Artha May McConoughey Papers (Ms.2005.2)

This collection provides glimpses into several periods of Artha McConoughey's life. Her travel diary recounts the daily events of her first extended trip away from her home and family in 1908-1909; it begins with her Atlantic passage and continues through her year's stay in Germany, France and England.

The collection of speeches she gave from 1911 to 1913 as a Women’s Christian Temperance Union organizer and activist outlines the major themes of the American Temperance Movement (allied with the women's suffrage movement) of the early 20th century, with special attention to the Loyal Temperance Legion, whose focus was the education of children. McConoughey came from the same hometown—Evanston, Illinois—as Frances Willard, an early WCTU president and one of the driving forces behind its growth from a temperance-related organization into a national advocate for social reforms and women’s rights. At a time when American women did not yet have the right to vote, the collective activism of the WCTU gave them a voice as well as the skills and confidence to use it.