There are a number of events in temperance and prohibition history around the world. This is a calender of days for January through December. Typically, one event is listed for each day of the year.
There are many thousands of events. Therefore, this is only a partial list from the many events in temperance history.
A note about nation-wide prohibition in the U.S. The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution created National Prohibition. The Twenty-First Amendment caused Repeal.
Events in Temperance & Prohibitio
January
First Week
January 1, 1801. Congress abolished the federal duty on distilled spirits at Thomas Jefferson’s request. Today, over half the cost of a typical bottle of spirits (vodka, rum, bourbon, etc.) goes for taxes.
January 2, 1919. Michigan ratified the 18th Amendment to establish National Prohibition (1920-1933).
January 3-5, 2014. A CNN poll found that almost one in five adults in the U.S. thought drinking alcohol should be illegal for everyone. Not even National Prohibition outlawed drinking alcohol.
January 4, 1887. Prohibitionists bought land for the development of Prohibition Park, a temperance community on Staten Island. It’s now known as Westerleigh, New York.
January 5, 1881. Dutch reformers formed the National Christian Total-Abstinence Association (Nationale Christen Geheel-Onthouders Vereenigin) in The Netherlands.
January 6, 1793. Birth of Edward C. Delavan, a rich and very generous promoter of the temperance movement. He gave much of his fortune and time to support it. Delavan also helped start the American Temperance Union and gave it an enormous amount of money.
January 7, 1919 was a double header for the temperance movement. Both Ohio and Oklahoma ratified the 18th Amendment to establish National Prohibition.
Second Week
January 8, 1918. Mississippi was the first state to ratify the 18th Amendment. Both Idaho and Maine did so exactly one year later, on January 8, 1919.
January 9, 1919. West Virginia ratified the 18th Amendment.
January 10, 1863. Lyman Beecher died. Beecher was an early advocate for temperance. He co-founded the American Temperance Society. Beecher was strongly anti-Catholic and racist. He even refused to admit African-American students to his classes at Lane Theological Seminary.
January 11, 1918. Virginia ratified the 18th Amendment.
January 12, 1850. Birth of life-long temperance activist Wilbur F. Crafts. He began lecturing on temperance during college and continued doing so until he died. Crafts formed the American Sabbath Union and also the Reform Bureau. The latter became the International Reform Bureau. He wrote eight laws that were passed by Congress. In addition he wrote many books and articles promoting prohibition. Because of his effective work, Marietta College awarded him an honorary Ph.D.
January 13, 1919. California, Tennessee, and Washington ratified the 18th Amendment.
January 14, 1918. Kentucky ratified the 18th Amendment. Exactly one year later, January 14, 1919, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, and Kansas did the same.
Third Week
January 15, 1919, was a great day for National Prohibition. Five states ratified the Eighteenth Amendment. They were Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Oregon
January 16, 1920. National Prohibition went into effect. This was truly one of the most notable events in temperance history. Exactly one year earlier Nebraska became the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Eighteenth Amendment giving it the three-fourths majority needed to enact National Prohibition. Quickly following on the same day were North Carolina Utah, Missouri, and Wyoming.
January 17, 1919, was great for National Prohibition. Both Minnesota and Wisconsin ratified the 18th Amendment.
January 18, 1865. Canadian temperance promoters formed the British Order of Good Templars in Montreal. On that day in 1831, temperance leader Clara C. Hoffman was born. She became head of the Missouri Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Later Ms. Hoffman became secretary of the national WCTU.
January 19, 1872. The Blue Ribbon movement began in the U.S. and spread to England. Supporters wore small blue ribbons as a sign of their commitment to temperance.
January 20, 1919. New Mexico ratified the 18th Amendment.
January 21, 1919. Nevada ratified the 18th Amendment.
Fourth Week
January 22, 1889. Birth of Mark Shaw, who became the Prohibition Party candidate for a number of public offices. These included the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts. The years were 1946, 1952, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1966 and 1970. He ran on the Party ticket for the governorship of Massachusetts in 1948 and in 1956. Ultimately, he ran for the vice-presidency of the U.S. in 1964. On the same day in 1855, treaties with several Native American nations (the Kalapuya, Suquamish, and Dwamish) had alcohol prohibition provisions.
January 23, 1908. British activists formed the International Prohibition Federation in London. The purpose was to link the prohibition organizations in different countries. In 1919 the name was changed to the World Prohibition Federation. It held biennial conferences at the same time and city as the International Congress on Alcoholism.
January 24, 1934. Congress repealed prohibition in the District of Columbia.
January 25, 1947. Bootlegger Al Capone, died in Miami at age 48 from syphilis. His great financial success depended on National Prohibition. Discover more about bootleggers, including women bootleggers.
January 26, 1904. Activists formed the Allgemeiner Deutscher Zentralverband zur Bekämpfung des Alkoholismu. In English, it was the German Central Federation Against Alcoholism. The goal was to promote total abstinence.
January 27, 1802. President Thomas Jefferson urged Congress to prohibit the sale of alcoholi to Native Americans. On that same day in 1850, Samuel Gompers was born. He complained that the 18th Amendment was the first time the U.S. Constitution was amended to reduce individual freedoms and right
January 28, 1918. North Dakota ratified the 18th Amendment.
Fifth Week
January 29, 1918. Three states ratified the 18th Amendment. They were New York, South Carolina, and Vermont.
January 30, 1882. Birth of Franklin Roosevelt, who won election to the U.S. presidency promising to repeal National Prohibition.
January 31, 1888. The National Anti-Nuisance League was formed. It was an outgrowth of the National Prohibition Bureau. Its goal was to abolish the saloon as being an illegal nuisance. The technique was to encourage and support legal suits against saloons across the U.S.
February
First Week
February 1, 1945. Famous temperance leader William E. (“Pussyfoot”) Johnson died. Pussyfoot was proud of developing some of the dishonest tactics used by the Anti-Saloon League. He even wrote an article titled “I Had to Lie, Bribe and Drink to Put Over Prohibition in America.”
February 2, 1920. A group in the U.S. opposed to Prohibition formed the Anti-Prohibition League. It was especially strong in New Jersey. The League claimed 60,000 members. It also organized a parade in New York City as part of a nation-wide protest against the Volstead Act. That law enabled enforcement of National Prohibition.
February 3, 1875. William A. Buckingham, president of the American Temperance Union, died. As senator from Connecticut, he was a driving force in passage of a law prohibiting the alcohol ration for the navy. Buckingham was also a former governor of Connecticut. On the same day in 1811, Horace Greeley was born. He was a strong advocate of temperance and promoted it vigorously in his newspaper.
February 4, 1982. Rolland E. Fisher died. He was a minister and evangelist. Rev. Fisher was executive secretary of the Kansas Prohibition Party in 1948-50. He then served as chair of the state Party in 1962-68. Also, he was vice-chair of the Prohibition National Committee in 1963-67. Fisher ran for a number of public offices in Kansas as the Prohibition Party candidate. He also edited The Kansas Statesman. Fisher then became the Prohibition Party candidate for the vice-presidency of the US in 1968.
February 5, 1872. Birth of Lafayette B. Mendel, who was a leading physiological chemist. Yale awarded him his Ph.D. in 1893, where he was Larned Fellow for three years. He then became a research student at the universities of Breslau and Freiburg in Germant. The University of Michigan awarded him an honorary D.Sci. degree in 1913. He authored a number of scientific publications and edited the Journal of Physiology. As a member of the prestigious Committee of Fifty, Dr. Mendel was highly critical of the unscientific nature of so-called Scientific Temperance Instruction.
February 6, 1912. Mary Clement Leavitt died. The World’s Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WWCTU) recognized her with its lifetime honorary presidency. Leavitt was the WCTU’s first world-wide organizer. During eight years of organizing, she traveled to 43 countries. Through interpreters, she spoke in 47 languages.
February 7, 1847. Temperance activists formed the Independent Order of Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria in New York City. Originally, the Independent Order of Good Samaritans, it admitted only men. However, from the start, it admitted African-Americans. It later admitted women and changed its name. It reportedly had the largest proportion of “reformed drunkards” as members than any other temperance group.
Second Week
February 8, 1918. Prohibitionists in New York City formed the National Dry Federation. The goal was to create a federation of prohibition organizations and supporting individuals. It sought ratification of National Prohibition. But it also wanted immediate war-time alcohol prohibition. Its president was William Jennings Bryan.
February 9, 1923. A federal court convicted the four wealthy high society LaMontages brothers of massive Prohibition violations. Therefore, it sentenced them to prison. Because of this, their names were later dropped from the Social Register.
February 10, 1841. Birth of lawyer Archibald S. McKinnon, who “made open war on the liquor traffic.” In 1882, he was elected president of the Arkansas state temperance organization. Two years later Congress appointed McKinnon to membership on the Dawes Indian Commission. Therefore, he moved to what is now the state of Oklahoma. There, he was both very active and effective in promoting prohibition. He was later elected the first governor of the new state of Oklahoma.
February 11, 1841. Birth of temperance leader Henry Harrison Hadley. He successfully introduced the Church Army into the U.S. Thereafter, he was appointed General of the United States Church Army. The organization still exists. He also founded the Christian Abstainers’ Union. Hadley co-founded the Inter-State Blue Button Army. The latter was highly successful, having as many as 300,000 members. Finally, he founded several other total-abstinence societies.
February 12, 1813. Residents concerned over inebriety started the Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of Intemperance. It was the first state-wide temperance organization in the U.S.
February 13, 1918. Maryland ratified the 18th Amendment.
February 14, 1929. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre shocked the U.S. The violence and murders between warring bootlegging gangs turned many people against Prohibition and the problems it caused.
Third Week
February 15, 1820. Birth of Susan B. Anthony, who is one of the most recognizable early proponents of temperance.
February 16, 1952. Ida B. Wise Smith died. In 1927, the governor of Iowa named her the “most distinguished woman in Iowa.” She was president of the WCTU for 11 years. In 1977, she was inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame.
February 17, 1898. Death of famous temperance activist Frances Willard. Also on the same day in 1938, Isidor “Izzy” Einstein died. He had been the most famous and effective of all Prohibition Bureau agents.
February 18, 1886. Death of John B. Gough, who became an international celebrity. He made about 9,600 lectures to over 9,000,000 people. Gough inspired about 200,000 of them to sign a pledge of abstinence from alcohol.
February 19, 1918. Montana ratified the 18th Amendment.
February 20, 1933. Congress enabled states to ratify the 21st Amendment for Repeal of National Prohibition if they chose.
February 21, 1835. Birth of J. Gelson Gregson, a British temperance leader in India. He founded the Soldiers’ Total Abstinence Society in 1862. By 1877, there were almost 11,000 members.
Fourth Week
February 22, 1829. This day was devoted throughout the U.S. to fasting and prayer for temperance. Also on this day in 1872, a group of Catholics in the U.S. formed the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America.
February 23, 1899. Alpha J. Kynett co-founder of the Anti-Saloon League of America, died. He also originated the Board of Temperance of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It later became the very powerful Board of Temperance, Prohibition and Public Morality. It had its own large building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
February 24, 1910. President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the War Revenue bill, doubling the tax on distilled spirits. Also on the same day, alcohol prohibition went into effect in Washington, D.C.
February 25, 1919. Pennsylvania ratified the 18th Amendment.
February 26, 1833. A group of politicians formed the Congressional Temperance Society in Washington, DC. It was composed of members of Congress and very high government officials. On February 26, 1918, Samuel Gompers, head of the American Federation of Labor stated that the union strongly opposed alcohol prohibition. Later he pointed out that the 18th was the only Amendment that eliminated the rights of citizens.
February 27, 1867. Birth of Irving Fisher. He became a strong proponent of National Prohibition. Six years into it he wrote a book insisting that Prohibition was a great success. This was the same economist who said two weeks before the 1929 stock market crash that “Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.” Therefore, he was wrong about both Prohibition and the stock market!
February 28, 1848. The Independent Order of Good Samaritans formed the Daughters of Samaria. Also see February 7, 1847.
March
First Week
March 1, 1844. Birth of Lillian M.N. Stevens. She was elected the third president of the WCTU after the death of Frances Willard. Stevens earlier was an organizer of the Maine chapter of the WCTU and served as its president.
March 2, 1934, was a double header for Repeal. Federal alcohol prohibition in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands was repealed.
March 3, 1875. Birth of Danish temperance leader Holger A. Kristiansen. He became a temperance lecturer in 1895 and promoted total abstinence. In 1913 he was elected to the Folketing or lower house of the Danish parliament. He was also director of Denmark’s Temperance Society and delivered over 2,000 temperance speeches across Denmark. Kristiansen authored the book Alcoholforbud in den 1930? (Prohibition in 1930?).
March 4, 1918. Texas ratified the 18th Amendment.
March 5, 1835. Birth of English author, publisher, and prohibition promoter George H. Graham. He published Graham’s Family Magazine and Temperance Journal as well as temperance books and tracts.
March 6, 1863. Birth of temperance leader Belle Kearney. In 1889, the Mississippi State WCTU appointed her head of the Youth Department and of the Loyal Temperance Legion. In addition, she was the state organizer for both organizations. Two years later she became national lecturer for the WCTU. In 1895, she was elected president of the Mississippi WCTU. She made temperance speeches in a number of European countries in 1904-1905. Kearney became the first woman in the South to be elected a state senator. In the senate she continued promoting prohibition.
March 7, 1904. Temperance supporters formed the All-India Temperance Council. It annually brought together representatives of the 200 groups affiliated with the Anglo-Indian Temperance Association. At the resulting All-India Temperance Conferences members worked to develop measures promoting temperance. In general, the Council advocated using local option as a step toward India-wide prohibition.
Second Week
March 8, 1876. Prohibitionists formed the American National Party. It called for U.S. nation-wide prohibition of the production, importation, and sale of beverage alcohol. The Party ran candidates for president and vice-president. It only received 2,636 votes. In the election of 1884 it was called the American Prohibition National Party. However, it was clear that the Party was ahead of its time.
March 9, 1922. New Jersey ratified the Eighteenth Amendment long after it went into effect in January of 1920
March 10, 1865. Irish temperance leader Hamilton McCleery was born. He became chair of the board of the Irish Temperance League. McCleary also served in the same role for the Irish Temperance Alliance. In addition, he was a member of the Irish National Temperance Executive. It consisted of temperance organizations throughout Ireland.
March 11, 1838. Birth of Theodore D. Kanouse, who was a leader in the Independent Order of Good Templars. Kanouse was also active in the Prohibition Party. He was its candidate for governor of Wisconsin in 1881 and for governor California in 1902.
March 12, 1857. Birth of French educator and temperance advocate E.L. Marie Aubert. He served as vice president of the Ligue Nationale Contre L’Alcoolisme. Aubert devoted most of his career to promoting anti-alcohol attitudes among students throughout France. They ranged from those in elementary schools to those in colleges.
March 13, 1950. Death of Ernest H. Cherrington, who was a major leader in the Anti-Saloon League and the World League Against Alcoholism. In addition, he was Secretary of the Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals of the Methodist Church.
March 14, 1830. Birth of Sallie Moore Chapin. She became president of the South Carolina WCTU and served in that role for decades. Chapin also was an effective WCTU organizer from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada.
Third Week
March 15, 1783. The council of Native Americans in western Pennsylvania decided to “spill all the rum among them for a term of five years.”
March 16, 1937. Death of racist Congress member Richmond Pearson Hobson. He introduced proposed Constitutional amendments for National Prohibition over 20 times. Many people called Hobson the Father of American Prohibition.
March 17, 1852. Birth of temperance orator John B. Finch. At age 15 he helped form a lodge of the Good Templars. Later in life he was elected Right Worthy Grand Templar in Washington, D.C. He joined the Prohibition Party and gave 62 prohibition speeches in 58 days in Omaha.
March 18, 1918. Delaware ratified the 18th Amendment.
March 19, 1860. Birth of William Jennings Bryan, who became a strong proponent of National Prohibition. He ran for the U.S. presidency three times. However, he never ran on the Prohibition Party ticket. Nevertheless, “Bryan was the only nationally known political figure to take up the prohibition cause as early as 1910 and continue the fight until the eventual passage of the 18th Amendment.”
March 20, 1918. South Dakota ratified the 18th Amendment.
March 21, 1888. Abstaining Danes formed the Afholdssamfundet (Temperance Society). It required total abstinence of members and had 171 branches. The group also published a periodical of the same name.
Fourth Week
March 22, 1798. Birth of pioneer Irish temperance promoter John Edgar. Many called Edgar the Father of the Irish temperance movement. In 1829 he formed the Ulster Temperance Society. He supported temperance rather than teetotalism, which became popular later. His work became known internationally. In 1836 Hamilton College awarded him an honorary D.D. degree. Also New York University awarded him an honorary LL.D. in 1860.
March 23, 1865. Birth of temperance leader Ira Landrith, who was a founding member of the Tennessee Anti-Saloon League. In 1914-15 he toured the U.S. as part of the Flying Squadron of America promoting prohibition. The next year he was the Prohibition Party candidate for vice-president of the U.S. Landrith was also a national speaker for the Anti-Saloon League of America and for the World League Against Alcoholism.
March 24, 1876. Lawyer and Anti-Saloon leader Boyd P. Doty was born. Virtually his entire adult life was devoted to promoting and enforcing prohibition. He began as field secretary for the Anti-Saloon Leagues of Ohio and Indiana. Soon he was made attorney for the Ohio League. Then he became attorney and legislative head of the Anti-Saloon League in Washington State. From there he went to the organization’s publishing house, the American Issue Publishing Company. Then he became general counsel for the World League Against Alcoholism.
March 25, 1862. Birth of William E. Johnson, better known as “Pussyfoot Johnson.” He was proud of developing some of the dishonest tactics used by the Anti-Saloon League. He even wrote an article titled “I Had to Lie, Bribe and Drink to Put Over Prohibition in America.” Honesty was not Pussyfoot’s strength. For example, A jury found him guilty of embezzling funds from the League and falsifing documents and records to hide his crime.
March 26, 1934. Congress repealed its federally-imposed prohibition in the then-territory of Hawaii.
March 27, 1843. Temperance activist Alphonso A. Hopkins was born. He became the Prohibition Party candidate for governor of New York, Secretary of State, and member of Congress. Hopkins taught at the American Temperance University. In addition, he both wrote and spoke frequently on temperance.
March 28, 1837. Birth of temperance politician Jacob H. Gallinger. He served in both the U.S. House and Senate. After practicing homeopathic medicine for several years, Gallinger was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives and later to the state Senate. After serving as the state’s Surgeon-General, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Next he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until his his death in 1918.
Fifth Week
March 29, 1883. Moderationists formed the German Association Against the Abuse of Spirituous Liquors. In German, it’s Deutscher Verein Gegen den Missbrauch Geistiger Getranke. It opposed “the abuse of” rather than “the use of” distilled spirits.
March 30, 1924. Prohibition leader Purley Baker died. He was head of the powerful Anti-Saloon League from 1903 until his death in 1924.
March 31, 1951. Organizer Jessie Ackerman died. She had been a committed organizer for temperance and prohibition. Ackerman began as an organizer for the Good Templars, a temperance organization. Then she organized for the WCTU in Alaska. Next she became the second world-wide organizer for the World Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WWCTU). In 1928 she received an award from the Geographical Society for being the most traveled woman in the world. She apparently had visited every country in the world except three.
April
First Week
April 1, 1964. The American Council on Alcohol Problems became the new name of the former Anti-Saloon League of America.
April 2, 1918. Massachusetts ratified the 18th Amendment.
April 3, 1938. Death of Rev. Daisy Douglas Barr. She was leader of the quarter-million-member Women’s Ku Klux Klan (WKKK). Barr was also a powerful member of the WCTU. The Klan and the WCTU were partners in Prohibition.
April 4, 1917. Morris Sheppard introduced the 18th Amendment in Congress. This was one of the major events in temperance history.
April 5, 1933. Prohibition of beer in the District of Columbia was repealed.
April 6, 1921. Anti-Prohibition activists began the National Liberty Alliance. This was different from an organization of the same name formed in 2001 for a different purpose. The first National Liberty Alliance was especially strong in New Jersey. The Alliance organized a parade in New York City as part of nation-wide protest against the Volstead Act prohibition against alcohol.
April 7, 1933. The national prohibition against selling beer in the U.S. was repealed. Other alcoholic beverages were still prohibited until December 5 of the same year. Therefore, April 7 is National Beer Day.
Second Week
April 8, 1891. A letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association invited all physicians interested in the effects of alcohol to gather at the next meeting of the AMA. That letter led to forming the American Medical Temperance Association.
April 9, 1855. New York State enacted alcohol prohibition. However, it was later declared unconstitutional.
April 10, 1933. Michigan ratified the 21st Amendment.
April 11, 1876. Birth of temperance leader Roland N. Holsaple. Rev. Holsaple became head of the South Dakota Anti-Saloon League. In that role, he co-drafted a “bone-dry” bill that became law. He next became head of the Anti-Saloon Leagues of Iowa and then of Michigan.
April 12, 1945. President Franklin Roosevelt died. He had run for the presidency promising to repeal National Prohibition. However, his wife, Eleanor, strongly opposed Repeal.
April 13, 1864. Birth of Thomas M. Hare, who became a leader of the Anti-Saloon League in several states. When he was head of the West Virginia League, he helped bring about state-wide alcohol prohibition in that state.
April 14, 1846. Birth of Frances Julia Barnes. While attending a meeting organized by Frances Willard, Barnes became committed to the temperance cause. From that point on, they were closely associated until death. Barnes was Willard’s secretary and companion. She was also selected to head the Young Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (YWCTU) department of the national WCTU.
Third Week
April 15, 1897. Concerned residents started the Ligue Internationale Catholique Contre L’Alcoolisme in Brussels, Belgium. In English, it’s the International Catholic League Against Alcoholism.
April 16, 1786. Birth of temperance activist Dr. Thomas Sewall. His very imaginative and graphic lithographs of the stomachs of alcoholics did much to intensify temperance sentiment. Less well known was his conviction as a grave robber.
April 17, 1824. The Russo-American Treaty of 1824 prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages to the natives of Alaska Territory.
April 18, 1873. Temperance physicians began the London Temperance Hospital. It was not for inebriates. Instead, it treated patients from many countries with many different ailments without the use of alcoholic beverages. It’s now the National Temperance Hospital.
April 19, 1842. Birth of Harriet B. Kells, who became president of the Mississippi WCTU. She founded and edited its Mississippi White Ribbon. Because of her effectiveness, she was called to Chicago to join the editorial staff of the Union Signal. That was and is the official periodical of the national WCTU.
April 20 and 21, 1852. Concerned women organized the Woman’s New York State Temperance Society.
April 21, 1876. A group of physicians who promoted abstention established the British Medical Temperance Association.
Fourth Week
April 22, 1850. Birth of temperance leader Austin M. Courtenay. He supported temperance before the Anti-Saloon League was formed. However, as soon as it was established, he became one of its trustees. He was also a delegate to the International Congress Against Alcoholism in 1920. His courage was as strong as his commitment. Once he was shot at by moonshiners. Another time he was assaulted for his temperance activities.
April 23, 1887. Repeal leader Pauline Sabin was born. She formed and led the Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform. This was the most powerful and effective of all the hundreds of groups promoting Repeal.
April 24, 1906. Death of Mary H. Hunt. She had been the most powerful woman in the temperance movement. Mary Hunt aggressively and successfully campaigned for what she called Scientific Temperance Instruction in all U.S. public schools. Also, on April 24 of 1872, Clarence True Wilson was born. He became known as “America’s Number One Dry.” Discover one of his strange passions.
April 25, 1933. Wisconsin ratified the 21st Amendment Amendment.
April 26, 1918. Representative Alben W. Barkley submitted a proposed War-Time Alcohol Prohibition bill to the U.S. House of Representatives.
April 27, 1790. The U.S. House of Representatives voted to tax distilled spirits. Today, over half of retail price of a typical bottle of spirits goes for taxes.
April 28, 1922. Susan H. Barney died. She participated in the Woman’s Temperance Crusade. Then she became president of the Rhode Island WCTU. At the request of Frances Willard, she made a world-wide tour for the national WCTU. During WWI, she headed the WCTU activity of preparing and sending temperance materials. These included abstinence pledges to soldiers in the U.S. and Europe.
Fifth Week
April 29, 1947. Irving Fisher died. He was a strong proponent of National Prohibition. Six years into it he wrote a book insisting that Prohibition was a great success. This was the same economist who said two weeks before the 1929 stock market crash that “Stock prices have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.” Clearly, he was wrong about both Prohibition and the stock market.
April 30, 1966. Death of former police sergeant and major bootlegger Roy Olmstead. Beginning as a police officer, he became a highly successful bootlegger who employed hundreds of people. Discover other famous bootleggers during National Prohibition. Including some of the many women bootleggers.
May
First Week
May 1, 1918. State-wide alcohol prohibition of alcohol went into effect in Michigan and New Hampshire.
May 2, 1862. Birth of British temperance leader James C. Jansz in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). He became interested in temperance at an early age and was appointed secretary of a Band of Hope when he was only 16 years old. He then founded two other Bands in other towns. Later, Jansz became vice-president of the Ceylon Temperance Federation. Also, he was editor of both the Ceylon Abstainer and the Ceylon Templar.
May 3, 1894. Women in Belfast formed the Irish Women’s Temperance Union. The goal was to promote temperance among women throughout the country. It provided temperance education in schools and also operated a home for inebriate women. In addition, the organization provided alternatives to drinking alcohol at fairs and other events. It did this by operating temperance cafes, tea tents, etc.
May 4, 1875. Birth of the author and introducer of the Blaine Act, John J. Blaine. That act began the process leading to the 21st Amendment and Repeal of National Prohibition.
May 5, 1828. Belgian temperance leader Jules A.L. Lejune was born. He was president of the Belgian Patriotic League Against Alcoholism. In addition, he was president of the Sixth International Congress Against the Abuse of Alcoholic Liquors. LeJune was also the Belgian government representative to the Twelth International Congress on Alcoholism.
May 6,1919. Connecticut ratified the 18th Amendment.
May 7, 1891. Anti-alcohol physicians formed the American Medical Temperance Association in Washington, D.C.
Second Week
May 8, 1933. Rhode Island ratified the 21st Amendment for Repeal.
May 9, 1826. Temperance organizers incorporated the American Society for the Promotion of Temperance. Most people now call it the American Temperance Society. It was the first nation-wide temperance organization in the U.S.
May 10, 1833. Philadelphians began the American Temperance Union. Its original name was the United States Temperance Union. The name change was to include all of North America. The organization promoted complete abstinence from all alcohol. Among its many achievements, it brought Father Mathew to the U.S. and managed his tour.
May 11, 1814. Committed activists started the American Tract Society in New York City. It was a religiously-based group that promoted temperance. It still exists today. The American Tract Society was a major temperance organization.
May 12 & 13, 1874. Highly motivated women formed the National Christian Temperance Alliance in Pittsburgh, PA. It arose from the Woman’s Temperance Crusade that occurred in 1873.
May 13, 1872. Activists in France formed the Ligue Nationale Contre L’Alcoolisme. In English it was the National League Against Alcoholism. It was a federation of French temperance societies.
May 14, 1945. Heber J. Grant died. Grant was president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was also president of the Prohibition and Betterment League. He sponsored the bill that created state-wide prohibition in Utah.
Third Week
May 15, 1995. Ben Bubar (Benjamin C. Bubar, Jr.) died. Bubar was the Prohibition Party candidate for the U.S. presidency in 1976 and 1980. Privately, Bubar complained that the head of the party, Earl F. Dodge, wouldn’t approve funding for the campaigns. Years later, the Party unseated Dodge as chair. There had long been accusations of secrecy, mismanagement of Party funds, theft, and other problems.
May 16, 1920. Temperance governor of North Carolina, Robert B. Glenn, died. Under his leadership, state-wide prohibition was passed. Glenn spoke in support of prohibition in virtually all states in the U.S. He was vice-president of the Anti-Saloon League of America until his death.
May 17, 1904. Birth of Rutherford Decker. He was the presidential candidate of the Prohibition Party in the election of 1960.
May 18, 1862. Birth of Josephus Daniels, who became a prohibitionist Secretary of the Navy. In that capacity, he imposed prohibition in 1914 on all naval ships, shipyards, and stations. Shortly thereafter, he imposed prohibition zones around all areas controlled by the Navy. He was elected honorary president of the Fifteenth International Congress Against Alcoholism.
May 19, 1877. Edward Kent died. He was governor of Maine and pioneer promoter of the historic Maine Law. That law established state-wideprohibition. As a member of the state legislature, he petitioned that body to pass a prohibition bill. In his inaugural address as governor, he again called for prohibition. Kent was also very active in the Maine Temperance Union.
May 20, 1931. Congress formed the Wickersham Commission. Among other things, it analyzed the enforcement of National Prohibition. Also, on May 20 of 1829, residents formed the Connecticut Temperance Society.
Fourth Week
May 21, 1886. Diocletian Lewis, great temperance orator, died. Usually referred to as “Dr. Dio,” Lewis used the title Doctor and sometimes illegally practiced medicine. However, he only had a degree in homeopathic studies. Nevertheless, he used his title and oratorical gift to good effect in promoting temperance. A speech of his inspired formation of the Woman’s Temperance Crusade.
May 22, 1919. A conference to form the World League Against Alcoholism opened in Toronto. It was co-sponsored by the Dominion Temperance Alliance of Canada and the Anti-Saloon League. It later adjourned to re-assemble in Washington, D.C.
May 23, 1842. A group of men committed to temperance formed the Sons of Temperance. Also, on May 23 of 1875, Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. was born. He was a prominent leader of The Crusaders, one of the major repeal groups.
May 24, 1898. Temperance leader John F. Cleghorn died. He was the Prohibition Party candidate for governor of Wisconsin in 1894. He earlier served as Grand Chief Templar of the Independent Order of Good Templars in that state.
May 25, 1933. Wyoming ratified the 21st Amendment for Repeal.
May 26, 1878. Temperance workers formed the Irish Association for the Prevention of Intemperance. It continued the work of a number of earlier organizations. They included the Hibernian Temperance Society, the Dublin Total Abstinence Society, and the Irish Association for Closing Public Houses on Sundays.
May 27, 1919. Ohio’s state-wide alcohol prohibition began.
May 28, 1804. Birth of William A. Buckingham, who became president of the American Temperance Union. As senator from Connecticut, he was a driving force in passage of a law prohibiting the alcohol ration for the navy. Buckingham also served as governor of Connecticut.
Fifth Week
May 29, 1925. Death of Elizabeth Hutchinson. She became active in temperance work in Kansas, where she joined the WCTU. Hutchinson held various roles in the Union and became president of the state Union. She then served as treasurer of the national WCTU until her death.
May 30, 1899. British physician and temperance promoter Norman S. Kerr died. He was the first president of the British Society for the Study of Inebriety. Dr. Kerr was chair of the International Congress on Inebriety in 1887. Also, heal presided over the final session of the British and Colonial Congress in London.
May 31, 1899. Birth of Lillian Sedwick. She became head of the Marion County, Indiana (Indianapolis) Women’s Ku Klux Klan (WKKK). And she was also the head of the Indiana state WCTU. The WCTU and KKK were partners in prohibition.
June
First Week
June 1, 1933. New Jersey ratified the 21st Amendment.
June 2, 1867. Temperance advocate Lucius Manlius Sargent died. He’s been described as odd and ornery. A contemporary described him as “preeminently a good hater.” Sargent expressed hostility toward opponents of temperance. He produced a series of 21 Temperance Tales over ten years. Thus, he became a very visible leader in the fight against alcohol.
June 3, 1900. Birth of minister and evangelist Rolland E. Fisher. Rev. Fisher was executive secretary of the Kansas Prohibition Party in 1948-50. He then served as chair of the state Party in 1962-68. He was also was vice-chair of the Prohibition National Committee in 1963-67. Fisher ran for a number of public offices in Kansas as the Prohibition Party candidate. He also edited The Kansas Statesman. Fisher then became the Prohibition Party candidate for the vice-presidency of the US in 1968.
June 4, 1830. Birth of the most powerful woman in the prohibition movement in the U.S., Mary H. Hunt, She headed the successful WCTU effort to impose what was called Scientific Temperance Instruction in all U.S. public schools. It was Mary Hunt alone who decided the specific content of all accepta materials. However, the prestigious Committee of Fifty scientists concluded it was “neither scientific nor instructive.”
June 5, 1900. Carry A. Nation began attacking bars and pharmacies that sold alcohol. Nation was probably the best known member of the WCTU.
June 6, 1992. E. Harold Munn died. He was an important leader in the Prohibition Party. On its ticket he ran for local and state offices in Michigan. He was the Prohibition National Committee chair from 1955 to 1971. Munn also ran three times for the U.S. Presidency (1964, 1968, and 1972). He was president of the National Prohibition Foundation when he died.
June 7, 1937. The president of the WCTU, Ella Boole, praised Adolf Hitler because he gave the beverage concession at the 1936 Olympic Village to the Nazi WCTU, was a total abstainer, and supported restaurants that didn’t serve beer. On that same day in 1919, the conference to form the World League Against Alcoholism re-assembled from Toronto, where it had opened. It was co-sponsored by the Dominion Temperance Alliance of Canada and the Anti-Saloon League. It later adjourned to re-assemble in Washington, D.C.
Second Week
June 8, 1891. The Dominion Parliament appointed the Canadian Royal Commission on the Liquor Traffic. It investigated the alcoholic beverage policies of different countries and their effectiveness. Its extensive report, The Facts of the Case, was submitted to Parliament in 1895.
June 9, 1911. Death of Carry A. Nation. She was a radical member of the WCTU. Nation is remembered for her infamous “hatchetations” of saloons. She also attacked pharmacies that filled prescriptions for medicinal alcohol.
June 10, 1872. Temperance workers formed the French Temperance Society (Societe Francaise de Temperance).
June 11, 1992. Lillian Sedwick died. She was head of the Marion County, Indiana (Indianapolis) Women’s Ku Klux Klan (WKKK). And she was also the head of the Indiana state WCTU. The WCTU and KKK were partners in prohibition.
June 12, 1883. Birth of Mamie White Colvin, who called herself Mrs. D. Leigh Colvin. She was the Prohibition Party candidate for many offices. They included Lieutenant Governor of New York. Presidential Elector for New York. U.S. Representative from New York. And dry delegate to the New York 21st Amendment convention.
June 13, 1909. The Anti-Saloon League of America incorporated the American Issue Publishing Company, which was its publishing arm. On that day in 1886, Danish temperance leader Christian Heilesen was born. He became president of Denmark’s Temperance Society (Danmarks Afholdsforening). Heilesen was also president of the Norwegian Temperance Conference held in Copenhagen. And he served as president of the permanent committee of the International Anti-Alcohol Congresses held around the world.
June 14, 1895. Educator and prohibitionist Alonzo A. Miner died. He was president of Tufts College (now Tufts University). For 20 tears he was president of the Massachusetts Temperance Alliance. The Prohibition Party ran him for governor of Massachusetts. He wrote extensively promoting prohibition.
Third Week
June 15, 1931. Anna Adams Gordon died. She was an American social reformer, songwriter, and national president of the WCTU when the Eighteenth Amendment was adopted. Anna Gordon a major figure in the Temperance movement.
June 16, 1875. Temperance activists in South Africa formed the Independent Order of True Templars. Its goal was to promote temperance among the indigenous peoples of South Africa.
June 17, 1917. Birth of Ben Bubar (Benjamin C. Bubat, Jr.). Bubar became the Prohibition Party candidate for the U.S. presidency in 1976 and 1980. Privately, Bubar complained that the head of the party, Earl F. Dodge, wouldn’t approve funding for the campaigns. Years later, the Party unseated Dodge as chair. There had long been accusations of secrecy, mismanagement of Party funds, theft, and other problems.
June 18, 1912. English temperance activist William F. Clark died. For over 50 years he served as treasurer of Street Teetotal Society. He also served three terms as head of the Western Temperance League in England.
June 19, 1934. Congress repealed federally-imposed prohibition in the Panama Canal Zone.
June 20, 1895. Activists formed the Society Against the Use of Spirituous Beverages (Societe Contre L’Usage des Boissons Spiritueuses) in France. The society later changed its name to the French Antialcoholic Union (Union Francaise Antialcoolique).
June 21, 1896. Educators formed the German Teachers’ League against Alcoholism (Deutscher Lehrerbund gegen den Alkoholmismus) .
Fourth Week
June 22, 1867. Birth of New Zealand temperance promoter Rachel Don, who was long the president of the country’s WCTU. Even as a young woman she became active and frequently gave speeches to Bands of Hope and other temperance groups. Later she served on the advisory council of the New Zealand Alliance for the Abolition of the Liquor Traffic. In 1920, she represented the country in London at the convention of the World’s WCTU.
June 23, 1780. Birth of Reuben D. Mussey, M.D., who was one of the earliest medical proponents of temperance. In 1850 he was elected president of the American Medical Association. He was a leader of the temperance movement in New England for 30 years.
June 24, 1933. Delaware ratified the 21st Amendment.
June 25, 1889. Former First Lady Lucy Hayes died. She was better known as “Lemonade Lucy” because she never served any alcoholic beverage in the white House.
June 26, 1918. Georgia ratified the 18th Amendment. Fifteen years later (June 26, 1933), Indiana and Massachusetts ratified the 21st Amendment.
June 27, 1933. New York State ratified the 21st Amendment.
June 28, 1907. Concerned activists in Sweden formed the International Bureau Against Alcoholism. In 1923 it became the International Temperance Bureau. Its stated function was to collect data and other information about alcohol from around the world. It was financially supported by the World League Against Alcoholism and many other temperance groups. It also received support from the governments of Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Yugoslavia. In 1964, the name was changed to the International Council on Alcoholism. The current name is the International Council on Alcohol and Addictions.
Fifth Week
June 29, 1895. Green Clay Smith died. Smith was a strong supporter of temperance. He was the presidential candidate of the Prohibition Party in 1876. Smith was also a Major General in the U.S. Army, was elected to Congress, and was Territorial Governor of Montana.
Jun. 30, 1946. Death of Howard Hyde Russell, the founder of the powerful Anti-Saloon League.
July
First Week
July 1, 1924. Georgia Hopley, the first fremale Prohibition Bureau agent in the U.S., died. On the same day in 1914, state-wide prohibition went into effect in West Virginia.
July 2, 1849. Father Theobald Mathew arrived in the U.S. from Ireland to begin his tour promoting personal pledges of alcohol abstention. On the same day in 1851, temperance leader Frances F.K. Hallowes was born in England. She moved with her husband to India. There, she became president of the WCTU of India. When they returned to England she became head of the WCTU’s Moral Education department.
July 3, 1871. Birth of Ida B. Wise Smith. In 1927, the governor of Iowa named her the “most distinguished woman in Iowa.” She was president of the WCTU for 11 years. In 1977, she was inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame.
July 4, 1826. Temperance leader Green Clay Smith was born. He was the presidential candidate of the Prohibition Party in 1876. Smith was also a Major General in the U.S. Army, was elected to Congress, and was Territorial Governor of Montana.
July 5, 1810. Birth of prohibitionist showman P.T. Barnum. Discover how he promoted temperance in his shows.
July 6, 1962. Death of Repeal activist William Faulkner. In addition to promoting Repeal, he was also a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and a Nobel Prize receipient.
July 7, 1861. Women in England formed the Ladies’ National Association for the Promotion of Temperance.
Second Week
July 8, 1900. Dr. Henry D. Cogswell died. The eccentric millionaire had the quaintly naive belief that if people had water to drink, they wouldn’t drink alcohol. So his goal was to build water fountains across the U.S. People generally thought his fountain structures were ugly. One was torn down by “a lynch party of self-professed art lovers.” Another was thrown into a lake. One in Washington, DC, has been called “the city’s ugliest statue.” Henry Cogwell’s structures reportedly led cities to screen such gifts before accepting them.
July 9, 1893. The Anti-Saloon Army was formed in Clinton, Missouri. Like the Salvation Army, it was organized along military lines. For example, local groups were called companies. In addition, it was a benevolent association offering members sickness and death benefits.
July 10, 1933, was a double header for Repeal. Both Illinois and Iowa ratified the 21st Amendment.
July 11, 1933, was another great day for Repeal. Both Connecticut and New Hampshire ratified the 21st Amendment.
July 12, 1830. Temperance pioneers formed the first temperance organization in London, the London Temperance Society.
July 13, 1794. The Whiskey Rebellion began as a result of high taxes on distilled spirits. Today, over half the cost of a typical bottle of spirits (vodka, gin, bourbon, etc.) goes for taxes.
July 14, 1862. Congress prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages to soldiers and volunteers in Washington, D.C.
Third Week
July 15, 1920. Abstaining women formed the German Society of Abstaining Women (Deutscher Bund Abstinenter Frauen).
July 16, 1867. Birth of attorney and temperance promoter Rufus C. Minton of the Indiana Anti-Saloon League. He wrote the state’s Prohibition Law, Blind Tiger Law, and County Local Option Law. Minton became assistant director of the state organization. In 1908, he became a trustee of the Anti-Saloon League of America.
July 17, 1890. The Order of Sons of Temperance formed a children’s division called the Loyal Crusaders.
July 18, 1789. About 200 farmers in Litchfield County, Connecticut formed the first temperance society in the U.S.
July 19, 1923. The British Parliament passed the Intoxicating Liquor (Sale to Persons Under Eighteen) Act. The law prohibited the sale of any alcoholic beverage to anyone who appeared to be under the age of 18.
July 20, 2009. Gene C. Amondson died. Amondson ran for the U.S. presidency on the Prohibition Party ticket. In 2004, he received 1,944 votes. In the 2008 election, he received 643 votes. The Party had split and the other faction ran Earl Dodge on its ticket. Dodge received 208 votes in 2004 and 140 in 2008.
July 21,1853. Birth of Anna Adam Gordon. She led the WCTU as its president during its greatest period of success, which was 1914-1925.
Fourth Week
July 22, 1878. Concerned women formed the National British Women’s Temperance Association. It was highly successful and published two periodicals. They were the White Ribbon and the Woman’s Signal.
July 23, 1853. Justin Edwards died. Rev. Justin Edwards was a pioneering temperance promoter and co-founded the American Temperance Society. Its formation was the beginning of the national temperance movement in the U.S. Edwards said the purpose of the Society was simple. It was to promote temperance while letting drunkards “die off and rid the world of ‘an amazing evil.’”
July 24, 1933. California ratified the 21st Amendment.
July 25, 1933. West Virginia ratified the 21st Amendment.
July 26, 1925. William Jennings Bryan died. He was a strong proponent of National Prohibition. He ran for the U.S. presidency three times, two being on the Democratic Party ticket. However, he never ran on the Prohibition Party ticket. Nevertheless, “Bryan was the only nationally known political figure to take up the prohibition cause as early as 1910. He continued the fight until the eventual passage of the 18th Amendment” for National Prohibition.
July 27, 1831. Moderates formed the British and Foreign Temperance Society in London. They favored temperance rather than prohibition. Queen Victoria later became its patron.
July 28, 1927. Death of hard-drinking and especially brutal Prohibition Bureau Agent William Harvey Thompson. Better known as Kinky Thompson because of his hair, Kinky lived by violence and died by violence. Discover more about Kinky Thompson.
Fifth Week
July 29, 1805. The governor of the Northwest Territory urged the Legislature to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages to Native Americans.
July 30, 1863. Birth of Henry Ford, who was a strong prohibitionist. He fired any employee on whose breath alcohol could be detected. Ford even sent agents into the homes of employees. Any employee whose house contained beverage alcohol was also fired.
July 31, 1867. Birth of prohibitionist Sebastian S. Kresge. Long interested in prohibition, Kresge donated $500,000 (over $7,000,000 in today’s dollars) to the Anti-Saloon League in 1927. It was a matching gift to promote the League’s educational program.
August
First Week
August 1, 1933. Arkansas ratified the 21st Amendment.
August 2, 1813. Congress passed an act prohibiting a federal alcohol license to anyone to whom a state prohibited a license. On the same day in 1923, Warren G. Harding died. As senator, he voted for prohibition. However, as president, he served alcohol in the White House during National Prohibition. Hypocrisy was rampant during prohibition.
August 3, 1904. Abstinence organizers created the Allgemeiner Deutscher Zentralverband zur Bekampfung des Alkoholismus (German Central Federation Against Alcoholism). It was a federation of all German total abstinence societies. The total membership within those societies grew to over 300,000.
August 4, 1883. Birth of M. Clyde Kelly. In 1909, Kelly was elected to the Pennsylvania legislature, where he became a temperance leader. Three years later he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he promoted every temperance bill. The owner of a number of newspapers, he also promoted temperance through his writings and books.
August 5, 1941. Death of Lulu Markwell, who was an avid temperance leader. She was the first head of the national Women of the Ku Klux Klan (WKKK). Markwell was also president of the Arkansas WCTU. These two groups were partners in prohibition.
August 6, 1934. Montana ratified the 21st Amendment. By the time Montana ratified, Repeal was already implemented.
August 7, 1933. Oregon ratified the 21st Amendment.
Second Week
August 8, 1933. Alabama ratified the 21st Amendment.
August 9, 1918. Louisiana ratified the 18th Amendment.
August 10, 1820. The Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun, requested that the military ration of alcohol be replaced by money. On the same date in 1917, President Wilson signed a food control law. It prohibited the use of any foodstuffs in the production of alcoholic beverages.
August 11, 1933. Tennessee ratified the 21st Amendment.
August 12, 1847. Birth of Sir John Mills M’Callum, temperance Member of Parliament. In 1906, he was elected as a Liberal to the House of Commons. M’Callum was vive-president of the Scottish Permissive Bill and Temperance Association. He was a member of the Baptist Total Abstinence Society and vice-president of the United Kingdom Alliance. M’Callum was knighted in 1912.
August 13, 1874. Birth of English temperance leader Catherine Impey. Born into a family of temperance activists, she was an enthusiastic promoter of the movement. She was a leader in the International Order of Good Templars. In addition, she was very active in the Band of Hope for 40 years.
August 14, 1887. Birth of Richard Jones, who was elected to the Minnesota State Senate as a young man. He successfully managed the campaign to make Duluth a dry city. At the time, it was the largest city in the U.S. to have chosen itself to become dry. Jones also formed the Trade Union Dry League.
Third Week
August 15, 1905. Organizational activists created the Ligue Nationale Francaise Contre L’Alcoolisme (French National League Against Alcoholism) was established. This important French federation included a large number of affiliates. It also published two magazines.
August 16, 1921. The Sanity League was formed to modify the National Prohibition to permit beer and wine.
August 17, 1870. Birth of racist Congress member Richmond Pearson Hobson, the “Father of American Prohibition.” Hobson introduced proposed constitutional amendments for National Prohibition over 20 times.
August 18, 1865. Birth of Russian temperance advocate Alexandre Korovin, M.D. After studying alcohol abuse problems in various countries for two years, he returned to Russia. There, he formed the first total abstinence society in Moscow. In 1909, he organized The First Pan-Russian Exposition of the Fight Against Alcoholism. The next year he formed the Russian Society of Abstaining Physicians. Korovin authored over a dozen books on temperance.
August 19, 1886. John Dougall, temperance activist, died. He collaborated in forming the first temperance organization in the province of Quebec. Dougall then edited The Canadian Temperance Advocate, the new society’s periodical. He went on to establish several other periodicals on his own. His temperance publications were read by more Canadians than any other.
August 20, 1835. Abstainers began the British Teetotal Temperance Society in London. Within ten months, 3,000 people had signed the pledge of total abstinence from all alcohol. The only exceptions were for religious or medical purposes by prescription.
August 21, 1847. Birth of Hale Johnson. Attorney Hale Johnson became “one of the most effective, prominent and influential” prohibitionists in the country,” according to one historian. In 1896 he was the Prohibition Party candidate for governor of Illinois. Later that year he was the Party’s candidate for vice-president of the U.S. He campaigned in over 30 states. (Some authorities state that Hale Johnson was born on August 23.)
Fourth Week
August 22, 1817. Birth of John B. Gough, who became an international celebrity. He made about 9,600 lectures to over 9,000,000 people. Gough inspired about 200,000 of them to sign a pledge of abstinence from alcohol.
August 23, 1892. Prohibitionist former governor of New York, Myron H. Clark, died. In 1852, he was elected to the state senate. There he worked to promote a state-wide prohibition bill. However, it was vetoed by the governor. When he became governor, he signed such a bill. By a narrow vote the state supreme court found the law unconstitutional.
August 24, 1816. Birth of Eliza Thompson. Often called “Mother Thompson,” she is considered the founder of the Women’s Temperance Crusade. That was the origin of the WCTU.
August 25, 1904. Moderate drinkers formed the Anti-Treating League of America. It was sometimes called the Anti-Treating Society of America. The group believed that most drinking was social. And it believed that treating drinkers led to excessive drinking.
August 26, 1827. Birth of Annie Turner Wittenmyer, the first president of the WCTU. During the five years of her presidency, the WCTU established over a thousand local unions. In addition, it enrolled over a hundred thousand women in temperance clubs. She lost re-election to Frances Willard, with whom she strongly disagreed.
August 27, 1893. The Women’s Total Abstinence Union was formed in England. It was a breakaway group from the British Women’s Temperance Association. The split resulted from policy differences.
August 28, 1831. Birth of First Lady Lucy Hayes, better known as “Lemonade Lucy.” She refused to serve alcohol in the White House.
Fifth Week
August 29, 1933. Missouri ratified the 21st Amendment.
August 30, 1874. The Loyal Temperance Legion was formed in Cleveland, Ohio for boys and girls. In 1895 it became a branch of the WCTU. The legion existed in every U.S. state and 50 other countries.
August. 31, 1916. Martha McClellan Brown died. She and two other women established the WCTU. Brown also held leadership positions in the Prohibition Party. In addition, she and her husband also published their own temperance newspaper. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to temperance, she was awarded two honorary doctorates.
September
First Week
September 1, 1862. Congress eliminated the naval alcohol ration.
September 2, 1875. Birth of Daisy Douglas Barr. She was leader of the quarter-million-member Women’s Ku Klux Klan (WKKK). Barr was also a powerful member of the WCTU. The Klan and the WCTU were partners in Prohibition.
September 3, 1875. The Dominion Prohibition Council, a Canadian organization, was formed. Its goal was to work with the various provincial temperance groups to promote nation-wide prohibition.
September 4, 1855. Birth of temperance leader Fillmore Condit. Before the age of 20, he was elected president of a young men’s temperance organization. He became heavily involved in the Prohibition Party in the New Jersey. Condit served in several positions within the Party, spoke, wrote, and raised money for it. He was chair of the National Executive Committee of the Anti-Saloon League. In addition, he was chair of the Board of Directors of the Anti-Saloon League’s American Issue Publishing Company.
September 5, 1933. Both Arizona and Nevada ratified the 21st Amendment.
September 6, 1944. Death of Bishop James Cannon, Jr. Until his very scandalous downfall, he was one of the most powerful temperance leaders in the U.S. On the same day in 1889,activists formed the German Order of Good Templars (Deutscher Guttemplerordem), a temperance organization.
September 7, 1959. D. Leigh Colvin (David Leigh Colvin) died. Colvin had attended the American Temperance University. On the Prohibition Party ticket, he ran for many offices. They included both U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative from New York, as well as mayor of New York City. He was the Party’s candidate for both vice-president and then president. Colvin also served as chair of the Prohibition National Committee.
Second Week
September 8, 1853. Birth of Lillian Hollister, who became president of the Detroit WCTU and head of the Michigan Young Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. In the latter role she actively established new chapters or unions throughout the state.
September 9, 1873. Birth of temperance activist John F. Burke, who promoted the movement from an early age. At 14 he joined the Sons of Temperance. Later, he became a speaker and organizer for the Prohibition Party. After passing the bar, he became the lawyer for the Anti-Saloon League of Illinois. Then he was successively selected to head the Anti-Saloon League of New Jersey, of Oregon, and of Michigan. From there, he became the lawyer for the Anti-Saloon League of New York State.
September 10, 1849. British temperance pioneer Archibald Jeffreys died. He was the first Westerner to promote total abstinence in India and was one of the founders of the Bombay Temperance Society. Jeffries also organized many regimental temperance groups in the British Army in India.
September 11, 1965. Robert P. Shuler, Sr. died. “Fightin’ Bob” Shuler was the Prohibition Party candidate who got the highest vote of any prohibition candidate ever. In the 1932 California election for US Senate he received 560,088 votes (25.8%). He carried Orange and Riverside counties. Following his defeat, Rev. Robert P. Shuler “placed an awful curse” on Southern California. On his radio program, he attacked Catholics, Jews, African-Americans, and the Hollywood elite for drinking. He was unrelated to the well-known former pastor of what was the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California
September 12, 1846. Birth of Joshua Levering, who became a member of the Prohibition Party in 1884. He was chair of the state Prohibition Conventions of 1887 and 1893. Levering was also a delegate to the national conventions of 1888 and 1892. Ultimately, he was the presidential candidate of the Prohibition Party in the election of 1896. Joshua Levering won 132,007 votes.
September 13, 1858. The Irish Temperance League was formed. It was a federation of temperance organizations throughout the entire country and was highly effective.
September 14, 1966. Death of Hiram Wesley Evans. He was head of the highly prohibitionist Ku Klux Klan. The Klan and the WCTU cooperated and were partners in Prohibition
Third Week
September 15, 1830. A U.S. treaty with the Choctaw Nation included a provision against alcoholic beverage sales.
September 16, 1851. Birth of John McKee, who became a temperance politician. In 1900, he was the Prohibition Party candidate for mayor of New York City. McKee was the Party candidate for governor of New York State in 1904. He was a trustee of the National Temperance Society and Publishing House and vice-president of the Prohibition Trust Fund Association.
September 17, 1916. Strong opponent of prohibition, Seth Low, died. Before being elected mayor of New York City, Low was president of Columbia University. As mayor, he permitted a large increase in the number of alcohol retailers in the City. He held honorary degrees from Amherst, State University of New York, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Trinity, Princeton, and Yale. Also from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
September 18, 1886. Birth of Roy Olmstead. Beginning as a police officer, he became a highly successful bootlegger who employed hundreds of people. Discover other famous bootleggers during National Prohibition.
September 19, 1913. Abstaining priests formed the Internationales Komitee Abstinenter Priester (International Committee of Abstaining Priests). It was headquartered in Germany and had branches throughout Europe as well as North, Central, and South America.
September 20, 1776. The Continental Congress prohibited the civilian sale of alcohol to soldiers.
September 21, 1849. The U.S. Secretary of War issued an order prohibiting civilian sale of alcoholic beverages to members of the military. Also on Sept 21 of 1870, Julian Codman was born. He was an influential leader of the Moderation League of New York.
Fourth Week
September 22, 1830. Birth of Mary Clement Leavitt. She was elected lifetime honorary president of the World’s Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WWCTU). Leavitt was the WCTU’s first world-wide organizer. During eight years of organizing, she traveled to 43 countries. Through interpreters, she spoke in 47 languages.
September 23, 1933. Vermont ratified the 21st Amendment. On that day in 1872, Margaret Keenan Harrais was born. She became Head of the Alaska Territory WCTU. Harrais was also head of the Woman’s National Committee for Law Enforcement (of prohibition) for Alaska. She also served as the publicity person for the national WCTU.
September 24 ,1825. African-American temperance leader Frances Ellen Harper was born. She became head of the WCTU’s work among African-American women.
September 25, 1897. Birth of Repeal activist William Faulkner. In addition to his work for Repeal, Faulkner was also a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and a Nobel Prize receipient.
September 26, 1881. Birth of Hiram Wesley Evans. He was head of the highly prohibitionist Ku Klux Klan. On the same date in 1933, Colorado ratified the 21st Amendment.
September 27, 1907. Joseph W. Bruce died. He was a prominent leader in the Prohibition Party. Bruce served on the Prohibition National Committee. In addition, he ran for political offices as a Prohibitionist candidate. That included the governorship of New York.
September 28, 1839. Birth of famous temperance activist Frances Willard. On the same day in 1862, Archibald C. Graham was born. He served as the first director of the Prohibition Bureau. Both before and after that, he was a leader in the Anti-Saloon League.
Fifth Week
September 29, 1900. Samuel Fenton Cary died. Cary was a member of Congress in the 19th century. But he was nationally famous as a leader of the temperance movement. As a gifted speaker, he toured the country speaking against the “evils of drink.” In 1870, he spent eight months touring England promoting temperance. He drew large, enthusiastic crowds and became a celebrity. In addition to speaking extensively, he also wrote widely against dring alcohol. The town of Cary, NC was named in his honor.
September 30, 1845. Birth of temperance activist Margaret D. Ellis. She became an officer in the New Jersey WCTU in 1880. From there, she headed the Department of Legislation of the national WCTU. In 1911, President Taft appointed her one of the two women delegates to the International Congress on Alcoholism. The Congress was at the The Hague.
October
First Week
October 1, 1918. State-wide alcohol prohibition went into effect in New Mexico. On the same day in 1865, Lulu Markwell was born. She was the first head of the national Women of the Ku Klux Klan (WKKK). Markwell was also president of the Arkansas WCTU. The KKK and WCTU were partners in Prohibition.
October 2, 1897. Neal Dow died. He was a pioneering prohibitionist. Under his leadership, the “Maine Law” established the first state-wide prohibition in the U.S. However, he violated the law himself. When a riot resulted, he ordered the crowd to be shot. He actually bragged about his action in letters to other prohibition leaders. He later ran for the U.S. presidency on the Prohibition Party ticket.
October 3, 1933. Washington State ratified the 21st Amendment.
October 4, 1922. Hungarian activists organized the National League of Temperance Societies (Alkoholellenes Egyesiletel Oraagagas Ligaja). It was a federation linking temperance organizations throughout the country.
October 5, 1871. The Juvenile Templars was formed in England. Chapters were established around the world. Over 200,000 young people were members. All pledged to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, and profanity.
October 6, 1935. Joshua Levering died. Levering joined the Prohibition Party in 1884. He was chair of the state Prohibition Conventions of 1887 and 1893. Levering was also a delegate to the national conventions of 1888 and 1892. Ultimately, he was the presidential candidate of the Prohibition Party in the election of 1896. Joshua Levering won 132,007 votes.
October 7, 1905. Politically-oriented temperance activists formed the National Temperance Bureau, a private organization, in Washington, D.C. It actively promoted prohibition laws in a number of states. In addition it represented temperance interests before government agencies. It also organized speaking tours and educational programs in schools.
Second Week
October 8, 1786. Birth of pioneer prohibition advocate James Appleton. He presented a petition to the Massachusetts legislature in 1842. It called for the “strong arm of law” to impose prohibition. It was probably the first such petition presented to a legislature in the U.S.
October 9, 1863. Edward W. Bok was born. This strong temperance advocate was editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal. His article, “Why I Don’t Drink,” argued the case for total abstention from alcohol.
October 10, 1933. Minnesota ratified the 21st Amendment.
October 11, 1948. Temperance League became new name of the Anti-Saloon League of America.
October 12, 1775. Birth of Lyman Beecher, who was an early advocate for temperance. He co-founded the American Temperance Society. That marked the beginning of the temperance movement in the U.S. Beecher was strongly anti-Catholic and racist. He even refused to admit African-American students to his classes at Lane Theological Seminary.
October 13, 1897. Prohibitionist William Daniel died. As a member of the Maryland legislature, he introduced a prohibition bill in 1853. When re-elected, he ran on the temperance-oriented American Party ticket. Next, he was elected to the Maryland Senate, where he was leader of the local option movement. William Daniel then became president of the State Temperance Alliance of Maryland. Later he joined the Prohibition Party and was its vice-presidential candidate in the election of 1884.
October 14, 1845. Proponents of temperance formed the Templars of Honor and Temperance in the U.S. The organization exists today. It’s especially strong in Scandinavia.
Third Week
October 15, 1866. Birth of William D. Upshaw. He was called “the driest of the dry” in Congress. On that day in 1865, temperance leader Emil L.G. Hohenthal was born. He held many leadership positions. They included membership on the national Prohibition (Party) National Committee and secretary of the International Reform Society. In addition, he was the Prohibition Party’s candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate, and Connecticut governor.
October 16, 1872. Birth of Harold H. Mann, who contributed greatly to the prohibition movement in India. He worked for years with the Band of Hope and other Indian temperance groups. Mann also served as president of the Calcutta Temperance Federation. He held many offices in the Independent Order of Good Templars.
October 17, 1933. Idaho ratified the 21st Amendment.
October 18, 1933. Maryland ratified the 21st Amendment.
October 19, 1895. Reformers began the International Reform Federation in Washington, D.C. as the Reform Bureau. In 1902 it became the International Reform Bureau. In 1923 it was changed to the World Prohibition and Reform Federation. One year later it became the International Reform Federation. In spite of the many name changes, it remained strongly prohibitionist.
October 20, 1908. Birth of singing cowboy Carl Stuart Hamblen. He was the presidential candidate of the Prohibition Party in the election of 1952.
October 21, 1855. Birth of Howard Hyde Russell, the founder of the Anti-Saloon League. Also on that day in 1903, he establishe the Lincoln-Lee Legion as the pledge-signing program of the Anti-Saloon League.
Fourth Week
October 22, 1863. Birth of Icelandic temperance worker Olafia Johannsdotter, who formed the WCTU in that country. In addition, she established the White Ribbon Union. She became vice-templar of the Independent Order of Good Templars in Iceland. Johannsdotter also became an organizer in Canada for both the WCTU and the Templars. The World’s WCTU appointed her world missionary.
October 23, 1923. Hannah Johnston Bailey died. She was president of the Woman’s Temperance Publishing Association. Bailey was editor and publisher of two WCTU publications, Pacific Banner and Acorn. In addition, she had been head of the WCTU’s Department of Peace and Arbitration. However, she left the WCTU as WWI approached and the organization supported U.S. involvement.
October 24, 1931. Chicago gangster “Scarface” Al Capone was sentenced to 11 years in jail for Federal income tax evasion. In 1934, he was transferred to Alcatraz prison near San Francisco. He was paroled in 1939, suffering from syphilis. He retired to his mansion in Miami Beach where he died in 1947.
October 25, 1933. Virginia ratified the 21st Amendment.
October 26, 1897. Many older members of the youth-oriented Band of Hope in England wanted to remain active in the temperance movement. Therefore, they formed the International Temperance Circle. It reflected their desire to continue convincing individuals to sign abstinence pledges.
October 27, 1863. A physician in Turin formed the first temperqnce society (Societa di Temperanza) in Italy.
October 28, 1919. Congress passed the National Prohibition Act of 1919 (Volstead Act) over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto on the same day. He opposed the law on both ethical and Constitutional grounds.
Fifth Week
October 29, 1825. Birth of temperance activist Harvey Hardy. Known as “The Father of High License” because he promoted the highest possible alcohol license fees for retailers.
October 30, 1874. Samuel J. Ficke was born. After college, Sam Fikel began working for the Anti-Saloon League of Ohio. Later, he was an incorporator of Chicago Citizens’ League. That organization prosecuted those who sold alcohol to minors or violated other alcohol laws. Following that, he became managing editor of The American Issue of the Anti-Saloon League of America.
October 31, 1860. Birth of Andrew Volstead. It was Volstead who guided the National Prohibition Act of 1919 through Congress. That law is usually called the Volstead Act.
November
First Week
November 1, 1869. The Prohibition Party was formed in the U.S..
November 2, 1933. New Mexico ratified the 21st Amendment. On the same day in 1865, Warren G. Harding was born. As senator, he voted for prohibition. However, as president, he served alcohol in the White House during National Prohibition. Unfortunately, hypocricy was pervasive during Prohibition.
November 3, 1914. Arizona voted to adopt state-wide alcohol prohibition.
November 4, 1902. Hale Johnson died. Attorney Hale Johnson was “one of the most effective, prominent and influential” prohibitionists in the country,” according to one historian. In 1896 he was the Prohibition Party candidate for governor of Illinois. Later that year he was the Party’s candidate for vice-president of the U.S. He campaigned in over 30 states.
November 5, 1846. The National Temple of Honor of the United States, a temperance group, came into existence. On the same day in 1850, temperance leader Guy Hayler was born. He operated Hayler’s Temperance Hotel, Temperance Club and Billiard Room. Haylor was the president of the World Prohibition Federation. He edited its International Record until his death in 1943. November 5, 1902. Temperance activist Sophronia F.N. Grubb died. She headed the WCTU department that worked with recently arriving immigrants. There she annually published 500,000 leaflets and tracts on temperance in 17 languages.
November 6, 1935. Death of Billy Sunday, the professional baseball player who became the most famous famous temperance preacher in the U.S.
November 7, 2007. Earl F. Dodge, Jr., long-time leader of the Prohibition Party, died. He was a very controversial figure in the Party. Members accused him of theft, secrecy, misuse of funds, and other problems. This caused a split in the Party, with most officers and other members leaving. Thus, the Party broke into two warring factions. Dodge was in the losing segment.
Second Week
November 8, 1904. The Prohibition Party’s candidate for the U.S. presidency, Silas Swallow, won 258,596 votes.
November 9, 1865. Birth of German temperance Leader Immanuel Gonser. He was director of the German Society against Alcoholism and of the German Headquarters against Alcoholism. Gonser also served as secretary of the International Society against Alcoholism.
November 10,1869. Birth of Wayne B. Wheeler. He was probably the single most powerful and effective leaders of National Prohibition in the U.S. Also on that day in 1845, the British League of Juvenile Abstainers was formed.
November 11, 1916. New Zealand temperance activist Francis W. Isitt died. He was a leader of the New Zealand Alliance as well as editor of the Prohibitionist. His brother, son and daughter were all temperance activists.
November 12, 1855. Birth of Louis A. Banks, who widely promoted temperance. He founded the Pacific Censor in 1880. It was the first temperance newspaper in the state of Washington. Banks was the Prohibition Party candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 1893. Thereafter, he worked for the New York State Anti-Saloon League as a public speaker. Because of his effectiveness, he lectured for the Anti-Saloon League of America over a wide territory. In addition, he authored over 50 temperance books.
November 13, 1864. Birth of Episcopal Bishop James Cannon, Jr. Until his very scandalous downfall, he was one of the most powerful temperance leaders in the U.S.
November 14, 1933. Florida ratified the 21st Amendment.
Third Week
November 15, 1944. Smith Wildman Brookhart died. During National Prohibition he won election to the U.S. Senate. There, he was known as a “fervent dry.” He was uncompromising about alcohol and criticized those who drank. Even the smallest amount. To the day he died, Brookhart insisted that “liquor is a poison and drinking it is a crime.”
November 16, 1881. Birth of Henry A. Job, British prohibitionist. While a Congregational missionary in New Zealand, he was a speaker for the New Zealand Alliance. Later he became general organizer for the national prohibition campaign. Then the Australian Temperance Council sent him to Tasmania. There, he formed the Tasmanian Temperance League.
November 17, 1901. Activists formed the Austrian Catholic League of the Cross Against Alcoholism (Katholische Kreuzbundllnis gegen der Alkoholismus fur Oesterreich).
November 18, 1858. The British-American Order of Good Templars was formed in London, Ontario. This temperance group spread rapidly throughout the British provinces of Canada.
November 19, 1862. Birth of Billy Sunday, the professional baseball player who became the most famous famous temperance preacher in the U.S..
November 20, 1859. Birth of Frances A. Gaudet, who was the daughter of slave parents. She became president of the Willard WCTU of Mississippi. Later, she was a delegate to the International WCTU convention in Edinburgh, Scotland. Abstinence pledge-signing campaigns among both children and adults were an integral part of her efforts.
November 21, 1952. William D. Upshaw died. He was called “the driest of the dry” in Congress. The War-Time Prohibition law was passed by Congress on the same day in 1918.
Fourth Week
November 22, 1856. Birth of Heber J. Grant, who became the seventh president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a strong proponent. Grant was also president of the Prohibition and Betterment League. He sponsored the bill that created state-wide prohibition in Utah. On the same day in 1871, the United Friends of Temperance was formed. Discover why the group was no friend to African Americans.
November 23, 1889. Canadians created the Canadian Temperance League. It was largely educational. However, it also aggressively promoted abstinence pledge signing.
November 24, 1933. Texas ratified the 21st Amendment.
November 25, 1915. Citizens formed Ku Klux Klan (KKK) of the 1920’s largely to defend Georgia’s state-wide prohibition. It often worked with the WCTU. Indeed, the KKK and WCTU were partners in Prohibition.
November 26, 1924. Students formed the Abstinente Schweitzerische Burchenschaft (Swiss Abstaining Students’ Association). It was a federation of student temperance organizations.
November 27, 1918. Florida ratified the 18th Amendment.
November 28, 1834. Temperance activist Sophronia F.N. Grubb was born. She headed the WCTU department that worked with recently arriving immigrants. In connection with this, she annually published 500,000 leaflets and tracts on temperance in 17 languages.
Fifth Week
November 29, 1863. Birth of Aaron S. Watkins, who became a Prohibition Party leader. He served as Prohibition Party candidate for many offices. They included Attorney-General, Representative, Secretary of State, and Governor of Ohio. He served as vice-presidential candidate in 1908 and 1912. Finally, in 1920, he was the Party candidate for the presidency of the US. In that campaign, he and his running mate, D. Leigh Colvin, garnered 189,408 votes.
November 30, 1920. Prohibitionist Eugene W. Chafin died. He joined the Independent Order of Good Templars at age 15 and rapidly moved up the leadership hierarchy. Chafin joined the Prohibition Party and became a candidate for Congress the next year. He later received the Party’s nomination for Wisconsin attorney-general and later for state governor. Chafin became the Party’s candidate for the U.S. presidency in both 1908 and 1912.
December
First Week
December 1, 1839. Birth of Canadian William H. Lambley, who was a temperance leader in the province of Quebec. He attained high offices in the Independent Order of Good Templars and organized many lodges in Quebec and Nova Scotia.
December 2, 1922. A union of the Irish Temperance League and the Ulster Temperance Council created the the Irish Temperance Alliance. The goal of the Alliance was to achieve nation-wide prohibition.
December 3, 1794. Birth of temperance pioneer Thomas P. Hunt, who widely presented talks against alcohol in Pennsylvania and adjacent states. He always condemned the sellers of alcohol rather than the drinkers. Rev. Hunt formed the Cold Water Army for children and circulated what was apparently the first children’s pledge of total abstinence. In addition, he served as an agent for the North Carolina Temperance Society.
December 4, 1879. Scottish prohibitionist Thomas Knox died. He served as president of the Edinburgh Total Abstinence Society and vice-president of the Scottish Temperance League. Knox also founded and edited the Temperance Advocate, a leading Scottish temperance periodical.
December 5, 1933. U.S. National Prohibition was repealed. That day, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Utah ratified the 21st Amendment. This was clearly one of the most important events in temperance and prohibition history.
December 6, 1805. The governor of the Northwest Territory urged its first Legislature to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages to Native Americans.
December 7, 1847. Birth of temperance activist Joseph W. Hopkins. He held many important positions in the Independent Order of Good Templars. That included serving as its Grand Chief Templar of England. He also held leadership positions in other temperance groups. They included the World Prohibition Federation, the Western Temperance League, and the Band of Hope Union.
Second Week
December 8, 1828. Birth of Clinton Fisk, after whom Fisk University was named. He was the Prohibition Party’s presidential candidate in the election of 1888. On the same day in 1856, Fr. Theobald Mathew of Ireland died. When he visited the U.S., Congress honored him. During his two and one-half year stay, he traveled 37,000 miles. He visited 25 states and administered the temperance pledge to over 500,000 people. That was one of the major events in temperance history. The Knights of Father Mathew in the U.S. was formed in 1872. Next, the organization affiliated with the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America in 1895.
December 9, 1875. Activists formed the Yokohama Temperance Society. It was the first temperance organization in Japan.
December 10, 1879. Birth of repeal leader Jouett Shouse. As Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, he oversaw the Bureau of Prohibition. However, his experience convinced that Prohibition was unenforceable. So he became president of the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment.
December 11, 1893. The Bulletin of the American Medical Temperance Association began publication. Dr. J.H. Kellogg of the Battle Creek Sanitarium founded and edited the periodical. Also, he personally subsidized the publication.
December 12, 1839. Activists formed the Irish Temperance Union. It consisted largely of Quakers (members of the Society of Friends) and other Protestants.
December 13, 1849. Birth of Charles O. Jones, prohibition activist. He served as head of the Anti-Saloon League of Georgia. He spoke widely and frequently promoting prohibition.
December 14, 1923. British temperance leader Catherine Impey died. She had been in raised a family of temperance activists. It’s not surprising that she was an enthusiastic promoter of the movement. She was a leader in the International Order of Good Templars and for 40 years. In addition, she was very active in the Band of Hope.
Third Week
December 15, 1897. Reformers created the International Catholic League Against Alcoholism (Ligue Internationale Catolique Contre L’Alcoolisme) in Brussels, Belgium. Importantly, it expanded to include Catholic temperance societies in over a dozen countries with about 1,500,000 members.
December 16, 1918. Both Colorado’s and Nevada’s state-wide alcohol prohibitios went into effect.
December 17, 1921. David S. Dodge died. He served as president of The National Temperance Society and as vice-president of the Scientific Temperance Federation. Dodge was also the founder and one of the main financial supporters of the Home for Inebriates. It was in the state of New York.
December 18, 1917. Congress approved submitting to states the proposed 18th Amendment for possible approval. Also on that day in 1924, Samuel Gompers died. He was the most powerful labor leader in ther U.S. and strongly opposed National Prohibition. Gompers pointed out that the 18th Amendment was the only one to deny personal rights rather than protect them.
December 19, 1893. James Black, first presidential candidate of the Prohibition Party, died. He also established the very influential National Temperance Society and Publishing House.
December 20, 1950. The National Temperance League became the new name of the Anti-Saloon League
December 21, 1823. Birth of Norwegian temperance leader Asbjorn Kloster, who formed the first total abstinence society in Norway. It was the Stavinger Junior Abstinence Society Against the Use of All Intoxicating Liquors. He also established a temperance periodical, the Avholdsbladet (Temperance Journal). Then, after his death, temperance advocates erected monument in his honor.
Fourth Week
December 22, 1873. An address by Diocletian Lewis greatly motivated a group of church women in Hillsboro, Ohio. They asked him to deliver another talk the next day, which he did. This was the initial motivation leading to the Women’s Temperance Crusade.
December 23, 1873. Diocletian Lewis delivered a highly motivational talk to church women in Hillsboro, Ohio. As a result, they took a vote and decided to begin the next day what became the Women’s Temperance Crusade.
December 24, 1932. Birth of longtime leader of the Prohibition Party, Earl Dodge. He became a highly controversial and divisive force within the Party. Members accused him of misuse of Party funds, theft, secrecy, and other serious acts. Because of these charges, the Party split.
December 25, 1865. Birth of Evangeline Booth. She and her Salvation Army strongly supported National Prohibition. She argued that drinking was a “masculine indulgence” that harmed women. Ironically, it was prohibition that for the first time made it socially acceptable for women drink publicly with men.
December 26, 1913. Temperance promoter Harriet B. Kells died. She founded and edited the Mississippi White Ribbon for the WCTU in the state. Kells later was president of that body. Because of her journalistic ability, she was called to Chicago to join the national staff of the WCTU’s Union Signal.
December 27, 1955. Death of Pauline Sabin, who founded and led the powerful and very effective Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR).
December 28, 1874. Birth of temperance leader Delcevare King, who joined the Quincy (MA) No-License League in 1900. Then the Massachusetts Total Abstinence Society selected him as one of its directors. Because of his effective work, the Massachusetts Anti-Saloon League selected him as its vice-president. The Allied Temperance Organizations of Massachusetts chose him as its chair. Also, the Scientific Temperance Federation appointed him a member of its Executive Committee. Discover the big secret that led to creating the Scientific Temperance Federation.
Fifth Week
December 29, 1860. Birth of Georgia M. Jobson, whose adult life was focused on promoting prohibition. p. 1402
December 30, 1894. Temperance activist Amelia Bloomer died. Her temperance periodical, the Lily, became highly influential. It included articles by Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and other temperance leaders.
December 31, 1918. Montana’s state-wide alcohol prohibition went into effect.
Resouorces: Events in Temperance and Prohibition History
Books
Blocker, J., et al. Alcohol and Temperance in Modern History. Santa Barbara, CA : ABC-CLIO, 2003.
Cherrington, E. Standard Encyclopedia of the Alcohol Problem. Westerville, OH: Amer. Issue. 6 vols., 1924-1930. (4 vol readable on-line)
Fahey, D. and Miller, J. Alcohol and Drugs in North America: a Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 201
Longmate, N. The Waterdrinkers. A History of Temperance. London, Hamilton, 1969.
Martin, S. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol. Social, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2015.
Noel, J. Canada Dry. Temperance Crusades before Confederation.
Toronto: U. Toronto Press, 1995.
Internet
Prohibition Places Associated with Temperance History
What Did U.S. Prohibition Prohibit? It Wasn’t Drinking
Women in Temperance, Prohibition and Repeal
Temperance Organizations & Groups
Temperance Beliefs & Teachings
Note: If you think one of the many other events in temperance or prohibition should be added, e-mail hansondj[at sign]potsdam.edu. Thanks!