The Woman's Temple in the Business District
Central Chicago
The 13-story “Woman’s Temple,” was built at the corner of Monroe and LaSalle Streets in downtown Chicago and designed by acclaimed architects Burnham & Root. It was dedicated in 1892 with the purpose of serving as the national headquarters of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). The ambitious project had been planned by the Woman’s Temperance Building Association, formed in 1887 and led by Matilda Bradley Carse, President of the Illinois WCTU, with the intention of housing the WCTU’s offices while generating income for the organization through the rental of meeting and office spaces.
Carse raised the original $900,000 capital by selling stocks to businessmen and WCTU members. However, the panic of 1893 led to a drop in rental income and a constant scramble for funding to keep up with expenses.
Controversial among WCTU members from the beginning due to its expense (the building ultimately cost $1.25 million), support for the Temple waned after WCTU President Frances Willard’s death in 1898. By 1900 the WCTU had moved its headquarters to Evanston. Carse continued to promote the building as a memorial to Willard, but after her death the building was sold to a bank. It was demolished in 1926.
The Woman’s Temple Collection documents the unique features of this little-known building’s history. From the beginning, the Temple was intended to serve as a symbol, an icon of woman’s power in the heart of Chicago’s masculine business district. Not only did it represent women’s ability to raise money, transact business with the male powers (including William Deering and Marshall Field), and assure the WCTU of a stable financial future, but the design of the building itself, as interpreted by Burnham and Root, also reflected a womanly aesthetic from its Romanesque/French Gothic exterior to the murals and fixtures of the interior. Meanwhile, the internal WCTU controversy surrounding the Temple reveals gender issues within the organization, with some of the women resistant to involvement in an expensive business venture that threatened to distract attention from the organization’s core goals and religious values.
The Woman’s Temple Collection at the Frances Willard House Museum and WCTU Archives covers the unique story of the building from its inception in 1887 to its demolition in 1926.
