THE WOMEN'S TEMPERANCE CRUSADE IN OXFORD, OHIO: Including a Sketch of the Family of Dr. Alexander Guy (1800-1893) with Excerpts from the Memoir of William Evans Guy

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Year:
Pages:296
ISBN:0-7734-1386-3
978-0-7734-1386-3
Price:$199.95 + shipping
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This case study of the Women's Temperance Crusade in southwestern Ohio is based on primary sources and archival materials. It examines the socio-historical circumstances surrounding the movement as well as the participation of men within the movement. This book contains twenty-two black and white photographs.

Reviews

“[this book] is a well-researched account of the 1874 Oxford Temperance”
­-Dr. Robert Schmidt
University Archivist, Miami University


"[The author] comes remarkably close to getting inside the heads of people involved in a temperance crusade in Miami, Ohio in 1873-74. ... [The author] is able to communicate his story without overburdening readers with theoretical discussions. Any reader will understand a late-19th-century small town better from [this] analysis." -- Prof. P.F. Field, emerita, Ohio University

From the Foreword: “[this book] takes us a long step forward in the direction of understanding an important social movement in the local context from which it emerged. It is the closest, most detailed, and most careful examination of any community in which the Crusade appeared.”
-Prof. Jack Blocker
University of Western Ontario


"[This book] is a useful resource for those interested in temperance and reform movements, but is also valuable for those with more diverse interests. [The author]'s analysis touches on issues of race, ethnicity, gender, class and religion. Readers interested in local history will enjoy Fahey's descriptions of forgotten Oxford lore and the lives of Oxford's nineteenth-century residents." -- Prof. Jay M. Perry, Bowling Green State University

Author’s Abstract:
This case study of the Women's Temperance Crusade in southwestern Ohio is based on a unique collection of manuscripts and contemporary newspaper clippings. It also draws on the federal census, regional newspapers, church records, mayor's criminal court docket books, council minutes and other sources. Saloon keepers, women Crusaders, and their male allies come alive. The events of 1874 appear in a large context from the opening of Oxford's first tavern in 1816 to the demise of watery 3.2 beer in 1979. The book argues that men took a surprisingly large role in the Women's Crusade. It demonstrates the breadth of support for the Crusade among white Protestants while acknowledging that many well-off Oxford families, even teetotal ones, chose not to participate.
It offers evidence that men from respectable families sometimes drank in saloons. In addition to making a contribution to temperance history, the book provides a detailed picture of a small Midwestern college town. Topics include violence, money, and race relations. The book ends with a sketch of the family of Dr. Alexander Guy, whose wife Amelia served as president of the Women's Temperance League, and an excerpt from a memoir written by his youngest son.

"... a detailed study of a local attempt to crush saloons and the sale of alcohol in a small town in Ohio in the year 1874. The book contains much more descriptive information than this simplistic statement, and it spans decades rather than a single year. For Fahey, crusaders' actions are not the only concern; he also concentrates on the causes of the temperance crusade, town life, and the crusaders' background and reasons for participating." -- Prof. Deborah Marinski, Ohio University, Southern

"This book's greatest strength is its detailed local history research. The author connects the story of Women's Temperance Crusade not only to the village of Oxford but to a specific individuals. ... The Women's Temperance Crusade in Oxford, Ohio, should be of interest to scholars of prohibition, women's history, and Ohio's past. It is also a sourcebook of local history. Its extensive appendixes contain information about individuals and families involved in the Crusade. Fahey discusses methodology as well as interpretation as he carefully documents local events and then clearly places their significance in larger regional and national contexts." -- Prof. Diane F. Britton, Ohio History

Table of Contents

Introduction by Jack S. Blocker
Praying Ladies, Helpful Gentlemen, and Mostly Polite Saloonkeepers
Crusaders
Oxford at the Time of the Crusade
Moneyed Families
Churches and Other Voluntary Organizations
Race and Ethnicity
Drink and Temperance in Oxford before the Crusade
Oxford's Drink Trade on the Eve of the Crusade
Violence and Crime
Oxford’s Two-Month Crusade
“The Wickedest Man in Oxford”
Who Drank?
Who Were the Crusaders?
Who Paid for the Crusade?
A United White Protestant Community?
A Women’s Crusade?
Afterwards

Questions and Comparisons
Sources for a History of the Oxford Crusade
Scholars and the Women’s Temperance Crusade
Sources for the History of Oxford, Ohio

Appendix 1: Oxford Village and Township Households with $10,000 or More Real and Personal Property
Appendix 2: Returns for Tax Assessments of Personal Property in the Village of Oxford Valued at More than $1,000
Appendix 3: 157 Members of the Oxford Women's Temperance League and Other Crusaders
Appendix 4: Contributors to the Guarantee Fund
Appendix 5: Crime and Violence in Oxford after the Crusade
Appendix 6: A Sketch of the Family of Dr. Alexander Guy (1800-1893) with Excerpts from the Memoir of William Evans Guy
Dr. Alexander Guy
Theophilus Wilson Guy
Sarah Everett Guy Peabody
Susan Wade Peabody
Mary Charlotte Guy Maltby
Edward Alexander Guy
David Wade Guy
William Evans Guy
Memoirs of an Octogenerian
Index

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