page_1162 < previous page page_1162 next page > Page 1162 and the Young Women's Christian Association, who sought federal and state protective legislation, and working women from the trade union movement, who emphasized the need to organize labor. Both groups had to deal with the chauvinism of male reformers and the increasingly conservative American Federation of Labor. Thus, they turned to groups created inside and outside the league to promote education and better working conditions and to boycott companies guilty of bias or overpricing, looking to protective laws only when all other means had failed. The WTUL did succeed in advancing women's education, better wages, job safety, and sexual and racial integration. Especially in its early years under the leadership of Margaret Robins, it helped women during strikes set up picket lines, counter police violence, build up public opinion behind their efforts, and support their families. The WTUL also joined other women's groups to lobby state and national politicians. But the organization broke up in 1950 amid antiunionism, McCarthyism, and the postWorld War II baby boom that returned many wartime working women to the home. It declared  prematurely  that it had achieved its goals. See also Feminist Movement; Labor; Women and the Work Force. Women's Voluntary Associations American women have cooperated with one another in voluntary associations since the time of the American Revolution, and their organizations continue to function as an important vehicle for exerting influence in the public arena. Throughout most U.S. history, popular belief held that "women's place was in the home," that their talents should be applied solely within the domestic setting. Until modern times women were unwelcome in most groups founded by men for civic action, self-improvement, or social interaction. Yet throughout history women routinely defied the proscriptions against their public role and met with one another to create a collective voice for change. In this way American men have come to accept women's use of organizations to help shape the nation's political, social, and economic life. During the War for Independence, the Daughters of Liberty raised funds for George Washington's army, setting a precedent that would be followed by future generations in wartime. Ladies Relief Societies and similarly named organizations provided material and moral support during every subsequent military conflict in which American soldiers were engaged. No doubt the toleration during wartime for women's activities outside the home arose from the fact that they were engaged in patriotic work during an emergency; moreover, war relief activities would have been viewed as an extension of what was seen as their normal caretaking function. In peacetime, however, women generally faced constraints against collective action through association. Nevertheless, antebellum women founded a great number of associations to address the social issues of their day. These groups served as one of women's few outlets to express their opinions and to work for change. The period saw the emergence of women's temperance societies, which called first for the moderate use of alcohol and later for total abstinence. Temperance groups expanded their activities and took stands on other reform causes, including easier divorces for wives of alcoholics, the adoption of more comfortable clothes for women, and improved diets. The movement eventually evolved into one of the largest organizations of women in America, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), founded in 1873. This group, which catapulated its late-nineteenth-century president, Frances Willard, to a position of worldwide importance, worked also for such reforms as woman suffrage, free kindergartens, and social purity. Women in the northern states in the 1830s founded groups in cities like Philadelphia, Boston, and Salem to seek the abolition of slavery. Protestant churches also generated many organizational efforts, including moral reform societies, missionary associations, and charitable enterprises. And numerous secular groups engaged in benevolent work, creating asylums, homes for  < previous page page_1162 next page >