Lucy Thurman and the black temperance movement

Lucinda "Lucy" (Smith) Thurman, 1849-1918, best known as a civil rights activist, began her work on behalf of the African American community as a temperance reformer.  Born in Canada, she moved to Michigan, and worked among black women in nearby Toledo, Ohio, during the Women's Temperance Crusade in 1874.   After a ten-year campaign, she persuaded the WCTU to open a National Department of Colored Work.  She was appointed its superintendent in 1893 and served in the office for seventeen years.  For more, see http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-living/2010/10/moss_point_womans_study_leads_to_noted_ancestor_-_sampling_our_history.html