Sara Jane Crafts (, Timanus;

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

, Mrs. Wilbur F. Crafts; August 15, 1845 – May 2, 1930) was an American social reformer, author, lecturer, and teacher. She lectured and taught at

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) is an adult education and social movement in the United States that peaked in popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Cha ...

s, as well as a lecturer at State and International

Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

conventions. Crafts was an editor and contributor to various periodicals, and published several books between 1876 and 1911. Craft was a social reformer who traveled the world advocating on behalf of Sunday schools, Temperance movement, temperance, and anti-

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

. She was also "one of the first women to conduct convention sessions" in the U.S.

Early life and education

Sara Jane Timanus was born in

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 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 ...

, August 15, 1845. Sara had two younger siblings, John and Fannie. Her parents were Jesse and Jane (Means) Timanus. She was educated in the public schools of Cincinnati, at

Ohio Wesleyan Female College Ohio Wesleyan Female College was a women's college, operating for two-and-a-half decades, until it merged into Ohio Wesleyan University in 1877. After starting as a Delaware, Ohio, academy for women in 1850, equivalent to a high school, it expand ...

, and at Iowa University, Grinnell.

Career

Around 1865 till 1870, taught in public schools. From 1870 through 1874, she was a teacher in the

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

State Normal School. On May 1, 1874, in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a City (New Jersey), city in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Nicknamed "The Queen City",

, she married Rev. Wilbur Fisk Crafts (1850–1922). After marriage, she worked with her husband on

Union work and the production of social reform literature. She was an instructor in various Sunday school normal institutes, State conventions, and

assemblies. In 1895, she was made superintendent of the Sunday school Department of the World’s

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 ...

(WCTU). She was an organizer and honorary president of the International Primary Union of Sunday school teachers. Between 1880 and 1913, she traveled extensively in Europe and the Orient in the interest of temperance, anti-opium, and reform movements. In 1904, she was in the Orient and Palestine. Three years later, she was in Australia, China, Japan, and Korea. In 1910, she was in Norway and Sweden. She organized Sunday schools in Iceland in 1913. Her travels also included Holland, Switzerland, and Italy. In 1895, Crafts founded and served as superintendent of the International Reform Bureau. Beginning in 1896, she was the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the ''20th-Century Quarterly''. From 1901 till 1903, she was also the editor-in-chief of the ''Christian Statesman'', the official organ of the National Reform Association, which was a monthly journal devoted to the maintenance of Christian principles of civil government. For a number of years, she wrote the temperance lessons for the

National Temperance Society and Publishing House The National Temperance Society and Publishing House was a publishing house which advocated personal alcohol temperance and a governmental ban on the personal consumption of alcohol. It was based in New York City. Foundation It was founded in 18 ...

, the ''

Christian Herald The ''Christian Herald'' was an American weekly newspaper reporting on topics relevant to Evangelical Christianity, with an emphasis on engaging with humanitarian causes at home and abroad. It was inspired by the London-based newspaper which ceas ...

'', and other religious and temperance papers. She also served as editor of the ''Christian Herald'' Esperanto Column. Craft was the author of: ''Childhood, The Text Book of the Age''; ''Open Letters for Primary Teachers''; ''Primary Normal Outlines''; ''The Infant Class'' (with

Edward Eggleston Edward Eggleston (December 10, 1837 – September 3, 1902) was an American historian and novelist. Biography Eggleston was born in Vevay, Indiana on December 10, 1837, to Joseph Cary Eggleston and Mary Jane Craig. The author George Cary Eggles ...

); ''Songs for Little Folks and Little Pilgrim Songs'' (with

Jenny B. Merrill Jenny B. Merrill (September 4, 1854 – February 19, 1934) was an American early childhood educator and author. The first articles published in the U.S. regarding Montessori education were written by Merrill. Biography Jane Beggs Merrill was bor ...

); ''Plain Uses of the Blackboard'' (with W. F. Crafts), 1881; ''Course in Esperanto''; ''Intoxicants and Opium'' (with W. F. Crafts); and ''World Book of Temperance'' (with W. F. Crafts), 1908. Crafts served as vice-president of the Woman's Esperanto League of North America. She was also a member of the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

, British Esperanto Association, and the Archaeological Institute of America.

Personal life

Crafts favored

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

. In religion, she was Presbyterian. The Crafts removed to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in 1896. She died there at Garfield Memorial Hospital, May 2, 1930. Burial was in

Westerly, Rhode Island Westerly is a New England town, town on the Coast, southwestern coastline of Washington County, Rhode Island, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States, first settled by English colonists in 1661, and incorporated as a List of municipalitie ...

Selected works

* ''Open Letters to Primary Teachers: With Hints for Intermediate Class Teachers'', 1876
Text
* ''Primary Normal Outlines'' * ''Course in Esperanto''

With W. F. Crafts

* ''Childhood, The Text Book of the Age'', 1874
Text
* ''Plain Uses of the Blackboard'', 1881 * ''Intoxicants and Opium'', 1900
Text
* ''Intoxicants & opium in all lands and times, a twentieth century survey of intemperance, based on a symposium of testimony from one hundred missionaries and travelers'', 1904 * ''World Book of Temperance'', 1908
Text
* ''Intoxicating drinks and, drugs in all lands and times, a twentieth century survey of temperance, based on a symposium of testimony from one hundred missionaries and travelers'', 1911

With Edward Eggleston

* ''The Infant Class: Hints on Primary Religious Instruction.'', 1870

With Jenny B. Merrill

* ''Songs for Little Folks and Little Pilgrim Songs''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crafts, Sara Jane 1845 births 1930 deaths 19th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American women writers Writers from Cincinnati Educators from Cincinnati American magazine editors American women magazine editors American Esperantists American temperance activists Woman's Christian Temperance Union people Writers from Washington, D.C. American religious writers Educators from Washington, D.C.