"Against Their Own Weakness": Policing Sexuality and Women in San Antonio, Texas, during World War I

Abstract

In March 1918 an editorial in the San Antonio Express urged the city government of San Antonio, Texas, to work with the military to clean up the city and make it a fit place for soldiers to train and people to live: old proverb, 'What is for the goose is for the gander,' is working out beautifully in those cities where the army camps are located. The army is the goose and the general public is the gander. . . . The Government has determined on certain conditions for the army camps, and these conditions are of necessity forced upon the community. The sauce referred to was restrictions on certain immoral actions, particularly drinking and prostitution. The editorial advocated prohibiting alcohol in town and ending prostitution not only for moral improvement and for the greater war effort but also for the concrete economic advantages inherent in complying with military orders. choice is clear and plain; it is a choice between the liquor business and the army business. . . . The deciding element is the dollar. The editorial also struck a moral argument: old idea that patriotism was a Fourth of July celebration, was a narrow view. Now we are exercising the patriotic virtues at the table, the pantry, in the bank, on the train, in moral sanitation, and in temperance reform. . . . The outcome will be seen in a greater and purer city.1 San Antonio serves as a useful case study of vice control because of its large population of soldiers, its triracial community, and the presence there of the Live Oak female detention home.2 The national military and civilian