The Anti-Saloon League of Wisconsin was organized in 1898. As a state auxiliary of the Anti-Saloon League of America, its single purpose consisted of education and political persuasion of the public and legislators in favor of prohibition. Although nominally nonpartisan and nonsectarian, the League worked closely with evangelical Protestant churches in the hope of resurrecting a moral society by eliminating the saloon. In their fervent crusade the League effectively utilized the pulpits of Protestant churches, staged rallies and debates, printed leaflets and pamphlets for distribution, and published a prohibition journal--The American Issue. Like other state auxiliaries, the Anti-Saloon League of Wisconsin lobbied vigorously for prohibitory measures and campaigned actively to elect public officials favorably disposed to their cause.
Prior to the First World War, the Wisconsin League achieved only minor victories against the saloon in local option elections. But with United States entry into the “Great War,” the League ably rode the crest of national concern for industrial efficiency and economy and threw its full weight behind prohibitory legislation. Although at the pinnacle of their power during the war and shortly afterward, the Wisconsin League faced formidable opposition from the Wisconsin Brewers Association, an effective lobby of the brewery industry. In 1917, the League lobbied for passage of the Evjue “Bone Dry Referendum Bill” but suffered defeat when Governor Emanuel Philipp vetoed the measure. In the same year, however, Congress submitted the Eighteenth Amendment to the states for ratification. The League joined a chorus of evangelical Protestant churches and other prohibition organizations to combat the liquor interests and win ratification. In 1919 Wisconsin became the 39th state to ratify the Eighteenth Amendment. Despite their successful ratification drive, the League was disappointed that the Amendment gave the states concurrent power with the federal government to enforce prohibition. To resolve the ambiguity, the League actively lobbied for legislation that would institute state-wide prohibition. With the passage of the Mulberger Act in 1920, prohibition officially came to Wisconsin.
In subsequent years the Anti-Saloon League of Wisconsin suffered repeated setbacks in its efforts to maintain state-wide prohibition. As it faced growing opposition from the brewery lobbies, the Socialist Party wet legislators, and the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Association Against the Prohibition Amendment, the Wisconsin League found itself in constant retreat.
On April 7, 1933, early in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first term as President Congress repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. Shortly after 1934, the Anti-Saloon League of Wisconsin disbanded as a prohibition organization.
