Adda Burch

Adda Burch (January 6, 1869 – February 18, 1929) was an American missionary teacher and temperance leader from Pennsylvania. She worked in Latin America for many years, particularly in Chile, where she served as president of the World Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and taught at Concepción College. Her activities included promoting temperance education, organizing public meetings, distributing literature in English and Spanish, and encouraging humane treatment of animals. After returning to the United States, she continued her involvement in temperance work through leadership roles in local WCTU organizations in California. She also taught for a period in Puerto Rico before her later years in Los Angeles.

Early life and education Adelaide (nickname, "Adda") Grace Burch was born at Greenville, Pennsylvania, January 6, 1869.

She was educated in the local schools and at the Edinboro Stale Normal School.

In 1897, in Chile, Burch was elected president of the country's WCTU.

Shortly after returning to the U.S., Burch was appointed teacher in a boys’ school in Puerto Rico. Here, her health suffered, and at the end of the school year, she returned to the U.S. and settled in Los Angeles, California. She was at once identified with temperance movements in that city, becoming corresponding secretary of the local WCTU, county superintendent of the Press Department, and also of the City Federation.