1893 - 1906: Mary H. Hunt and the Committee of 50

Hunt continued to promote Scientific Temperance Instruction until her death in 1906, despite challenges. In 1893, a group of doctors—the Committee of Fifty—issued a 2-volume report, Physiological Aspects of the Liquor Problem, in an attempt to discredit STI. Hunt and other WCTU supporters published a rebuttal, which was widely circulated and defused the Committee of Fifty’s efforts. 

However, some of the facts in Hunt’s publications were justifiably questioned, and, after her death, irregularities in her finances and conflicts of interest were revealed. As the letter featured here shows, these issues created problems for the WCTU. However, Hunt’s work lived on in the School Physiology Journal, which continued publication.