dear athg group members. i apologize for sending off my response to dr.
kohler before reading all the way through the 60 emails i'd accumulated in
a week away. robin's memory of my work is better than my own, which is
both flattering and very embarrassing! jb
At 07:09 PM 11/14/99 +0100, you wrote:
>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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>>>> > HI!
>>>> > Please contact our librarian/archivist, William
>>>> > Beatty, at
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>>>> > Sarah
>>>> >
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> =====
>>>>
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>>>
>
>
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