Women were influential in the fight to repeal national prohibition, especially through the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR). Led by Mrs. Pauline Sabin, the group consisted primarily of middle and upper class women who viewed prohibition as a failure in terms of diminishing the consumption of alcoholic beverages, feared the influence of the speakeasy on the morals of the young, and believed taxes on alcoholic beverages were a needed source of government revenue. The WONPR combated the propaganda of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, supported anti-prohibition candidates for political office, and generally operated in an independent fashion. The group's activities during the late 1920's and early 1930's suggest a revision of the view that the women's movement declined in strength and influence following the adoption of the woman suffrage amendment.<ref> David E. Kyvig, "Women Against Prohibition." ''American Quarterly'' 1976 28(4): 465-482. [ http://www.jstor.org/stable/2712541 in JSTOR]</ref> | Women were influential in the fight to repeal national prohibition, especially through the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR). Led by Mrs. Pauline Sabin, the group consisted primarily of middle and upper class women who viewed prohibition as a failure in terms of diminishing the consumption of alcoholic beverages, feared the influence of the speakeasy on the morals of the young, and believed taxes on alcoholic beverages were a needed source of government revenue. The WONPR combated the propaganda of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, supported anti-prohibition candidates for political office, and generally operated in an independent fashion. The group's activities during the late 1920's and early 1930's suggest a revision of the view that the women's movement declined in strength and influence following the adoption of the woman suffrage amendment.<ref> David E. Kyvig, "Women Against Prohibition." ''American Quarterly'' 1976 28(4): 465-482. [ http://www.jstor.org/stable/2712541 in JSTOR]</ref> |