There's a lovely description of Dashaway Hall (established in 1862 in San Francisco) and the activities there on pp. 406-407 of Jim Baumohl's "On asylums, homes, and moral treatment: the case of the San Francisco Home for the Care of the Inebriate, 1859-1870", Contemporary Drug Problems 13: 395-445, 1986. "In addition to private clubrooms, and a library and reading rooms open to members at all hours, it contained a gallery that seated 1,000 people in front of a stage 50 feet wide".
Also see Jim's dissertation (Dashaways and Doctors...", DSW, University of California, Berkeley, 1986; University Microfilms order # 87-17864), which contains an account of what became a tontine as the membership dwindled later in the century, with one surviving member murdering another over control of the now-valuable property of the society. Robin
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Townend <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: den 14 november 1999 19:54
Subject: Re: Temperance halls of the 19th century
>At least in their Irish context in the 1830's and 40's, a wide range of
>temperance halls were in use, some of which were dedicated buildings built
>or purchased by wealthy (or well-looked after) local societies, most of
>which were a few rented rooms.
>
>A fine description of the operation one of the more elaborate examples can
>be found in MP Justin McCarthy's autobiographical recollections of his Cork
>boyhood in _The Story of an Irishman_.
>
>As others have noted, these halls were on one level headquarters for
>temperate sociability, particularly dances, tea parties, and dinners--a kind
>of substitute pub, if there could ever be such a thing.
>
>On another, more ambitious level, many were consciously modelled after
>mechanic's institutes, and played host to lectures, classes, and debating
>societies, many of which had little to do with temperance as such. They
>also, as has been noted, almost always served as libraries with donated or
>purchased books and periodicals available for reading and discussion...My
>sense is that temperance halls in Britain and the US served in much the same
>capacity...
>
>Paul Townend
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Jon Stephen Miller <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: Sunday, November 14, 1999 12:39 AM
>Subject: Re: Temperance halls of the 19th century
>
>
>>Dr. Kohler,
>>
>>The temperance halls date to much earlier in the nineteenth-century, to
>>the 1830s at least. Many buildings were built for temperance organizations
>>and named "Temperance Hall," other buildings were borrowed or rented or
>>bought and called the "temperance hall" only informally. I don't know of
>>any books specifically dedicated to the history of temperance halls, but
>>accounts of particular halls crop up in the scholarship. In chapter 3 of
>>their "Beware the First Drink!" (1991), for example, Leonard Blumberg and
>>William L. Pittman study those who subscribed for the building of a
>>Washingtonian temperance hall in 1842 Baltimore. This was planned as a
>>two-story structure with a hall seating 2,500 people on the second floor
>>and shops for rent on the first floor.
>>
>>But the Washingtonians had no monopoly on temperance halls. In 1839
>>Philadelphia blacks erected their own temperance hall, funded partially by
>>the black American Moral Reform Society. It was then destroyed by a mob
>>of whites, who may have been predominantly Irish, in the race riot of
>>August 1842.
>>
>>Your particular hall may have been built by a philanthropist or stock
>>company associated with the WCTU, or the Salvation Army, or any one of a
>>number of temperance organizations.
>>
>>In addition to serving as meeting halls, nineteenth-century temperance
>>halls might also house office space (for the organization or for rent to
>>temperance people) or a library. Unless the owner of the hall was
>>comfortably wealthy, the hall was also probably available for a fee to
>>temperance-friendly political clubs (Democrats had to meet in taverns),
>>lyceum events, and who knows what else. Someone should write a book about
>>temperance halls!
>>
>>Jon
>>
>>
>>--------------------------------------
>>Jon Stephen Miller
>>Managing Editor
>>Walt Whitman Quarterly Review
>>Department of English
>>The University of Iowa
>>Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1492
>>[log in to unmask] (319) 335-0592
>>======================================
>>
>>On Sat, 13 Nov 1999, Alfred Kohler wrote:
>>
>>> November 13, 1999
>>>
>>> At the turn of the century there were "temperance
>>> halls" in many American cities. Some of these
>>> buildings have survived although they may now be
>>> in use for other purposes (e.g., as community
>>> centers).
>>>
>>> What I'm curious about is which organization
>>> established and ran these temperance halls. Since
>>> there were many temperance halls, they apparently
>>> were run as part of the program of some organization.
>>> Was it the WCTU? Or possibly the Salvation Army? Or
>>> maybe some branch of the woman suffrage movement?
>>> Or were they run by government as a kind of municipal
>>> shelter?
>>>
>>> Exactly what activities were carried out at the
>>> temperance halls? Public education? Emergency
>>> shelter? I've been unable to find any history of
>>> the temperance halls.
>>>
>>> Specifically, there was a temperance hall at
>>> 403 Greenwich Street in Manhattan, New York City, at
>>> about 1880. The building on that site today dates
>>> from about 1920 and so cannot have been the original
>>> temperance hall building.
>>>
>>> I'd be grateful for any help or references that
>>> anyone can provide about these questions.
>>>
>>> Alfred Kohler,
>>>
>>> St. Francis College,
>>> Brooklyn, New York 11201
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
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