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{{Short description|American temperance activist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Annie Wittenmyer
| image = Annie Wittenmyer.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Sarah Turner
| birth_date = {{birth date|1827|08|26}}
| birth_place = [[Adams County, Ohio]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1900|02|02|1827|08|26}}
| death_place = [[Pottstown, Pennsylvania]]
| other_names =
| occupation = Social reformer; [[501(c)(3) organization|charitable organization]] leader
| signature = Signature of Annie Turner Wittenmyer.png
| spouse = William Wittenmyer
| awards = [[Iowa Women's Hall of Fame]]
}}
'''Annie Turner Wittenmyer''' (August 26, 1827 – February 2, 1900) was an American [[501(c)(3) organization|charitable organization]] leader, known for [[social reform]], [[relief work]], and her writing. She served as the first National President of the [[Woman's Christian Temperance Union]] (WCTU),<ref name="riley1986">Riley, Glenda (1986). Annie Turner Wittenmyer: Reformer. ''Iowa Woman'', September 1986, pp. 26–33.</ref> seventh National President of the [[Woman's Relief Corps]] (WRC), and also served as president of the [[Non-Partisan National Woman's Christian Temperance Union]]. In 2007, Wittenmyer was inducted into the [[Iowa Women's Hall of Fame]].

==Early life and education==
Sarah "Annie" Turner was born in [[Sandy Springs, Ohio|Sandy Springs]], [[Adams County, Ohio|Adams County]], [[Ohio]] in 1827.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1900-01-01|title=Mrs. Annie Wittenmyer|url=https://pubs.lib.uiowa.edu/annals-of-iowa/article/id/6332/|journal=The Annals of Iowa|language=en|volume=4|issue=4|issn=0003-4827}}</ref>

She attended a seminary for girls.<ref name="desmoinesregister" />

==Personal life==
She married merchant William Wittenmyer at age 20.<ref name="desmoinesregister">{{Cite web|url=http://data.desmoinesregister.com/famous-iowans/annie-wittenmyer|title=Famous Iowans - Annie Wittenmyer - DesMoinesRegister.com|website=data.desmoinesregister.com|language=en|access-date=2017-03-08}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 1850, they moved to [[Keokuk, Iowa]], and she started a Sunday School and a tuition-free school for underprivileged children in 1853. She also developed a [[Methodist Episcopal Church]] (MEC) congregation from these children and wrote several hymns. Three of her four children died before reaching adulthood, and her husband died in 1860.

==Career==
===Civil War===
When the [[American Civil War]] began in April 1861 and reports of suffering soldiers reached the home front, she responded by traveling to military hospitals and describing the horrible conditions she witnessed prompting local support. When the Keokuk Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society began in May 1861, she became its "Corresponding Secretary" with the responsibility to maintain contact with sister organizations around the state.<ref>Leonard, Elizabeth D. (2008). ""Men Did Not Take to the Musket More Commonly than Women to the Needle": Annie Wittenmyer and Soldiers' Aid." In Marvin Bergman, ed., ''Iowa History Reader,'' pp. 105-127. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press.</ref> In 1862, Wittenmyer became the first woman mentioned by name in an Iowa legislative document when she was appointed as a Sanitary Agent for the Iowa State Sanitary Commission. In 1863, she began advocating for war [[orphan]]s, helping to create several new Iowa orphanages, including the [[Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home]], which was later renamed the Annie Wittenmyer Home. After she encountered public and prolonged disagreements between the Keokuk Ladies Aid Society and the Iowa Army Sanitary Commission, she resigned her local relief work in 1864 to work with the United States Christian Commission in developing their special diet kitchens for Civil War hospitals.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Guinn|first=L.|year=2015|title=Annie Wittenmyer and Nineteenth-Century Women's Usefulness.|journal=The Annals of Iowa|volume=74 |issue=4|pages=351–377|doi=10.17077/0003-4827.12232|doi-access=free}}</ref>

This program was designed both to improve the health of soldiers who were reportedly dying from inadequate diet in hospitals and also provide a vehicle for women with an interest in missionary work to gain entry to Civil War hospitals and access to soldiers. Mary and Amanda Shelton and other "lady managers" created diet kitchens in a number of hospitals, not without encountering considerable resistance.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=McDevitt|first=T.|year=2004|title=" A Melody Before Unknown": the Civil War Experiences of Mary and Amanda Shelton.|journal=The Annals of Iowa|volume=63 |issue=2|pages=105–136|doi=10.17077/0003-4827.10789|doi-access=free}}</ref> After the war, Wittenmyer wrote ''Under the Guns'', chronicling her relief work.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/undergunswomansr00witt|title=Under the guns : a woman's reminiscences of the civil war|last=Wittenmyer|first=Annie|publisher=E.B. Stillings|language=en}}</ref>

===Post-war work===
Following the war, she helped found the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the MEC and served as their first corresponding secretary in 1871. She edited the periodicals ''The Christian Woman'' and ''The Christian Child'', and she wrote several more hymns and the book ''Woman's Work for Jesus''.<ref name="sillanpa1972">Sillanpa, Tom. Annie Wittenmyer: God's Angel. (Hamilton, IL: Hamilton Press), 1972.</ref>

During Wittenmyer's tenure as first president of the WCTU (1874-79), the organization grew to over 1,000 local chapters. She edited its periodical ''Our Union'' and published two books on the topic: Her book ''History of the Women's Temperance Crusade'' in 1878, and ''Women of the Reformation'' in 1884. She was succeeded by [[Frances Willard (suffragist)|Frances Willard]] when the organization began to focus on [[women's suffrage]]. Wittenmyer strongly opposed women's suffrage; like some other women, she believed that entering the corrupt world of partisan politics would greatly reduce women's moral authority. Wittenmyer then returned to medical advocacy for veterans and nurses.<ref name="nythumane">Staff report (August 1, 1886). A union of human societies. ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref>
[[File:Annie Wittenmyer.png|thumb|Annie Wittenmyer]]
In 1889, she was elected National President of the WRC and focused on providing retirement living for nurses and war widows.<ref name="nytrelief">Staff report (September 15, 1895,). Woman's Relief Corps Officers. ''The New York Times''</ref> She lobbied for pensions for retired military nurses, leading to legislation passed in 1892. She published her autobiography ''Under the Guns'' in 1895 and received her own pension in 1898.<ref name="TheNational-1898" />

In 1898, she was elected president of the [[Non-Partisan National Woman's Christian Temperance Union]].<ref name="TheNational-1898">{{cite journal |title=Progress of the Movement |journal=The National Advocate |date=1898 |volume=33 |issue=3 |page=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EABQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA45 |access-date=3 December 2022 |publisher=National Temperance Society |location=New York |language=en}} {{Source-attribution}}</ref>

==Death and legacy==
Wittenmyer died of an [[asthma]] attack in [[Pottstown, Pennsylvania]] following a lecture and was buried in [[Sanatoga, Pennsylvania|Sanatoga]], Montgomery County.<ref name="localobit">Staff report (February 3, 1900). [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/57506731/a-great-work-done/ "A Great Work Done: Death of Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer, the Philanthropist"]. ''[[Davenport Democrat and Leader]]'' p. 10</ref>

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union's Annie Wittenmyer White Ribbon Award is named in her honor, and in 1949 the [[Iowa Soldiers' Orphans' Home]] was renamed the Annie Wittenmyer Home in her honor. It previously housed a branch of the [[Davenport Public Library]] and currently houses The Parks and Recreation Department and several children's organizations.

In 2007, Wittenmyer was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite book|last=Heidler|first=David Stephen|title=Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History|year=2002|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-04758-5|pages=2141, 2142|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SdrYv7S60fgC&q=%22Annie+Turner+Wittenmyer%22&pg=PA2141|author2=Heidler, Jeanne T|author3=McPherson, James M.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108025817/http://books.google.com/books?id=SdrYv7S60fgC#v=onepage&q=%22Annie%20Turner%20Wittenmyer%22&f=false|archive-date=2014-01-08}}{{cite web|title=Annie Wittenmyer|url=http://www.women.iowa.gov/about_women/HOF/iafame-wittenmyer.html|work=Hall of Fame Inductees|publisher=Iowa Commission on the Status of Women|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110225856/http://www.women.iowa.gov/about_women/HOF/iafame-wittenmyer.html|archive-date=November 10, 2010}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120720045550/http://www.qcmemory.org/genealogy-and-history/local-history-info/the-people/annie-wittenmyer/ Annie Wittenmyer] via Davenport Public Library
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111006213121/http://www.wctu.com/annie_wittenmyer.html Annie Wittenmyer photo] via Woman's Christian Temperance Union
* {{Librivox author|id=18765}}

{{Iowa Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittenmyer, Annie Turner}}
[[Category:1827 births]]
[[Category:1900 deaths]]
[[Category:American temperance activists]]
[[Category:People from Adams County, Ohio]]
[[Category:People from Davenport, Iowa]]
[[Category:People of Iowa in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:American social reformers]]
[[Category:19th-century American writers]]
[[Category:19th-century American women writers]]
[[Category:Activists from Ohio]]
[[Category:American autobiographers]]
[[Category:Woman's Relief Corps national presidents]]
[[Category:American women non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American women autobiographers]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union]]

Annie Turner Wittenmyer - Revision history

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