It has served as the publishing house and national headquarters of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union since its construction in 1910.

Under president Annie Turner Wittenmyer, the WCTU organized national campaigns to advocate for temperance.

When Evanston was incorporated in 1863, its first act was to create an ordinance banning alcohol within a 4-mile (6.4 km) radius around the school.

As Evanston grew to be considered an idyllic suburb in the 1870s, residents supported alcohol control as a way to preserve the residential climate.

An addition was constructed on Willard's former house in 1904 to print The Union Signal and The Young Crusader.

A 1915 fundraiser raised enough money to create an addition to the building, allowing it to hold more administrative offices.

In 1919, the WCTU's efforts came to fruition with the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution establishing prohibition.