Women’s Christian Temperance Union Hatchet
Protesters used prayers, hymns—and sometimes axes—to call attention to alcoholism
In the 19th century, alcoholism wreaked havoc on families and communities. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union strove to abolish the liquor trade, reduce consumption of alcohol, and secure pledges of abstinence. In 1873, at the courthouse in Washington, Ohio, women celebrated the closing of two saloons with songs and prayers, but then, according to contemporary accounts, “axes were placed in the hands of the women who had suffered most, and swinging through the air, they came down with ringing blows, bursting in the heads of the casks, and flooding the gutters of the street.”
WCTU Hatchet, around 1910
Object Details
- See more items in
- Political and Military History: Political History, Womens History/Reform Movements Collection
- Government, Politics, and Reform
- American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
- Exhibition
- American Democracy
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- date made
- c. 1910
- associated date
- 1904
- ID Number
- PL.323503.01
- catalog number
- 323503.01
- accession number
- 323503
- Description
- Though distancing themselves from Carry A. Nation’s “hatchetations,” the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and other organizations could hardly ignore the hatchet as a symbol of teetotaling activism and popular engagement. Somewhat at odds with this message, this wooden WCTU hatchet’s head is decorated with the emblem of a box turtle, an icon of dryly unexcitable endurance.
- Credit Line
- Norman Hedglin
- subject
- Women's History
- Physical Description
- wood (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 5 in x 12 in x 1/2 in; 12.7 cm x 30.48 cm x 1.27 cm
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- Object Name
- Hatchet
- Record ID
- nmah_516749
WCTU Hatchet, around 1910
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