Woman’s Christian Temperance Union of Western Australia (1892 - )

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) of Western Australia was founded in 1892, inspired by the visit of Jessie Ackerman, the second world missionary of the American Union. The group is primarily dedicated to promoting total abstinence from alcohol and other harmful drugs and all members sign a pledge to this effect. Under its broader agenda of ‘home protection’ and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, however, it has been involved in wide range of social and political reform activities mostly relating to the welfare of women and children. Importantly, influenced by its sister organisation in the United States, the WCTU became a major supporter of the campaign for women’s suffrage in Australia as it was believed that power at the ballot box was the only way to achieve their goals. While at its most influential in the years up to WWI, the movement still continues today.

• WCTU of Western Australia

The first local Union In Wetsern Australia was formed in York, with another five soon following, and by August 1891 a Colonial Union with 155 members had been established.

As well as campaigning for restrictions on the sale of alcohol, early activities of the groups revolved around prison work, establishing a sailor's rest as well as children's and youth groups. By at least 1893 the Union also adopted the cause of women's suffrage. The Union continued to expand its activities - creating refuge homes, capainging against gambling, smoking and other drugs, and producing education literature.

Affiliated

• The National Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Australia (1891 - )

  [1892 - ]

Related Corporate Bodies

• Women's Service Guilds of Western Australia (1909 - 1997)

  Affiliated group

Books

• Henderson, Joyce R., The strength of white ribbon : a year-by-year record of the centennial history of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Western Australia (Inc.) : ten decades of service for "God, home ahd humanity" 1892-1992, W.C.T.U., West Perth, c1992, 140 pp. [ Details... ]
• Stewart, Michelle, A Feminine Temperance: The Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Western Australia, 1892-1900, 194?. [ Details... ]

Journal Articles

• Reekie, Gail, 'WAR, SEXUALITY AND FEMINISM: PERTH WOMEN'S ORGANISATIONS, 1938-1945', Historical Studies, vol. 21, no. 85, 1985, pp. 576-591. [ Details... ]

Newsletters

• W.C.T.U. newsletter, Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Perth, 1960-. [ Details... ]

See also

• Grimshaw, Patricia and Ellinghaus, Katherine, 'White women, Aboriginal women and the vote in Western Australia', Studies in Western Australian History, vol. 19, 1999. [ Details... ]
• Grimshaw, Patricia and Ellinghaus, Katherine, 'White women, Aboriginal women and the vote in Western Australia', in Patricia Crawford & Judy Skene (ed.), Women and citizenship : suffrage centenary, Centre for Western Australian History, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, 1999. [ Details... ]
• Oldfield, Audrey, Woman suffrage in Australia : a gift or a struggle?, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 1992, 263 pp. [ Details... ]
• Reekie, Gail, 'War, sexuality and feminism : Perth women's organisations, 1938-1945', Historical Studies [Australia], vol. 21, no. 85, 1985, pp. 576-591. [ Details... ]