The temperance movement and social work

This article examines a forgotten episode in social work history: the involvement of the profession in the temperance movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Though some notable social workers such as Jane Addams, Robert A. Woods, and Representative Jeannette Rankin (the first woman elected to the U.S. Congress), championed the temperance cause during this period, little is remembered of their efforts today. Suggestions are also drawn from this historical incident about current efforts in the profession to again deal with social justice issues on a national scale by reintroducing a more vigorous "moral element" into the profession's response to such problems.