU that present children as victims of alcohol and then content produced directly for children by the WCTU.
Citation
DOI
Description
Accessibility Statement
If this SOAR repository item is not accessible to you (e.g. able to be used in the context of a disability), please email libraryaccessibility@newpaltz.edu
Embedded videos