Sarah A. McClees
{{short description|American temperance worker}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sarah A. McClees
| image = Sarah McClees (A history of the W.C.T.U. of Northern and Central Calif., 1911).png
| alt = An older white woman, seated indoors, next to a fireplace, with a book open in her lap; she is wearing a long dark skirt and has white hair
| caption = Sarah A. McClees, from a 1911 publication
| birth_name = Sarah A. Clark
| birth_date = September 23, 1822
| birth_place = Wilmington, Delaware
| death_date = January 7, 1913 (age 90)
| death_place = Oakland, California
| other_names =
| occupation = Temperance worker, suffragist, writer
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Sarah A. Clark McClees (September 23, 1822 – January 7, 1913) was an American temperance worker, suffragist, and writer. She was superintendent of the Department of Soldiers and Sailors of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).
Early life
Sarah Clark was born in Wilmington, Delaware.
Career
McClees was at the first national convention of the WCTU, in Cleveland in 1874.{{Cite news |date=1899-10-05 |title=W.C.T.U. Programme; Features of the Coming National Convention at Seattle |pages=4 |work=The Indianapolis Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-journal-wctu-progra/137259650/ |access-date=2023-12-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} She was the first superintendent of the Department of Soldiers and Sailors of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).{{Cite book |last1=Graham |first1=Frances W. |author-link1=Frances W. Graham |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N1ylrdNhbIwC&dq=%22Sarah+A.+McClees%22&pg=PA55 |title=Two Decades: A History of the First Twenty Years' Work of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union of the State of New York : 1874-1894 |last2=Gardenier |first2=Georgeanna M. Remington |page=55|date=1894 |publisher=Press of R.J. Oliphant |language=en}} Her department published a periodical, America's Defenders,{{Cite book |last=Stearns |first=John Newton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3MA4AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Sarah+A.+McClees%22&pg=PA108 |title=Temperance in All Nations: History of the Cause in All Countries of the Globe. Together with the Papers, Essays, Addresses, and Discussions of the World's Temperance Congress, Held by the National Temperance Society, in Chicago, Ill., June, 1893 |date=1893 |publisher=National Temperance Society|page=108|language=en}} encouraging servicemen to abstain from alcohol, and presenting them with other recreational outlets.Benedict, E. L., [https://www.victorianvoices.net/ARTICLES/Demorest/Mixed/Dem1887-Temperance.pdf "What W.C.T.U. Means"] Demorest's Monthly Magazine (1887): 802-803.{{Cite journal |last=Stewart |first=Jane A. |date=June 1904 |title=How Gospel Temperance is Carried to Soldier and Sailor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w4wI5lcoKQkC&dq=Sarah+McClees+temperance&pg=PA414 |journal=Record of Christian Work |volume=23 |issue=6 |pages=414–416}} She promoted book drives to supply military bases and ships with books and magazines,{{Cite news |date=1899-06-06 |title=Can Use Good Literature; Work of the W.C.T.U. for Soldiers and Sailors |pages=3 |work=Oakland Enquirer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-enquirer-can-use-good-literature/137259958/ |access-date=2023-12-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} opened a coffeehouse in New York City,{{Cite news |date=1902-09-24 |title=Honoring a Leader in Temperance Work |pages=1 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-honoring-a-le/137280009/ |access-date=2023-12-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} and led the WCTU's efforts to end a federal program to sell liquor to the residents of disabled veterans' homes.{{Cite news |date=1890-01-24 |title=Temperance: Liquor in Soldiers' Homes |pages=7 |work=Deerfield Valley Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/deerfield-valley-times-temperance-liquo/137259431/ |access-date=2023-12-23 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1895-03-16 |title=Untitled brief item |pages=6 |work=The Kansas Christian Advocate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kansas-christian-advocate-untitled-b/137260106/ |access-date=2023-12-23 |via=Newspapers.com}}
McClees also chaired the WCTU's Lyceum Bureau, scheduling lecturers on temperance topics, and was active in the Oakland chapter of the WCTU.{{Cite news |date=1898-03-24 |title=Won Their Case |pages=2 |work=Oakland Enquirer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-enquirer-won-their-case/137259351/ |access-date=2023-12-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} She founded one of the first branches of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), in New York City. She founded a rescue mission for girls in Oakland, California.
McClees worked for women's suffrage. She registered to vote in California when she was ninety years old, and the last time she left home was to vote in Oakland in 1912. She was a member of the Southern California Press Association.{{Cite news |date=1912-09-25 |title=Piedmont Woman Attains Ninety; Mrs. Sarah A. McClees Honored by a Host of Friends |pages=5 |work=Oakland Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-piedmont-woman-attains-n/137259119/ |access-date=2023-12-23 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Publications
- "Soldiers and Sailors" (1894), report in the minutes of the annual meeting of the Women's Christian Temperance UnionMcClees, Sarah A., [https://books.google.com/books?id=LaA0AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Sarah+A.+McClees%22&pg=PA493 "Soldiers and Sailors"] Minutes of the Annual Meeting, WCTU (1894): 493-499.
- The Army Canteen: A History of the Pioneer Work of Women with Regard to the Canteen in the Military Service of the United States of America (1905){{Cite book |last=McClees |first=Sarah A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZK9AAQAAMAAJ&q=Sarah+McClees+temperance |title=The Army Canteen: A History of the Pioneer Work of Women with Regard to the Canteen in the Military Service of the United States of America |date=1905 |language=en}}
Personal life
Clark married iron manufacturer William Kennard McClees.{{Cite news |date=1913-02-07 |title=Death of Sarah A. McClees |pages=14 |work=The American Issue |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-american-issue-death-of-sarah-a-mcc/137279400/ |access-date=2023-12-23 |via=Newspapers.com}} They had a son, Edward, and two daughters, Mary and Helen. Another son, Herbert, died in infancy. Her husband died in 1887, and she died in 1913, at the age of 90, at her daughter's home in Oakland.{{Cite news |date=1913-01-08 |title=Sarah A. McClees Called by Death |pages=7 |work=The San Francisco Call and Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-call-and-post-sarah-a/137248462/|via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-12-22}}{{Cite news |date=1913-01-08 |title=Prominent Woman Will be Buried Tomorrow |pages=9 |work=San Francisco Bulletin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/san-francisco-bulletin-prominent-woman-w/137259801/ |access-date=2023-12-23 |via=Newspapers.com}}
References
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Category:American temperance activists
Category:Writers from Wilmington, Delaware