Cora F. Stoddard was a leading proponent of temperance and National Prohibition of alcohol. She served for 30 years as the head of the Scientific Temperance Federation.
Ms. Stoddard was the personal secretary of Mary Hunt. Hunt was founding head of the Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction in Schools and Colleges. That was an important part of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).
Mary Hunt died in 1906. Ms. Hunt had made legal arrangements to conceal the income from her “voluntary” temperance work. But doing so clouded ownership of her estate. This led to the creation of the Scientific Temperance Federation. Cora Stoddard headed the new organization until her death in 1936.
Hunt had amassed a large fortune in her control over the approval of temperance education textbooks. Every state bought them. This resulted in a large endowment for the Scientific Temperance Federation. Because of these funds it was able to promote temperance and prohibition in many ways.
Stoddard’s Leadership
Under Cora Stoddard’s leadership, the Federation was a major promoter of temperance. It is probably best known for its “Education on Wheels” project. This took temperance education directly to people at their homes and farms.
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Like most temperance advocates, Ms. Stoddard failed to distinguish between alcohol and alcoholism. And, like most, she also opposed the concept of drinking in moderation.
Upon her death in 1936 at the age of 64, an entire issue of the Scientific Temperance Journal was devoted to her. It celebrated her achievements on behalf of temperance.
Cora Stoddard’s work was not in vain. Even today about one in five U.S. adults supports making drinking alcohol illegal. For everyone. Of every age. For any reason. Not even National Prohibition did that!
Resources
About Stoddard
- Memorial issue. Sci Temp J., 1936, 44(2).
- Notable American Women 1607-1950, Vol. 3 (Belnap, 1971), 380-381.
- American Reformers (Wilson, 1985), 773-774
- American National Biography, Vol 20 (Oxford U Press, 1999), 816-817.
By Stoddard
Published by Scientific Temperance Federation (STF) or Scientific Temperance Foundation (Sci Temp Found).
- The Eighteenth Amendment Speaks. Boston: STF 1927.
- Has Prohibition Increased Drug Addiction? Westerville, OH: Sci Temp Found., 1920.
- Prohibition and Youth. Boston: STF, 1926.
- Reaching People Where They are by Store Window Exhibits. Boston: Sci Temp Found., 191-.
- Social Service in the Temperance Movement. Boston, Sci Temp Found., 1910.
- The Teacher’s Part in the Anti-Alcohol Movement. Boston: STF, 1927.
- Wine a Peril to Childhood. Boston: Sci Temp Found., 1908.
- (With E. Transeau ). Alcohol in Every-Day Life. Boston: STF, 1913.Published by Scientific Temperance Federation STF) or Scientific Temperance Foundation (Sci Temp Found).
Published by the WCTU.
- Alcohol in Experience and Experiment, 1931.
- More Facts about 2.75 Per Cent Alcoholic Beverages, 1924.
- Why America Went Dry, 1924.
- Up and at It, between 1920 – 1933.
- Law Enforcement, 1920 – 1933.
- Our One Hundred and Thirty-Five Years of Temperance Struggle, 1920.
- Building the Prohibition Structure, 1920 – 1933.
- Shall We Teach “Moderation”?, 1934.
- Is there Harm in Drinking?, 1934.
- Temperance Day Programs for Upper and Lower Grades and High School Students, Selected and Arranged, 1927.
- History of Scientific Temperance Instruction, 193-.
- How to Work for Scientific Temperance Instruction, 1933. Published by the American Issue Pub Co in Westerville, OH.
Published by the American Issue Pub Co in Westerville, OH.
- Prohibition in 1922, 1923.
- Alcohol’s Ledger in Industry, 1914.
- The Appeal to Youth, 1924.
- More Massachusetts Records and Prohibition, 1925.
- Wet and Dry Massachusetts, 1922.
- Why Alcoholic Liquors are Harmful, 1929.
- Exempting Beer from Prohibition, 1919.
- Where Stands the Question of Prohibition and Drug Addiction in the U.S.: A Second Study, 1923.
- The Death Rate Under Prohibition. Westerville, OH: Dept. of Ed, Pub and Res, 1930.
- What if –, 1928.
- The Children of the Nation, 191-.
- Drink and the Delinquent Child, 191-.
- 2.75 Per Cent — Toxic Effects of Weak Alcoholic Liquors, 1924.
- Are School Children Drinking?, 1924.
- State Experience with Exempting Beer from Prohibition, 1926.
- The Future of the Prohibition Movement, 1927.
- Visual Education, 1921.
- End-results of Drink, 1921.
- How Prohibition Came to the U.S., 1920.
- The Live Baby that Counts, 1918.
- Scientific Temperance Instruction in the Schools of the U.S., 1920.
Published by others.
- On to Victory: Law Observance Programs for Sunday Schools and Young People’s Meetings. Westerville, OH: Anti-Saloon League, 1928.
- Shall I Drink? Chicago: Relig Ed Assn., 1931.
- Alcoholic mortality in the United States. Sci Temp J., 1927.
- The Man at the Wheel. Evanston, lL: Signal, 192-.
- What of the Drink Cures? Westerville, OH: World League Against Alco., 1922.
- (With J. Lowell). They Shall not Repeal. Providence: RI Anti-Saloon League, 1928.
- (With R. Miller). Temperance Facts. Philadelphia: Nat Temp Union, 1916.