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 by David M. Fahey (review)

The women's temperance crusade of 1873-74 was a brief chapter in the longest-running reform movement in U.S. history. Few scholars have focused specifically on this part of prohibition, and those who have done so emphasized the role of women who organized to use both moral suasion and direct action to convince saloon keepers that alcohol consumption was evil and therefore they should close. David Fahey's book provides a case study of events in Oxford, Ohio. He argues that "at least some Crusade families worried about drinking among their own sons, brothers, and husbands," which provided motivation for many local residents. More significantly, he revises previous assumptions by claiming "men played a much larger role in Oxford's Crusade than [was] found elsewhere in Ohio and nationally" (141).

The book's greatest strength is its detailed local history research. The author connects the story of the Women's Temperance Crusade not only to the village of Oxford but also to specific individuals. The careful organization of the narrative section unfolds the importance of Oxford as a college town with a significant number of white, Protestant, well-to-do families and a typical array of drinking establishments. Oxford "was a Republican stronghold in a Democratic county" and, as such, "stood out as reform-minded by the standards of the mid-nineteenth century" (13, 15). "Oxford's large middle class took pride in its sobriety," and teetotaler families worshipped together in Methodist, Presbyterian, and Universalist congregations (18). Although the village council had passed a series of restrictive ordinances, alcohol retailers remained in business, and "on the eve of the crusade . . . there were plenty of drinkers in and near Oxford" (42).

Crusaders in Oxford followed the example of other locations in what was a major grassroots movement. Organizers focused on the village's eleven saloons, where "the praying and singing women embarrassed wives and children as well as the mostly male saloonkeepers" (47). Although owners had entered the business for economic reasons, they all shut down, at least temporarily. According to Fahey, previous scholars overlooked Oxford because of its small size, even though it "may be the best documented of any local Crusade" and it had captured the attention of the New York Times in 1874 (10). A study of Oxford reveals, "It was men who began the discussion that led to Oxford's Women's Crusade," and, ultimately, at the home of Dr. Alexander Guy, they asked women to join them (65). It was the women, however, who visited the saloons. Fahey provides detailed information about these visits and related efforts to shut down the town's drinking establishments.

Oxford's crusade lasted only a few months, and then saloon owners began to reopen their businesses. Despite a determination to resume direct-action activities, Fahey notes that regular picketing had created "fatigue" and "the Crusaders were near exhaustion" (98). Temperance supporters shifted their strategies to put more effort into discussion and political solutions. Nevertheless, by 1875 Oxford "had eighteen saloons" (106). Despite stable funding and community-wide support for the crusade, its successes were overturned. Fahey's afterword provides a summary of Oxford's alcohol and temperance history, even up to today's green beer tradition, scheduled by local bar owners around Miami University's semester break.

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 useful 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...