Most families wanted their female college-graduate to get married and have a family on her own. Most graduates though were single. If she was unmarried, "she might be employed outside the home, most likely in a profession that was dominated by women, such as teaching."" If she never married, she might maintain her own home, possibly with another woman. If and when she married, she usually gave up salaried work, and devoted herself to household and family.
In the 1880s, temperance became known, and in the 1890s, the club movements gained members. Temperance societies and women's clubs started all the sudden and grew rapidly. In form, the women's club and the temperance movements imitated various male models. "Women's clubs, like men's clubs, had formal meetings, followed parliamentary procedures, elected officers, wrote minutes, and read reports. After federation, in 1892, their delegates attended national conventions, debated issues, and passed resolutions."" One of the clubs, which was formed "in 1873, was the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), which was led by Frances Willard."" The temperance movement started out with women praying and harassing saloon owners to get them to close down their businesses. "Saloons had been a powerful symbol, an enemy of women, and an insult to the sanctity of the home."" Men spent all their wages, lost their jobs, abused their wives and children, or left the family all the way. "Frances Willard transformed the union from a mid-western prayer group into a militant army of national scope."" The WCTU was for the protection of women and the improvement of society. The clubs targeted for causes such as peace, labor reforms, social purity, health, or city welfare. Frances Willard believed that the ballot was " the most potent means of social and moral reform. It established temperance as a cause around which women would rally for decades."" .
In 1889, Jane Addams and Ellen Starr founded Hull House.