The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was formed in Canada in 1874. The group believed that alcohol was at the root of many social issues, including family violence, poverty, and unemployment, and sought to have the sale of alcohol banned in Canada.

Beginning in 1890, several local chapters of the WCTU were formed across Prince Edward Island. Alice Jane (Sterling) Johnson was the founding president of the Charlottetown WCTU and held this position until at least 1895. The Women's Christian Temperance Union of Charlottetown was incorporated by an Act of the General Assembly in 1894. The first meeting of the newly incorporated organization was held 21 May 1894. It would appear the efforts of the WCTU did not go unnoticed and in 1900 the provincial legislature passed the Prohibition Act, making Prince Edward Island the first province in Canada to ban the sale of alcohol.

Even after prohibition was introduced and then abolished on PEI, the WCTU remained an active organization for many years. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the group met on a monthly basis in the Ladies Parlour at Zion Presbyterian Church in Charlottetown. They discussed membership, finances, and activities such as the promotion of Youth Temperance Week. The group also regularly sent representatives to regional and national WCTU conventions.