Spectrum

Until about 1920, rural women in the United States outnumbered urban women and they were the genesis of many historic women’s movement initiatives. For example, rural women took the lead in temperance, women’s suffrage and gaining educational opportunities for women, according to Dr. Katherine Jellison, the Chairwoman of the History Department at Ohio University. Dr. Jellison also is co-chair of the national Rural Women’s Studies Association whose purpose is to “improve the visibility of rural women’s studies research and activism around the world.” Dr. Jellison describes to the Spectrum Podcast about how rural women in the Midwest founded the Women’s Christian Temperance Union the (WCTU) in the late 19th century to fight alcohol, alcohol sales and alcohol abuse. The movement grew out of the concept that women were the protectors of the home and children and therefore, needed to curb alcohol abuse – especially among men. Women needed to protect the family from abuse, from the male wasting their limited money