Religious Diversity in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Iowa in 1915

Introduction The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) sought to unite late 19th‐ and early 20th‐century women behind an agenda of prohibition, moral reform, and women's rights. But scholars have rarely studied the denominational diversity of this “Christian” organization. Method We match directory listings of state, district, county, and local WCTU of Iowa leaders with a measure of church affiliation collected from the 1915 Iowa State Census. Results While a plurality of women identified as Methodist Episcopal, leaders were affiliated with numerous denominations. Empirical analyses demonstrate the importance of context for religious pluralism; district leadership was less denominationally diverse and more Methodist Episcopal in areas with higher percentages of Methodist Episcopal residents. Higher percentages of Catholics and more denominationally diverse populations were related to greater denominational diversity in leadership. Conclusion The “Christian” in the WCTU's name was inclusive of many different Protestant denominations. However, this denominational diversity was context dependent.