The Union Signal (formerly, The Woman's Temperance Union and Our Union) is a defunct American newspaper. It was the organ of the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union (N.W.C.T.U.), at one time, the largest women's organization in the United States. Established in 1874 aa The Woman's Temperance Union, it was renamed in 1877 as Our Union. When Our Union merged with another temperance paper, The Signal, in 1883, the organ's name was changed to The Union Signal. Published in Chicago, Illinois, it focused on the woman's temperance movement in the U.S. Initially, a weekly 16-page illustrated newspaper, it shifted location (Evanston, Illinois) and publishing schedule (to bimonthly to monthly to quarterly) before it ceased publication in 2016. The last edition of the N.W.C.T.U.'s quarterly journal, titled The Union Signal, was published in 2015, the main focus of which was current research and information on drugs.
The Woman's Temperance Union
At the first annual convention of the N.W.C.T.U., held at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1874, a committee was appointed to consider the establishment of a paper as the organ of the union. This committee consisted of Annie Turner Wittenmyer, Pennsylvania; Susan J. Swift Steele, Wisconsin; Susan A. Gifford, Massachusetts; Elizabeth Eunice Smith Marcy, Illinois; Emma Janes, Oakland, California, and Mary Coffin Johnson, New York. Being unable to formulate definite plans before the close of the convention, the committee was given full power to act.
At the second annual convention, held at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1875, Mrs. E. E. Marcy, secretary of the Committee on Publication Interests, reported that, after overcoming the various hindrances incident to such an enterprise, the project of publishing an official organ had been inaugurated the previous June at New York. The paper was called The Woman's Temperance Union, and six numbers had been issued up to the time of the convention. Wittenmyer, as chairman of the committee, was the active publisher, with Jennie Fowler Willing as editor and Johnson and Frances Willard as contributing editors. This report included resolutions drafted by the Committee on Publication Interests, one of which was as follows:—
Whereas, The paper published by the National Temperance Union as its organ is one of the strongest bonds to hold together our interests in separate localities, devoted as it is to our work, Resolved, That we, as delegates, pledge ourselves a certain number of subscribers in our several states, and in case of failure, to raise money to cover the amount subscribed.
It was recorded that "much discussion followed", and an amendment was adopted eliminating the financial responsibility on the part of the states, but there was a generous pledging of subscriptions, Maine leading off with a pledge of . Johnson became the publisher at this time, with Mary Towne Burt as her assistant, and, later, her successor.
Willing continued as editor until the third annual convention in Newark, New Jersey in 1876, when Margaret E. Winslow was elected editor, with Mrs. S. K. Bolton, Ohio; Mrs. Helen E. Brown, New York; Mary Torrans Lathrap, Michigan; Julia Colman, New York; Willing, Illinois; Johnson, New York, and Frances Willard, Illinois, as contributing editors.
Our Union
In 1877, the name of the paper was changed to Our Union. In this year, at the fourth annual meeting of the N.W.C.T.U. held in Chicago, the publisher's report showed an indebtedness on the paper. Frances Willard then moved that the secretary proceed to call the roll of the states, and the delegates respond and pledge the number of subscribers they would become responsible for the ensuing year. Pledges totalling 12,957 were received, and enthusiasm prevailed. Among the recommendations for the year's work was one relating to Our Union which read: "Each state will be expected to pledge itself, through its delegates, for a specified number of copies. Our local unions have come up nobly to the rescue, but we expect a largely increased enthusiasm in the year to come."