Mary Hannah Hanchett Hunt (1830-1906) was famous for her campaign against the use of alcohol. In 1880, she was named national educational chairman for the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and thereafter spent many years traveling throughout the United States, lecturing on temperance, testifying before legislatures, developing programs of instruction in temperance for use in public schools, and writing and editing materials for teachers.
Hunt was born in Connecticut and educated in Baltimore. In 1852, she married Leander H. Hunt and the couple moved to Hyde Park in 1886. She lived in Hyde Park until 1893 when she moved to Dorchester where she died in 1906. She is buried at Forest Hills Cemetery.
Mrs. Hunt became interested in the temperance movement while helping her son, Alfred, study for a chemistry course. She determined the best way to eliminate abuse of alcohol was to educate school children. She was very successful in encouraging schools to offer courses in the dangers of alcohol and was instrumental in the passage of federal legislation to mandate such instruction. By 1890 her influence was so great she was named to a position in the world WCTU similar to the one she held in the United States. Books she wrote include Health for Little Folks, Lessons in Hygiene, and Outlines of Anatomy.
