''The Union Signal'' (formerly, ''The Woman's Temperance Union'' and ''Our Union'') is a defunct American newspaper. It was the organ of the National

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

(National WCTU), at one time, the largest women's organization in the United States.

History

Established in 1874 as ''The Woman's Temperance Union'', it was later renamed in 1877 as ''Our Union''. When ''Our Union'' merged with another temperance paper, ''The Signal'', in 1883, the organ's name was changed to ''The Union Signal''. Published in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, it focused on the women's

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

in the U.S. Initially, a weekly 16-page illustrated newspaper, it shifted location (

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

) and publishing schedule (to bi-monthly to monthly to quarterly) before it ceased publication in 2016. The last edition of the National WCTU's quarterly journal, titled ''The Union Signal'', was published in 2015, the main focus of which was current research and information on drugs.

''The Woman's Temperance Union''

At the first annual convention of the National WCTU, held at

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, in 1874, a committee was appointed to consider the establishment of a paper as the organ of the union. This committee consisted of

Annie Turner Wittenmyer Annie Turner Wittenmyer (August 26, 1827 – February 2, 1900) was an American charitable organization leader, known for social reform, relief work, and her writing. She served as the first National President of the Woman's Christian Temperance ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

; Susan J. Swift Steele,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

; Susan A. Gifford,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

;

Elizabeth Eunice Smith Marcy Elizabeth Eunice Smith Marcy (, Smith; December 22, 1821 – January 26, 1911) was an American author, activist, and social reformer of the long nineteenth century. She was known for her missionary, temperance, and philanthropic work. Early life ...

; Emma Janes,

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, and

Mary Coffin Johnson Mary Coffin Johnson (, Coffin; July 15, 1834 – August 10, 1928) was an American temperance activist and writer. She was the publisher of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union's (WCTU) first newspaper, '' The Union Signal''. Johnson was ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Being unable to formulate definite plans before the close of the convention, the committee was given full power to act. At the second annual convention, held at

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ohio, in 1875, Mrs. E. E. Marcy, secretary of the Committee on Publication Interests, reported that, after overcoming the various hindrances incident to such an enterprise, the project of publishing an official organ had been inaugurated the previous June at New York. The paper was called ''The Woman's Temperance Union'', and six numbers had been issued up to the time of the convention. Wittenmyer, as chairman of the committee, was the active publisher, with

Jennie Fowler Willing Jennie Fowler Willing (January 22, 1834 – October 6, 1916) was a Canadian-born American educator, author, preacher, social reformer, and suffragist. She married a lawyer and Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist pastor at age 19. In 1873, she and ...

as editor and Johnson and Frances Willard as contributing editors. This report included resolutions drafted by the Committee on Publication Interests, one of which was as follows:— :''Whereas, The paper published by the National Temperance Union as its organ is one of the strongest bonds to hold together our interests in separate localities, devoted as it is to our work,'' :''Resolved, That we, as delegates, pledge ourselves a certain number of subscribers in our several states, and in case of failure, to raise money to cover the amount subscribed.'' It was recorded that "much discussion followed", and an amendment was adopted eliminating the financial responsibility on the part of the states, but there was a generous pledging of subscriptions,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

leading off with a pledge of . Johnson became the publisher at this time, with

Mary Towne Burt Mary Towne Burt (, Towne; March 28, 1842 – April 29, 1898) was a 19th-century American Temperance movement, temperance reformer, newspaper publisher, and Benefactor (law), benefactor from Ohio. Burt was identified with temperance work nearly al ...

as her assistant, and, later, her successor. Willing continued as editor until the third annual convention in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

in 1876, when Margaret E. Winslow was elected editor, with Mrs. S. K. Bolton, Ohio; Mrs. Helen E. Brown, New York;

Mary Torrans Lathrap Mary Lathrap ( Torrans; April 25, 1838 - January 3, 1895), pen name: Lena; known as "The Daniel Webster of Prohibition", was a 19th-century American author, preacher, suffragist, and temperance reformer. For 20 years, she was identified with the ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

;

Julia Colman Julia Colman (pen name, Aunt Julia; February 16, 1828 – January 10, 1909) was an American temperance educator, activist, editor and writer of the long nineteenth century. She served as superintendent of literature in the Woman's Christian Temper ...

, New York; Willing, Illinois; Johnson, New York, and Frances Willard, Illinois, as contributing editors.

''Our Union''

In 1877, the name of the paper was changed to ''Our Union''. In this year, at the fourth annual meeting of the National WCTU held in Chicago, the publisher's report showed an indebtedness on the paper. Frances Willard then moved that the secretary proceed to call the roll of the states, and the delegates respond and pledge the number of subscribers they would become responsible for the ensuing year. Pledges totalling 12,957 were received, and enthusiasm prevailed. Among the recommendations for the year's work was one relating to ''Our Union'' which read: "Each state will be expected to pledge itself, through its delegates, for a specified number of copies. Our local unions have come up nobly to the rescue, but we expect a largely increased enthusiasm in the year to come." At the annual convention of 1878, held in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, the Publishing Committee reported that the paper had come through the year free from debt and with a small balance in the treasury. This report, signed by Frances Willard, Jane M. Geddes,

Caroline Brown Buell Caroline Brown Buell (October 24, 1843 - 1927) was an American activist who lectured and wrote on behalf of Temperance movement in the United States, temperance and Women's suffrage in the United States, suffrage. She served as the assistant reco ...

, and

Esther Pugh Esther Pugh (August 31, 1834 – March 29, 1908) was an American temperance reformer of the long nineteenth century. She served as Treasurer of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), a Trustee of Earlham College, as well as edito ...

, closed with the following exhortation:— "We feel that, in the interests of ''Our Union'', we must urge this Convention to impress upon the local auxiliaries that they have one National official organ, and one only; since there are other papers prominently circulated and largely subscribed for by temperance women, which are by many supposed to be equally entitled to their patronage, which, as our experience proves, interfere greatly with the circulation of ''Our Union''. Having laid before our sisters such phases of the paper as the year's experience has developed we ask them to consider, prayerfully and with all due deliberation, their duty to a paper which is endeared to us as to them by long and earnest labors on its behalf."

Consolidation

January 15, 1880, the first publication of the

Woman's Temperance Publishing Association The Woman's Temperance Publishing Association (WTPA) was a non-commercial publisher of temperance literature. Established in 1879 in Indianapolis, Indiana during the national convention of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), it was a co ...

(Chicago) made its appearance. It was a 16-page weekly temperance paper, ''The Signal''. Conceived by Matilda Carse, its editor and publisher was Mary Bannister Willard. It represented the W.C.T.U.'s rapidly growing work in western states. It was started in a most modest way, a desk room being secured in the rooms of the W.C.T.U. The paper from the first became a favorite. In a few weeks the circulation had so increased that a publisher had to be engaged. In November 1882, ''The Signal'' became the national organ of the W.C.T.U. when it was consolidated with ''Our Union'', the monthly paper that had been the organ of the National Society for seven years. In 1883, the new publication was renamed ''The Union Signal''.

Judy Barrett Litoff Judy Barrett Litoff (December 23, 1944 – July 3, 2022) was an American editor and author, best known for her editorial work on books on American women's history. A graduate of the University of Maine, she has been professor of history at Bryant ...

, Judith McDonnell.''European Immigrant Women in the United States'', Taylor & Francis (1994), p. 51. Mary Bannister Willard retained her position when the consolidation was effected. ''The Union Signal'' made its first appearance January 4, 1883. For twenty years thereafter, the organ was owned and published by the Woman's Temperance Publishing Association of Chicago, which association had full control of the paper financially, while its editorial policy was controlled by the National WCTU. On October 10, 1903, the paper was bought outright by the National WCTU and thereafter was edited and published at Woman's Christian Temperance Union Administration Building in Evanston. The thought and the hope of the early workers for this publication were hoped to inspire the women of future years. The

keynote A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...

for that goal was sounded by Lillian M. N. Stevens, National WCTU President and editor-in-chief, at

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, 1905, when she said:— "I must insist that it is not too much to expect that each local union should maintain a subscription list equal in number to one fourth of its membership. Those unions which have reached this point are to be congratulated, not alone because they have conformed to this request, but because of the great uplift which must inevitably come to a local union and to a community through the liberal reading of ''The Union Signal''." Not only did the paper's name change after the merger, at least in one year, 1894, it dropped the word "The" from its masthead, to read ''Union Signal''.

Motto

The paper's motto changed numerous times:
1883
Official organ of the Woman's National Christian Temperance Union.
1889
an
1890
Official organ of the World's and National Woman's Christian Temperance Union
18931895
an
1898
And World's White Ribbon.
1903
For God And Home and Every Land. (upper left); National and World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union (upper right); And World's White Ribbon (lower center).
1910
an
1912
(no motto)
19131914191519171921
an
1922
Official Organ National Woman's Christian Temperance Union

Notable people

Editors have included: Mary Bannister Willard (January 1883 - July 1885), Mary Allen West (July 1885 - 1892),

Frances Willard Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard (September 28, 1839 – February 17, 1898) was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Willard became the national president of Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 187 ...

(1892 - February 1898), Lillian M. N. Stevens (February 1898 - April 1914),

Anna Adams Gordon Anna Adams Gordon (1853–1931) was an American social reformer, songwriter, and, as national president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union when the Eighteenth Amendment was adopted, a major figure in the Temperance movement. Biography E ...

(April 1914 - October 1926), Ella Boole (October 1926 - October 1933), Ida B. Wise Smith (October 1933 - ).

Notable people and contributors

Jessie Ackermann Jessie Ackermann (July 4, 1857 – March 31, 1951) was a social reformer, feminist, journalist, writer and traveller. She was the second round-the-world missionary appointed by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, World's Woman's Christian Te ...

* Ella Boole *

Adda Burch Adda Burch (January 6, 1869 – February 18, 1929) was an American missionary-teacher in Latin America. She was also a Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) leader, serving in various positions in the U.S. as well as president of the World WCTU ...

* Matilda Carse * Clara Christiana Morgan Chapin *

* Mary G. Charlton Edholm *

Eva Kinney Griffith Eva Kinney Griffith Miller (, Kinney; after first marriage, Griffith; after second marriage, Miller; November 8, 1852 – 1918) was an American journalist, temperance activist, novelist, newspaper editor, and journal publisher. Griffith was lec ...

* Cornelia Templeton Hatcher * Emeline Harriet Howe * Therese A. Jenkins *

Harriet B. Kells Harriet B. Kells ( Coulson; 1842–1913) was an American educator and temperance activist, who served as President of the Mississippi State Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and edited the National WCTU's organ. She was also a suffragist ...

Mary Greenleaf Clement Leavitt Mary Greenleaf Leavitt ( Clement; September 22, 1830 – February 5, 1912) was an educator and successful orator who became the first round-the-world missionary for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Setting out on virtually non-stop ...

* Anna Rankin Riggs * Lillian M. N. Stevens * Katharine Lent Stevenson * Jane Agnes Stewart * Missouri H. Stokes *

Margaret Ashmore Sudduth Margaret Ashmore Sudduth (June 29, 1859 – September 21, 1957) was an American educator, editor, and temperance advocate. She was the senior editor upon the staff of the Woman's Temperance Publishing Association, overseeing ''The Union Signal''. ...

* Delia L. Weatherby * Mary Allen West * Dora V. Wheelock *

* Mary Bannister Willard *

* Margaret E. Winslow * Ida B. Wise *

Lenna Lowe Yost Lenna Lowe Yost (January 25, 1878 – May 6, 1972), president of the West Virginia Equal Suffrage Association (WVESA) during the state woman suffrage referendum campaign of 1916 and chairman of the WVESA Ratification Committee during the national ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Union Signal, The Woman's Christian Temperance Union Newspapers published in Illinois English-language newspapers Defunct newspapers published in Chicago 1874 establishments in the United States 2016 disestablishments in the United States Newspapers established in 1874 Newspapers disestablished in the 2010s Publications disestablished in 2015 Frances Willard