Originally published in the Cecil Whig
Remember prohibition? Few of us now living do, but there was a time, 13 years to be exact, between 1920 and 1933, when it was illegal to purchase and transport alcoholic beverages. It was a little experiment around legislating morals that didn’t work out so well and some would say, still doesn’t, but that’s another story for another column.
Getting back to this story, the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed due in no small part, to the efforts of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Quickly the two became punch lines for jokes that continue to this day. But while prohibition ended, the WCTU remains, even sporting a web site on the internet. It may only be a shadow of its former self, but the WCTU remained a political force in Cecil County through the 1930s.
The Historical Society of Cecil County has 3 scrapbooks kept by the Union’s then county chapter President, Bertha Balderston. Those scrapbooks, starting in 1935 through 1939, reveal page after page of mostly news articles about the Union, painstakingly clipped from local and some statewide newspapers. The articles also address issues of WCTU concern, especially the liquor industry. “It is because politics protects and fosters the alcohol traffic which gnaws at the economic, social, domestic, and moral vitals of our beloved America.” “Liquor control,” the article continues, “is costing more than it did during prohibition and that bootleggers are still at work.” No references are given to justify the figures.
At one point the writer, who is apparently a member of the WCTU, complains about the lack of local newspaper coverage of their meetings. “As local editors are conspicuous by their absence, it falls upon the WCTU Press Reporter to let the county know that those who attended were well repaid and confirmed in their belief that the only solution to the liquor problem is Prohibition.”
The reinstitution of Prohibition was not the only subject the WCTU Cecil County chapter discussed in the mid-1930s. The Union also took a swipe at drunk driving, the use of marijuana, attempts to end the prohibition against Sunday sales of alcohol, and the entrance of the United States into the war in Europe or Asia (what would become World War II).
Two other topics which received a sizable amount of attention from the WCTU were prison conditions for women and political corruption.
In a series of articles, the Union assailed the Cecil County Commissioners for “the disgraceful situation of male and female prisoners at large together in the large corridor.” After about 9 months of verbal battles and a report from the Director of the State Department of Welfare, the commissioners agreed to upgrades: “a section to care for at least 6 female prisoners which will segregate the male and female prisoners.”
The political corruption issue centered around the firing of then Elkton Police Chief W.C. Reynolds. The WCTU and others accused Mayor Henry Mitchell and the Elkton Town Council of removing Chief Reynolds “because he disregarded the Mayor’s request that drunken driving charges filed against a friend be reduced to charges of reckless driving.” Mayor Mitchell admitted as much, but spun the story saying “he (Chief Reynolds) pressed the charges when I told him not to and that is insubordination.” Some weeks later, the town council rehired Chief Reynolds.
For more on the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement and to review their 1930s scrapbooks, contact the Historical Society of Cecil County through our web site at www.cecilhistory.org