The Ohio Women's Suffrage and Temperance Movements: Public Image, Cross-Group Contention, and Shared Enemies

The nineteenth century in the United States was a time of tremendous social and political change. Cities expanded as industrialization swept the nation, only to be followed closely by moral, social, and political reforms. During this era, woman’s duty to embellish her family’s environment expanded into her role as a moral guardian, which was reinforced in religious sermons and popular literature.1 As the century progressed, industrialization divided the labor market, widening the gap between the social and domestic spheres of men and women.2 In response, many women of the growing middle class joined literary clubs, church groups, and sociopolitical organizations focused on domestic moralist issues such as child labor, healthcare, and helping Civil War soldiers. By midcentury, millions of women were members of organizations where they worked to redefine their roles and assert influence through domestic feminism.3 Impassioned about sociopolitical reforms, women of Ohio were among the first to kickstart women’s temperance and suffrage organizations. Following little to no precedent, women of Ohio petitioned, shared literature, spoke out, and