Gasport Woman's Christian Temperance Union records

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was organized in 1873 in Ohio and became a national organization in 1874. Its original goal was to promote abstinence through evangelical Christianity. In 1879, Frances Willard became its president, and its reform interests were expanded to include women's rights and prison reform.

The Gasport, N.Y., chapter was established in 1884, and its members belonged to local congregations including Gasport/Hartland Monthly Meeting. The group rotated its meetings between various churches and meeting houses, and Juliaetta [Vogan] Hull (1853-1931), the wife of the Reverend George Hull, pastor of Gasport Monthly Meeting, was a long-time active member. The family was deeply involved with temperance activities, including a singing quartet. Members of Hartland Monthly Meeting (informally known as Gasport Monthly Meeting) continued to participate until the mid-twentieth century, but by 1967 there were only eleven dues-paying members including Florence Stevens, Clerk of Hartland Monthly Meeting. Hartland Monthly Meeting is currently inactive.

The WCTU continues its work on women's issues and presently reports that it is the oldest voluntary, non-sectarian woman's organization in continuous existence in the world.