To Our Sisters.

“In moral questions which concern the home and the protection of the fireside, women are not vested with that weapon of civil warefare, the ballot…”

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A persuasive Pennsylvania temperance broadside, issued June 18, 1889, the day before the state’s prohibition referendum. Addressed to the women of Pennsylvania, the circular appeals to their moral authority and Christian conscience, urging them to influence male voters to support the prohibition amendment.

Authored by Mrs. Richard Darlington, Mrs. Jacob Price, and Mrs. J. Curtis Smith—likely leaders in local temperance and reform circles—the text draws on patriotic language, Revolutionary history, and maternal rhetoric to frame alcohol as an enemy of home, virtue, and public order.

Though women could not yet vote (“In moral questions which concern the home and the protection of the fireside, women are not vested with that weapon of civil warefare, the ballot…”), the authors assert their right and responsibility to shape public opinion and defend the home through moral suasion.

A textbook example of grassroots female political activism in the late 19th century, closely tied to temperance and early women’s rights efforts.

Price: $85.00