Sarah "Annie" Turner Wittenmyer (August 26, 1827 – February 2, 1900) was an American

social reform A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...

er,

relief worker Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

, and writer. She served as the first President of the

Women's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program ...

from 1874 to 1879.Riley, Glenda (1986). Annie Turner Wittenmyer: Reformer. ''Iowa Woman'', September 1986, pp. 26–33. The

Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home The Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home, also known at the Annie Wittenmyer Home or the Annie Wittenmyer Center, located in Davenport, Iowa, United States is a former orphanage for children. It is listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties a ...

was renamed the Annie Wittenmyer Home in 1949 in her honor.

Early years

Born in

Sandy Springs Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia and an inner ring suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's seventh-largest city. It is the site of several corporate headquarters, i ...

, Adams County,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

in 1827, she attended a seminary for girls. She married merchant William Wittenmyer at age 20. In 1850, they moved to

Keokuk, Iowa Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States, along with Fort Madison. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is ...

, and she started a Sunday School and a tuition-free school for underprivileged children in 1853. She also developed a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

congregation from these children and wrote several hymns. Three of her four children died before reaching adulthood, and her husband died in 1860.

The Civil War

When the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

began in April 1861 and reports of suffering soldiers reached the home front, she responded by traveling to military hospitals and describing the horrible conditions she witnessed prompting local support. When the Keokuk Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society began in May 1861, she became its "Corresponding Secretary" with the responsibility to maintain contact with sister organizations around the state. In 1862, Wittenmyer became the first woman mentioned by name in an Iowa legislative document when she was appointed as a Sanitary Agent for the Iowa State Sanitary Commission. In 1863, she began advocating for war

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

s, helping to create several new Iowa orphanages, including the

, which was later renamed the Annie Wittenmyer Home. After she encountered public and prolonged disagreements between the Keokuk Ladies Aid Society and the Iowa Army Sanitary Commission, she resigned her local relief work in 1864 to work with the United States Christian Commission in developing their special diet kitchens for Civil War hospitals. This program was designed both to improve the health of soldiers who were reportedly dying from inadequate diet in hospitals and also provide a vehicle for women with an interest in missionary work to gain entry to Civil War hospitals and access to soldiers. Mary and Amanda Shelton and other "lady managers" created diet kitchens in a number of hospitals, not without encountering considerable resistance. After the war, Wittenmyer wrote ''Under the Guns'', chronicling her relief work.

Post-War work

Following the war, she helped found the Woman's Home Missionary Society and served as their first corresponding secretary in 1871. She edited the periodicals ''The Christian Woman'' and ''The Christian Child'', and she wrote several more hymns and the book ''Woman's Work for Jesus''.Sillanpa, Tom. Annie Wittenmyer: God's Angel. (Hamilton, IL: Hamilton Press), 1972. During Wittenmyer's tenure as first president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the group grew to over 1,000 local chapters. She edited their periodical ''Our Union'' and published two books on the topic: Her book ''History of the Women's Temperance Crusade'' in 1878, and ''Women of the Reformation'' in 1884. She was succeeded by

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 1879 an ...

when the organization began to focus on

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

Wittenmyer then returned to medical advocacy for veterans and nurses.Staff report (August 1, 1886). A union of human societies. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' In 1889 she was elected President of the

Woman's Relief Corps The Woman's Relief Corps (WRC) is a charitable organization in the United States, originally founded as the official women's auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) in 1883. The organization was designed to assist the GAR and p ...

and focused on providing retirement living for nurses and war widows.Staff report (September 15, 1895,). Woman's Relief Corps Officers. ''The New York Times'' She lobbied for pensions for retired military nurses, leading to legislation passed in 1892. She published her autobiography ''Under the Guns'' in 1895 and received her own pension in 1898. In 1898, she was elected president of the Non-Partisan National Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

Personal life

Wittenmyer died of an

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...

attack in Pottstown, Pennsylvania following a lecture and was buried in Sanatoga, Montgomery County.Staff report (February 3, 1900)
"A Great Work Done: Death of Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer, the Philanthropist"
'' Davenport Democrat and Leader'' p. 10 The Woman's Christian Temperance Union's Annie Wittenmyer White Ribbon Award is named in her honor, and in 1949 the

was renamed the Annie Wittenmyer Home in her honor. It previously housed a branch of the

Davenport Public Library The Davenport Public Library is a public library located in Davenport, Iowa. With a history dating back to 1839, the Davenport Public Library's Main Library is currently housed in a 1960s building designed by Kennedy Center architect Edward Dur ...

and currently houses The Parks and Recreation Department and several children's organizations.

References

External links

Annie Wittenmyer
via Davenport Public Library

via Woman's Christian Temperance Union {{DEFAULTSORT:Wittenmyer, Annie Turner 1827 births 1900 deaths American temperance activists People from Adams County, Ohio People from Davenport, Iowa People of Iowa in the American Civil War American social reformers 19th-century American writers 19th-century American women writers Activists from Ohio American autobiographers Woman's Relief Corps National Presidents American women non-fiction writers Women autobiographers