Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
History
Date of Award
8-2003
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Elwood D. Watson
Committee Members
Stephen G Fritz, Dale J. Schmitt
Abstract
Jessie Ackerman was the second world missionary for the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. Her fascinating life sheds light on the most important issues facing women during this time period. Most WCTU women have been dismissed by twentieth century scholars as being religiously fanatical and conservative. They have been overshadowed by suffragists and other women that we consider more radical by today’s standards. Only in recent years have some feminist historians begun to reexamine the contributions WCTU women made to the suffrage movement and to feminism.
The research for this thesis relies heavily on primary sources including Ackerman’s personal papers found in Sherrod Library’s Archives of Appalachia, her three published books,Australia From a Woman’s Point of View, What Women Have Done With the Vote, and The World Through a Woman’s Eyes. Also consulted were issues of the WCTU’s official journal, The Union Signal, from 1887 through 1892.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Rushing, Jenny, "Jessie Ackerman, 'The Original World Citizen': Temperance Leader, Suffrage Pioneer, Feminist, Humanitarian." (2003). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 804. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/804
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.