Hello friends, welcome to episode 2 of our new series from Hatchets to Huts, the mayhem

of a dry America.

In the growing temperance movement that ushered in an era of prohibition in the United States,

many white Christian women capitalized on their domestic roles as nurturers and moral

leaders of the family in order to affect change.

And if you listen to the first episode in this series, you know that one of these women

carried nation literally took matters into her own hands by using rocks and hatchets as

her tools of persuasion.

So what came next?

Who else was making waves in the temperance movement?

Let's learn about the lesser known history of black prohibition spearheaded by black Americans

like Frederick Douglass and Francis Ellen Watkins Harper.

But first, we'll talk about another larger than life woman and her singularly focused

temperance tactics.

Buckle up because this episode is a doozy.

I'm Sharon McMahon and here's where it gets interesting.

While carrying nation's approach to temperance was destruction, most temperance leaders took

a different approach.

In the 1870s, as the Women's Christian Temperance Union expanded in numbers and recognition,

it appointed a new leader, Francis Willard, who believed it was her mission to ban booze

in America.

A lifelong champion for women's rights and education, Francis assumed leadership of the WCTU in

...