"I deem this the happiest movement for the University that has ever been made. I have no doubt that a large proportion of the students, if not all, will eventually join." Professor William Barton Rogers, 1842.
I know what you're thinking. But Professor Rogers wasn't talking about the Honor Pledge.
At around the same time, there was another pledge going on: the Temperance Pledge.
At the time, alcohol was a major part of University life.
How could the students resist?
Thomas Jefferson himself was a connoisseur of wine.
Jefferson wrote several letters in which he praised Chateau Haut wines. His favorite wines were burgundies and bourdeaux.
While he was ambassador to France, Jefferson would take wine expeditions. In his own house, Monticello, Jefferson built the wine cellar first. And, when Jefferson's niece was sick, he suggested that his son-in-law give her wine as a remedy.
Maybe Jefferson's love of alcohol rubbed off on his beloved institution.
The University of Virginia began as a riotous institution, with students drinking and then riding down the Lawn, firing off guns. Edgar Allan Poe and his friends chugged peach brandy and recited poetry. Drunk students shot off the hands of the Rotunda clock so it wouldn't wake them up early the next morning for classes, resulting in the first bullet-proof clock.
Professor John Cocke was not pleased.
He began a group called the Sons of Temperance that aimed to get all students to pledge abstinence from alcohol in all forms.
In the mid-1850's, the Society erected Temperance Hall on the corner. A seemingly dull brick building, it was the home of many men fiercely and passionately opposed to the "Evils of Drink."
The Temperance Society built up great momentum. They even changed the punishment for drinking. Students who were found guilty of public inebriation were not simply expelled. Instead, they were given the option of taking the Temperance Pledge.
As you can imagine, not all students were pleased with the society. Even some faculty were strongly opposed.
One of the most adamant critics was -- ironically -- Professor Henry St. George Tucker, the man who helped start the Honor System at the University of Virginia.
He believed the Temperance Pledge detracted from student self-governance.
The Temperance Society eventually fell apart after Colliers grog-shop opened very close to grounds, offering a convenient supply of spirits to the students.
As a result, the society completely died out after the Civil War and Temperance Hall began to be used for fraternity initiations in the days prior to fraternity houses.
Woodrow Wilson, for example, was initiated into Phi Kappa Psi on the second floor of Temperance Hall.
In 1913, Temperance Hall was completely destroyed to make room for more attractive office space. And with it went the ideas of mandatory prohibition for the University of Virginia.
Maryann is a University Guide. Her column runs bi-weekly on Tuesdays. She can be reached at maryann@cavalierdaily.com.
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