The Rev. Alfred T. Day III: “Frances Willard
is a person who brought the involvement of
women in and through the Methodist Church
very much into the foreground.”
Church historians have called this red-headed
reformer “the most widely-known
and loved Methodist woman since Susanna Wesley.”
In the late 1800’s, Frances Willard was
a professor and Dean of Women at a time few
females went to college. But she may be best
remembered for her 19 years as president of
the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in
the U.S., which sought to ban the sale of
alcohol.
Willard saw men as victims of the temptation
of liquor but believed the ultimate victims
were women and children.
“They weren’t concerned about abstinence from alcohol for abstinence sake. They saw that the church
had a message to proclaim to people that mothers
and women needed to speak up about because
of how social conditions in that time were
really ruining people’s lives.
We remember Frances Willard only as a great temperance worker, only for a saying things like, ‘Lips
that touch liquor will never touch mine.’
And I think that that really minimizes the
extent of what Frances Willard and other women
like her in that period of time were concerned about.”
The Temperance Union became the largest women’s
organization in the U.S. 150,000 members strong,
the association moved beyond prohibition to
argue for an eight-hour workday, raise the
age of consent for girls, and secure the right
of women to vote. In the Methodist Church,
Willard also pushed the envelope.
“She was actually originally
elected to General Conference before women
could be elected. And they made plans to see
if General Conference would seat them.”
Willard didn’t get to challenge General
Conference that year. She was called home
to care for her mother. Never married, she
traveled extensively in her work.
“She had a small desk. We think
of a laptop computer nowadays. She had like
the original laptop. When the train would
get to a train station, if she needed to send
off a telegram, she would jump off the train,
quickly give the paper to the telegraph operator and then get back on
and continue on to her next destination.”
Willard wrote several books, including one
on learning to ride a bike after age 50.
Dale Patterson: “She says, ‘Learning to ride
a bicycle is a whole lot like learning to
live life. You’ve gotta keep it pointed
in the right direction and every now and then
you’ve gotta give it a little kick with
your feet as you’re pedaling. Otherwise
the wheel will wobble
and you’ll fall off in the ditch.’”
Willard remained president of the Temperance
Union until her death in 1898.
Although she did not live to see it, her influence
helped secure the passage of the 18th and
19th Amendments, prohibition and women’s
suffrage. This faithful Methodist was the
first woman honored with a place in the National
Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol,
setting her legacy in stone for future generations.
The Rev. Alfred T. Day III: “Frances Willard
embodies that Wesleyan sense of practical
divinity. That you just don’t go to church
to hear a religious message but the religious
message you hear, changes not only your life,
but changes the life of the world around you.”
