Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T21:57:58.911Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Conservative Social Christianity, the Law, and Personal Morality: Wilbur F. Crafts in Washington

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Gaines M. Foster
Gaines M. Foster
Affiliation:
professor of history at Louisiana State University.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In 1895, Wilbur F. Crafts opened on office in Washington, D.C. and proclaimed himself a Christian lobbyist. Over the next quarter century, until his death in 1922, he mobilized churches and individual Christians to pressure Congress on behalf of bills, some he had written, to limit divorce, to control sexuality, and to restrict or prohibit the use of narcotics and alcohol. He also led an unsuccessful campaign for federal censorship of the movies. Crafts deserves more attention than historians of American religion have paid him. His legislative accomplishments render his career important in itself, but an analysis of his theology and lobbying efforts also helps historians better conceptualize social Christianity and the social gospel.

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 71 , Issue 4 , December 2002 , pp. 799 - 819
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Hopkins, Charles H., The Rise of the Social Gospel in American Protestantism, 1865–1915 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1940), 3.Google Scholar

2. Ibid., 320.

3. Ibid., 224.

4. Abell, Aaron I., The Urban Impact on American Protestantism, 1865–1900 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1943).Google Scholar

5. May, Henry F., Protestant Churches and Industrial America (New York: Harper Torch books, 1967; orig. published, 1949), 163–265.Google Scholar

6. Smith, Timothy L., Revivalism and Social Reform: American Protestantism on the Eve of the Civil War (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1957), 235–37Google Scholar; Handy, Robert T., A Christian America: Protestant Hopes and Historical Realities, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1984)Google Scholar; Fishburn, Janet Forsythe, The Fatherhood of God and the Victorian Family: The Social Gospel in America (Philadelphia, Penn.: Fortress, 1981)Google Scholar; Wightman Fox, Richard, “The Culture of Liberal Protestant Progressivism, 1875–1925,” Journal of Interdisciplinary History 23 (Winter 1993): 639–60Google Scholar; Curtis, Susan, A Consuming Faith: The Social Gospel and Modern American Culture (Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991)Google Scholar; Moorhead, James H., World Without End: Mainstream American Protestant Visions of the Last Things, 1880–1925 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999), 97–123CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Gorrell, Donald K., The Age of Social Responsibility: The Social Gospel in the Progressive Era, 1900–1920 (Macon, Ga: Mercer University Press, 1988)Google Scholar; Phillips, Paul T., A Kingdom on Earth: Anglo-American Social Christianity, 1880–1940 (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996)Google Scholar; Handy, Robert T., Undermined Establishment: Church-State Relations in America, 1880–1920 (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7. Handy, , Undermined Establishment, 105–6 and 59.Google Scholar

8. May, Protestant Churches, 127–28, 130, 181; Hopkins, , Rise of Social Gospel, 17–18.Google Scholar

9. Introduction by Cook, Joseph in Crafts, Wilbur F.. A Practical Christian Sociology: A Series of Special Lectures Before Princeton Theological Seminary and Marietta College (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1895), 7–10Google Scholar; Lender, Mark E., Dictionary of American Temperance Biography (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1984), 112–13Google Scholar; vols. 1, 2, 3, and 4, Crafts, Wilbur F. Notebooks, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar

10. Crafts, , Successful Men Of To-Day and What They Say Of Success (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1883), 191.Google Scholar

11. Crafts, , The Sabbath for Man, 6th ed. (New York: Baker & Taylor, 1892), 124.Google Scholar

12. Ibid., 196.

13. Ibid., 265.

14. Ibid., 566–67. Bateham, J. C., “Our Sabbath Observance Petition to Congress,” Union Signal 13 (11 3, 1897): 12; Notes of a Hearing Before the Committee of Education and Labor, United States Senate, Friday, April 6, 1888, on the Petitions Praying for the Passage of Legislation … [on] Violations of the Sabbath, 50th Cong., 1st sess., 1888, Sen. Misc. Doc No. 108 (SS 2517); “National Sabbath Reform,” Our Day 1 (April 1888): 337.Google Scholar

15. Sunday Rest Bill, 50th Cong., 2d sess., 1889, Sen. Misc. Doc No. 43 (SS 2615), 2.

16. “Editorial Notes,” Our Day 2 (December 1888): 523–34Google Scholar; “American National Sabbath Reform: The Origin and Organization of the American Sabbath Union,” Our Day 3 (January 1889): 44–54Google Scholar; Woman's Christian Tern perance Union Minutes, 1888, 62Google Scholar; Rossing, John P., “A Cultural History of Nineteenth Century American Sabbath Reform Movements,” (Ph.D. diss., Emory University, 1994), 227–82.Google Scholar

17. Sunday Rest Bill; Congressional Record, 50th Cong., 2d sess., 2640; Richardson, James D., comp., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents (np: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1903), 9: 29Google Scholar; “Wilbur F. Crafts to the Postmaster-General,” Christian Statesman 24 (March 12, 1891): 3.Google Scholar

18. Rossing, , “Cultural History,” 258–61Google Scholar; Christian Statesman 23 (April 17, 1890): 2; “The ‘Christian Statesman's’ New Management,” Christian Statesman 25 (November 19, 1891): 1. On the National Reform Association, see Jacoby, Stewart O., “The Religious Amendment Movement: God, People and Nation in the Gilded Age,” (Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1984).Google Scholar

19. Crafts, , Practical Christian Sociology, 416Google Scholar; S. Res. 56 and H.R. Res. 120, Congressional Record, 53d Cong.; “What We Shall Help to Do,” Christian Statesman 25 (November 19, 1891): 8Google Scholar; Forster, Gaines M., “A Chiristian Nation: Signs of a Covenant,” Bonds of Affection: Americans Define Their Patriotism, ed. by John, Bodnar (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996), 133–33. Despite the victory in Congress, and after considerable legal maneuvering, the Fair closed on Sunday.Google Scholar

20. “Sabbath Closing of the World's Fair,” Christian Statesman 26 (October 22, 1892): 3.Google Scholar

21. “Mrs. Hunt as a Christian Lobbyists,” Christian Statesman 26 (June 17, 1893): 8–9Google Scholar; Crafts, , “Valedictory: Five Years of Sabbath Reform Campaigning,” Christian Statesman 27 (12 30, 1893): 8–9.Google Scholar

22. Crafts, , “Practicable Sabbath Reform,” Our Day 13 (11–12 1894): 523.Google Scholar

23. Ibid., 524; “Circular Announcing the National Bureau of Reforms,” frame #392, reel 21, Historical File of the National Headquarters, Woman' s Christian Temperance Union Papers, Temperance and Prohibition Papers, Joint Ohio Historical Society-Michigan Historical Collections (microfilm edition), hereinafter cited as T&P Papers.

24. Crafts, , Patriotic Studies (Washington, D.C.: International Reform Bureau, 1910), 62.Google Scholar

25. Crafts, , “Our Day in Review: Monthly Review of Reform Progress,” Our Day 16 (09 1896): 482–83.Google Scholar

26. Crafts, , Practical Christian Sociology, 29.Google Scholar

27. Ibid., 28.

28. Ibid., 171.

29. Crafts, , Before the Lost Arts and Other Lectures (Washington: The Reform Bureau, 1896), 60.Google Scholar

30. Crafts, , Practical Christian Sociology, 23.Google Scholar

31. Ibid., 28.

32. Ibid., 31.

33. Ibid., 147, and 115–92.

34. Ibid., 174.

35. Crafts, , National Perils and Hopes: A Study Based on Current Statistics and the Observations of a Cheerful Reformer (Cleveland, Ohio: F. M. Barton, 1910), 24Google Scholar. See also Crafts, to Woodrow Wilson, February 20, 1913 (reel 46), Woodrow Wilson Papers, Library of Congress.Google Scholar

36. Crafts, , Before the Lost Arts, 63.Google Scholar

37. Crafts, , Patriotic Studies (1910), 52–53; Cashbook in International Reform Federation Collection, Bentley Library.Google Scholar

38. Moral Legislation in Congress, Passed and Pending,… Report of the Work of the International Reform Bureau, 58th Cong., 2d sess., 1904, S. Doc. No. 150 (SS 4589); records in International Reform Federation Collection. On Sara, , see “News Worth Telling” Christian Statesman 31 (02 27, 1897): 68.Google Scholar

39. WCTU Minutes, 1897, 155. See also for Crafts's appearances, WCTU Minutes, 1895, 53; 1897, 26; 1898, 42 and 57; 1899, 47; 1900, 39; 1902, 71.

40. Crafts, , “Our Day in Review: The March of Progress and Reform,” Our Day 16 (04 1896): 181.Google Scholar

41. Committee on Immigration, Foreign Immigration: Report to accompany H.R. 12199, 57th Cong., 1st sess., 1902, S. Rept. 2119 (SS 4264), 176.

42. Crafts, , “Our Day in Review,” 183–84Google Scholar; Crafts, , Patriotic Studies (1905), 258–66Google Scholar; H.R. 4063, Congressional Record, 60th Cong.; Prevention of Transmission of Race-Gambling Bets, Hearings Before Subcommittee on Interstate Commerce, April 3, 1916 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1916); Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Interstate Transmission of Race-Gambling Bets: Report to accompany, H.R. 15949. 64th Cong., 1st sess., 1916, H. Rept. No. 773 (SS 6905).Google Scholar

43. Crafts, , “Purity,” Union Signal 23 (07 15, 1897): 4–5Google Scholar. See also, Crafts, , Practical Christianity, 71–73.Google Scholar

44. Crafts, , “Our Day in Review,” Our Day 16 (07 1896): 361–62Google Scholar; S. 1675, Congressional Record, 54th Cong.; Crafts, , Patriotic Studies (1910), 89Google Scholar; H.R. 1136, Congressional Record, 55th Cong.; Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on the District of Columbia, United States Senate, Sixty-Second Congress, Third Session on S. 5861 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1913)Google Scholar; Hearings Before the Judiciary Subcommittee of the District of Columbia, House of Representatives on Kenyon Act (S. 234) (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1914); Crafts to Wilson, 6 and 20 February 1913, and filed with the latter, “To Leaders in the Fight for ‘Red Light’ Bill,” 10 February 1913, all on reel 44, Wilson Papers, LC; S. 234, Congressional Record, 63d Cong.Google Scholar

45. Crafts, , “Marriage and Divorce,” Union Signal 23 (06 3, 1897): 4Google Scholar; Crafts, to Dike, Samuel W., January 1, 1896Google Scholar, Dike, Samuel W. Papers, Library of CongressGoogle Scholar; Crafts, , Patriotic Studies (1910), 89Google Scholar; Jno. Gillett to Crafts, February 7, 1896, Dike Papers, LC; H.R. 5217, Congressional Record, 54th Cong.; Crafts, , “Our Day in Review,” Our Day 16 01 1896): 303Google Scholar; S. 1514, Congressional Record, 54th Cong.; Crafts, to Dike, , February 28, 1896, and January 19, 1902, Dike Papers, LCGoogle Scholar; Crafts, to Ray, George W., April 7, 1900 (HR56A–H13.4), box 95, RG 233, National Archives; H.R. 9835, Congressional Record, 56th Cong.Google Scholar

46. On canteen, “Notes and Comments,” Union Signal 25 (March 30, 1899): 1Google Scholar; H.R. 11022, Congressional Record, 56th Cong., 2d sess. On immigrant stations, Committee on Immigration, Foreign Immigration: Report to accompany H.R. 12199, 57th Cong., 1st sess., 1902, S. Rept. 2119 (SS 4264). On Pacific islands, “Our Country's New Responsibilities: Call for a National Christian Citizenship Convention at Washington, D.C. Dec. 13–15, 1898,” in folder 11, and Crafts form letter, February 18, 1902, folder 13, both in box 1, reel 2, Scientific Temperance Federation Papers, T&P Papers; Crafts, , Patriotic Studies (1910), 29Google Scholar; U.S. Statutes at Large, 57th Cong., 32, pt. 1, 33. On role in Prohibition, see Nicholson, S. E. to P. A. Baker, April 27, 1911Google Scholar and Nicholson to Members of the Headquarters Committee, July 17, 1911, both in folder 2, box 1, reel 17, Nicholson Subseries, American Anti-Saloon League Papers, T&P Papers; Margaret Dye, Ellis, “Our Washington Letter,” Union Signal 37 (12 21, 1911): 3 and 12Google Scholar; “Conference Decides Hobson Resolution to Remain Unchanged,” American Issue 22 (July 24, 1915): 7Google Scholar; Anna, Gordon, “Important Statement of National Legislative Conference,” Union Signal 43 (07 5, 1917): 3.Google Scholar

47. Crafts, , Patriotic Studies (1910), 29–30, 72–78, 88Google Scholar; Patriotic Studies (1905), 204, 234–35, 237–46Google Scholar. For passage of the Harrison Act, see Musto, David F., The American Disease: Origins Narcotic Control, expanded ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), 24–68.Google Scholar

48. Crafts, , National Perils and Hopes, 42–48Google Scholar; Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Transmission by Mail or Interstate Commerce of Pictures or Any Description of Prize Fights: Report to accompany H.R. 10639, 54th Cong., 2d sess., 1897, H. Rept. No. 3046 (SS 3556); H.R. 10369, Congressional Record, 54th Cong., 2d sess.; “The Anti-Kinescope Crusade,” Union Signal 23 (April 1, 1897): 8–9; S. 7027, Congressional Record, 62d Cong.Google Scholar

49. Crafts, to Stoddard, Cora F., September 9, 1915, box 4, Scientific Temperance Federation Papers, New York Public Library.Google Scholar

50. Federal Motion Picture Commission. Hearings Before the Committee on Education, House of Representatives, Sixty-Fourth Congress, First Session on H.R. 456 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1916), 77.Google Scholar

51. Crafts, , Patriotic Studies (1910), 60Google Scholar; Ellis, Margaret Dye, “Our Washington Letter,” Union Signal 40 (03 26, 1914): 2.Google Scholar

52. Committee on Education, Federal Motion Picture Commission: Report to accompany H.R. 14895, 63d Cong., 3d sess., 1915, H. Rept. No. 1411 (SS 6766).

53. Motion Picture Commission: Hearings Before the Committee on Education, House of Representatives, Sixty-Third Congress, Second Session on Bills to Establish a Federal Motion Picture Commission, No. 1 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1914), 21.Google Scholar

54. Federal Motion Picture: Hearings, 167.

55. Ibid., 62, 169–70.

56. “Mutual Fights Censor Bill” Reel, January 22, 1916, clipping in folder 2, box 3, Dudley Hughes Papers, Russell Library, University of Georgia.Google Scholar

57. Federal Motion Picture: Hearings, 264–71; H.R. 9521, Congressional Record, 44th Cong.

58. New York Times, 15 March 1921, 26Google Scholar; Feldman, Charles M., The National Board of Censorship (Review) of Motion Pictures, 1902–1922 (New York: Arno, 1977), 191–99.Google Scholar

59. New York Times, 28 December 1922, 17.Google Scholar

60. Recent studies of the passage of the prohibition amendment, the Mann Act, and other moral reform legislation quote or mention Crafts.

61. On changes in values, see May, Henry F., The End of American Innocence: A Study of the First Years of Our Time, 1912–1917 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1959)Google Scholar and Stanley, Coben, Rebellion Against Victorianism: The Impetus for Cultural Change in 1920s America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).Google Scholar

62. Paul, Boyer, Urban Masses and Moral Order in America, 1820–1920 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1978)Google Scholar. The term “coercive” also raises the question of whether Crafts's reform efforts constituted a form of “social control,” a concept with a long history in the scholarship of reform movements, including that on Progressivism that has given more attention to efforts to legislate morality than has that on the social gospel. Crafts's efforts obviously did involve social control, but as suggested earlier in the text, he sought laws not just to control African Americans and the working classes, as the concept of “social control” usually connotes, but all members of society, especially the young of his own class.

63. On the larger movement of which Crafts was a part, see Foster, , Moral Reconstruction: Christian Lobbyists and the Federal Legislation of Morality, 1865–1920 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002).Google Scholar