How Frances Willard shaped feminism by leading the 19th-century temperance movement

Frances Willard stands behind her mother, at left, and Anna B. Gordon, who worked as a secretary and lived in the Willard household. Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

As younger adults opt for “wellness” products, many are practicing alcohol abstinence. Sometimes referred to as “sober curious,” this trend of often forgoing alcohol has forged public conversations on the health benefits of abstinence.

Few, however, reflect on its connections to the temperance movement, one of the major social movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries.