THE PROHIBITION MOVEMENT IN CORVALLIS, OREGON AND WOMEN'S RIGHT TO VOTE
Above: Abigail S. Duniway, of Albany, first women registered to vote in Oregon, after a lifetime as a rare women's suffrage but anti-temperance activist.
Throughout the last half of the 19th century and the first part of the 20th, the Gazette Times was an organ of the Prohibition Party, which was quite active in the area, not only on temperance issues but also women's suffrage, the election of Senators by the people (they were then chosen by the Legislature), etc.
Below is a WPA interview with N.A. Thompson, of Corvallis, who was active in the Party:
517 N. Second Street
Corvallis, Oregon
February 1, 1925
While I am an Oregon pioneer, having arrived in that state in 1855, My first recollection was of the old farm south of Corvallis. The Indians were accustomed to burn the grassy prairies of the Willamette Valley, that they might slaughter the game driven before the flames. This had been stopped only a few years and I can remember seeing the little oaks, six inches to a foot high, and the young firs that I could step over. These trees are now large, the oaks 12 to 18 inches in diameter and the firs about one hundred feet tall. I am not able to write much worth about the pioneers, as I have not lived in Oregon for 36 years and my "Forgettery" has been working overtime.
I believe that I made one of the first Prohibition speeches made in Corvallis and possible in the state, thus opening a campaign which made the county and then the state dry. I was greatly surprised when Green B. SMITH, then the wealthiest person in Benton County, came to my aid. Several times I called on him and he responded generously. I would call, state the case, and he would say to Mrs. S., "Mama, go get the purse and give Mr. THOMPSON a hundred dollars". His generosity helped establish the "Pacific Express" in Portland, which for a number of years struck sledge-hammer blows for Prohibition. My contemporaries used to tell me that prohibition would never come but I have lived to see it become the law of the land, and if I should live to be as old as my mother I would expect to see it far better enforced. I worked with the Prohibition party, ran on its tickers, and spent time and money in its educational campaigns. We never elected our candidates to office but we elected our platform. Every principal plank in that platform became the law of the land; Prohibition, Womans's Suffrage, National Banks for currency issue, Election of senators by direct vote, &c., &c. The Prohibition party of those days contained the wisest statesmen but not the best politicians. I regret my inability to write more and better of my time in my native state. I enclose a short sketch of Father and Mother which is far from doing them justice. Hoping you will be interested in what I have written.
I Am, Yours truly
(signed) N.A.THOMPSON
Note: The structure currently named after 'Mr. Green B. Smith', the Prohibition supporter named above, is Green Berry Tavern, on 99W and Greenberry Lane.
See this and other WPA Interviews here.