Anti-Saloon League
Encyclopedia
The Anti-Saloon League was the leading organization lobbying
for prohibition in the United States
in the early 20th century. It was a key component of the Progressive Era
, and was strongest in the South and rural North, drawing heavy support from pietistic Protestant ministers and their congregations, especially Methodists, Baptists, Disciples
and Congregationalists. It concentrated on legislation, and cared about how legislators voted, not whether they drank or not. Founded as a state society in Oberlin
, Ohio
in 1893, its influence spread rapidly. In 1895 it became a national organization and quickly rose to become the most powerful prohibition lobby in America, pushing aside its older competitors the Woman's Christian Temperance Union
and the Prohibition Party
. Its triumph was nationwide prohibition locked into the Constitution with passage of the 18th Amendment
in 1920. It was decisively defeated when prohibition was repealed in 1933.
(1855–1946), believed that the best leadership was selected, not elected. Russell built from the bottom up, shaping local leagues and raising the most promising young men to leadership at the local and state levels. This organizational strategy reinvigorated the temperance movement
.
The League used a multitiered approach in its attempts to secure a dry (prohibition) nation through national legislation and congressional hearings, the Scientific Temperance Federation
, and its American Issue Publishing Company
. The League also used emotion based on patriotism, efficiency and anti-German sentiment in World War I
. The activists saw themselves as preachers fulfilling their religious duty of eliminating liquor in America. Lamme (2003) explores the public relations approach used by the League as it tried to mobilize public opinion in favor of a dry, saloonless nation. It invented many of the modern techniques of public relations.
The League lobbied at all levels of government for legislation to prohibit the manufacture or import of spirits, beer and wine. Ministers had launched several efforts to close Arizona saloon
s after the 1906 creation of League chapters in Yuma
, Tucson, and Phoenix. A League organizer from New York
arrived in 1909, but the Phoenix chapter was stymied by local-option elections, whereby local areas could decide whether to allow saloons. League members pressured local police to take licenses from establishments that violated closing hours or served women and minors, and they provided witnesses to testify about these violations. One witness was Frank Shindelbower, a juvenile from a poor family, who testified several saloons had sold him liquor; as a result those saloons lost their licenses. However owners discovered that Shindelbower had perjured himself, and he was imprisoned. After the Arizona Gazette and other newspapers pictured Shindelbower as the innocent tool of the Anti-Saloon League, he was pardoned.
As the state level the League had mixed results, usually doing best in rural and southern states. It made little headway in larger cities, or among liturgical church members such as Catholics, Jews, Episcopalians and German Lutherans. Pegram (1990) explains its success in Illinois under William Hamilton Anderson. From 1900 and 1905 the League worked to obtain a local option referendum law and became an official church federation. Local Option was passed in 1907 and by 1910 40 of Illinois' 102 counties and 1,059 of the state's townships and precincts had become dry, including some Protestant areas around Chicago. Despite these successes, after the Prohibition amendment was ratified in 1919, social problems such as organized crime ignored by the League undermined the public influence of the single-issue pressure group, and it faded in importance. Pegram (1997) uses its failure in Maryland to explore the relationship between Southern Progressivism and national progressivism. The Maryland leader 1907-14 was William H. Anderson, but he was unable to adapt to local conditions, such as the large German element. The League failed to ally with local political bosses and attacked the Democratic Party. In Maryland, as in the rest of the South, Pegram concludes, traditional religious, political, and racial concerns constrained reform movements even as they converted Southerners to the new national politics of federal intervention and interest-group competition.
In 1909, the League moved its national headquarters from Washington, D.C.
to Westerville, Ohio
, which had a reputation for temperance. The American Issue Publishing Company, the publishing arm of the League, was also in Westerville. Ernest Cherrington
headed the company. It printed so many leaflets—over 40 tons of mail per month—that Westerville was the smallest town to have a first class post office.
The League's most prominent leader was Wayne Wheeler
, although both Ernest Cherrington and William E. Johnson
("Pussyfoot" Johnson), were also highly influential and powerful.
The League used pressure politics
in legislative politics, which it is credited with developing. When it came to fighting wet candidates, especially as Al Smith in the presidential election of 1928, the League was less effective because its audience was already Republican. Unable to cope with the failures of prohibition, especially bootlegging and organized crime as well as reduced government revenue, the League failed to counter the repeal forces, led by prominent Democrats, which helped Franklin D. Roosevelt win in 1932. A new Constitutional amendment passed easily in 1933 to repeal the 18th amendment, and the League lost its power. From 1948 until 1950 it was named the Temperance League, from 1950 to 1964 the National Temperance League, from 1964 the American Council on Alcohol Problems
. Today the organization continues its original goal. A museum about the League is at the Westerville Public Library
.
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
for prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
in the early 20th century. It was a key component of the Progressive Era
Progressive Era
The Progressive Era in the United States was a period of social activism and political reform that flourished from the 1890s to the 1920s. One main goal of the Progressive movement was purification of government, as Progressives tried to eliminate corruption by exposing and undercutting political...
, and was strongest in the South and rural North, drawing heavy support from pietistic Protestant ministers and their congregations, especially Methodists, Baptists, Disciples
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
The Christian Church is a Mainline Protestant denomination in North America. It is often referred to as The Christian Church, The Disciples of Christ, or more simply as The Disciples...
and Congregationalists. It concentrated on legislation, and cared about how legislators voted, not whether they drank or not. Founded as a state society in Oberlin
Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, to the south and west of Cleveland. Oberlin is perhaps best known for being the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
in 1893, its influence spread rapidly. In 1895 it became a national organization and quickly rose to become the most powerful prohibition lobby in America, pushing aside its older competitors the Woman's Christian Temperance Union
Woman's Christian Temperance Union
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union was the first mass organization among women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far-reaching reform strategies based on applied Christianity." Originally organized on December 23, 1873, in...
and the Prohibition Party
Prohibition Party
The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement...
. Its triumph was nationwide prohibition locked into the Constitution with passage of the 18th Amendment
Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established Prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition...
in 1920. It was decisively defeated when prohibition was repealed in 1933.
Organizational structure and operation
The League was the first modern pressure group organized around one issue. Unlike earlier popular movements, it utilized bureaucratic methods learned from business to build a strong organization. The League's founder and first leader, Howard Hyde RussellHoward Hyde Russell
Howard Hyde Russell was the founder of the Anti-Saloon League.Following a religious conversion, he gave up the practice of law to become a minister....
(1855–1946), believed that the best leadership was selected, not elected. Russell built from the bottom up, shaping local leagues and raising the most promising young men to leadership at the local and state levels. This organizational strategy reinvigorated the temperance movement
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
.
The League used a multitiered approach in its attempts to secure a dry (prohibition) nation through national legislation and congressional hearings, the Scientific Temperance Federation
Scientific Temperance Federation
The Scientific Temperance Federation was founded in 1906 upon the death of Mary Hunt, head of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union’s Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction.Mrs...
, and its American Issue Publishing Company
American Issue Publishing House
The American Issue Publishing Company, incorporated in 1909, was the holding company of the Anti-Saloon League of America. Its printing presses operated 24 hours a day and it employed 200 people in the small town of Westerville, Ohio, where the company was headquartered...
. The League also used emotion based on patriotism, efficiency and anti-German sentiment in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The activists saw themselves as preachers fulfilling their religious duty of eliminating liquor in America. Lamme (2003) explores the public relations approach used by the League as it tried to mobilize public opinion in favor of a dry, saloonless nation. It invented many of the modern techniques of public relations.
The League lobbied at all levels of government for legislation to prohibit the manufacture or import of spirits, beer and wine. Ministers had launched several efforts to close Arizona saloon
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
s after the 1906 creation of League chapters in Yuma
Yuma
-Places:* Yuma Desert, desert in southwest U.S. and northwest MexicoUnited States* Yuma County, Arizona** Yuma, Arizona** Marine Corps Air Station Yuma** United States Army Yuma Proving Ground** Yuma Territorial Prison* Yuma County, Colorado** Yuma, Colorado...
, Tucson, and Phoenix. A League organizer from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
arrived in 1909, but the Phoenix chapter was stymied by local-option elections, whereby local areas could decide whether to allow saloons. League members pressured local police to take licenses from establishments that violated closing hours or served women and minors, and they provided witnesses to testify about these violations. One witness was Frank Shindelbower, a juvenile from a poor family, who testified several saloons had sold him liquor; as a result those saloons lost their licenses. However owners discovered that Shindelbower had perjured himself, and he was imprisoned. After the Arizona Gazette and other newspapers pictured Shindelbower as the innocent tool of the Anti-Saloon League, he was pardoned.
As the state level the League had mixed results, usually doing best in rural and southern states. It made little headway in larger cities, or among liturgical church members such as Catholics, Jews, Episcopalians and German Lutherans. Pegram (1990) explains its success in Illinois under William Hamilton Anderson. From 1900 and 1905 the League worked to obtain a local option referendum law and became an official church federation. Local Option was passed in 1907 and by 1910 40 of Illinois' 102 counties and 1,059 of the state's townships and precincts had become dry, including some Protestant areas around Chicago. Despite these successes, after the Prohibition amendment was ratified in 1919, social problems such as organized crime ignored by the League undermined the public influence of the single-issue pressure group, and it faded in importance. Pegram (1997) uses its failure in Maryland to explore the relationship between Southern Progressivism and national progressivism. The Maryland leader 1907-14 was William H. Anderson, but he was unable to adapt to local conditions, such as the large German element. The League failed to ally with local political bosses and attacked the Democratic Party. In Maryland, as in the rest of the South, Pegram concludes, traditional religious, political, and racial concerns constrained reform movements even as they converted Southerners to the new national politics of federal intervention and interest-group competition.
In 1909, the League moved its national headquarters from Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to Westerville, Ohio
Westerville, Ohio
Westerville, once known as "The Dry Capital of the World", is a city in Franklin and Delaware counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 35,318 at the 2000 census.-Early history:...
, which had a reputation for temperance. The American Issue Publishing Company, the publishing arm of the League, was also in Westerville. Ernest Cherrington
Ernest Cherrington
Ernest Cherrington was a leading temperance journalist . He became active in the Anti-Saloon League and was appointed editor of the organization's publishing house, the American Issue Publishing Company. He edited and contributed to the writing of The Standard Encyclopedia of the Alcohol Problem,...
headed the company. It printed so many leaflets—over 40 tons of mail per month—that Westerville was the smallest town to have a first class post office.
The League's most prominent leader was Wayne Wheeler
Wayne Wheeler
Wayne Bidwell Wheeler was an American attorney and prohibitionist. Using deft political pressure and what might today be called a litmus test, he was able to influence many governments, and eventually the U.S. government, to prohibit alcohol.Wheeler was born in Brookfield, Ohio, to Mary Ursula...
, although both Ernest Cherrington and William E. Johnson
William E. Johnson
William Eugene "Pussyfoot" Johnson was an American Prohibition advocate and law enforcement officer. In pursuit of his campaign to outlaw intoxicating beverages, he openly admitted to drinking liquor, bribery, and lying...
("Pussyfoot" Johnson), were also highly influential and powerful.
The League used pressure politics
Pressure politics
Pressure politics generally refers to political action which relies heavily on the use of mass media and mass communications to persuade politicians that the public wants or demands a particular action. However, it commonly includes intimidation, threats, and other covert techniques as well.The...
in legislative politics, which it is credited with developing. When it came to fighting wet candidates, especially as Al Smith in the presidential election of 1928, the League was less effective because its audience was already Republican. Unable to cope with the failures of prohibition, especially bootlegging and organized crime as well as reduced government revenue, the League failed to counter the repeal forces, led by prominent Democrats, which helped Franklin D. Roosevelt win in 1932. A new Constitutional amendment passed easily in 1933 to repeal the 18th amendment, and the League lost its power. From 1948 until 1950 it was named the Temperance League, from 1950 to 1964 the National Temperance League, from 1964 the American Council on Alcohol Problems
American Council on Alcohol Problems
The American Council on Alcohol Problems is a federation of 37 state affiliates promoting the reduction of alcohol advertising, availability and consumption throughout the United States....
. Today the organization continues its original goal. A museum about the League is at the Westerville Public Library
Westerville Public Library
The Westerville Public Library is a public library that serves the community of Westerville, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. As a school district library, its geographic boundaries are defined by the Westerville City School District which straddles both Franklin County and Delaware County...
.
See also
- Board of Temperance StrategyBoard of Temperance StrategyThe Anti-Saloon League launched the Board of Temperance Strategy to coordinate resistance to the growing public demand for the repeal of prohibition that was occurring in the U.S. in the early 1930s....
- Purley BakerPurley BakerPurley Albert Baker was an ordained Methodist minister who strongly opposed any consumption of beverage alcohol and was superintendent of the Ohio Anti-Saloon League...
- Temperance organizations
- Westerville Public LibraryWesterville Public LibraryThe Westerville Public Library is a public library that serves the community of Westerville, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. As a school district library, its geographic boundaries are defined by the Westerville City School District which straddles both Franklin County and Delaware County...
External links
- American Council on Alcohol Problems official website
- Ohio History Central (Westerville)
- Anti-Saloon League Museum
- Anti-Saloon League of Nebraska records at Nebraska State Historical SocietyNebraska State Historical SocietyThe Nebraska State Historical Society is a Nebraska state agency, founded in 1878 to "encourage historical research and inquiry, spread historical information .....
- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Anti-Saloon League