A member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) crusades against Demon Rum in this Harpers Weekly sketch. The WCTU, established in 1874, shut down saloons all over the country because they believed that male drinking was the cause of prostitution, child abuse and poverty. Under the leadership of its second president, Frances Willard, the WCTU grew to a nationwide movement with 200,000 members, the largest and most socially acceptable women's organization of the time. Although prohibition was the WCTUs primary mission, they also campaigned for woman suffrage, reasoning that if women could vote, they would reform American society for the betterment of all.
The first case of drunkenness was recorded in the 1890's when a group of boys from San Jacinto came to a dance in Winchester. They hid a bottle in a horses feed sack and as they came to town the bottle broke some how spilling the contents in with the feed. Upon arriving the boys placed the feed sack so the horse could eat. Results: One drunk horse.
Artifacts of the local I.O.G.T. are now part of the museums collection.
