From WWW home page of Westerville (OH) Public Library
 
> The Temperance Movement in Westerville History
>
> [Image]
>
> A temperance poster on display in the museum which uses two of the
> popular themes running through Anti-Saloon League literature -
> patriotism and the welfare of young people.
>
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>
> In 1858, Westerville town trustees passed one of the earliest
> prohibition ordinances in Ohio. The local law prohibited "the sale,
> barter or gift of wine, fermented cider, beer, and spirituous
> liquors." That decision was to affect the history of Westerville and
> the nation for over a century. The law was challenged by aspiring
> saloon owner, Henry Corbin and his wife Phyloxena on two occasions, in
> 1875 and 1879. After a series of incidents, sometime referred to as
> "The Whiskey Wars", Westerville remained a "dry town".
>
> A national temperance group was founded in Oberlin, Ohio in 1893 and
> later became known as the Anti-Saloon League of America with
> headquarters in Washington, D. C. The League's goal was to close the
> nation's saloons and promote total abstinence by "agitation,
> legislation and law enforcement". "The Saloon Must Go" and references
> to the "evils of liquor" were slogans spread across the nation through
> booklets, folders and placards printed by the League. Through that
> temperance literature the people of Westerville and the Anti-Saloon
> League of America became partners in the "noble experiment",
> prohibition.
>
> The Westerville Board of Trade was formed in 1908. When they learned
> that the Anti-Saloon league was looking for a permanent location for
> its printing department, they raised $7000 to "promote Westerville" as
> the place to locate. The village postmaster was sent to Washington to
> offer a site in Westerville for construction of the printing plant.
> The offer, worth $10,000, was considered by the League and, in the
> words from a booklet prepared by the Board of Trade, ...a
> village...socially clean and morally upright", Westerville was chosen.
> The town tradition of temperance was clearly a factor in the decision
> of the League.
>
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>
> [Image]
>
> [Image]
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> The American Issue Publishing Company was formed in June, 1909 as the
> parent company of the Anti-Saloon League of America with the national
> headquarters in Westerville, Ohio. The printing plant was dedicated in
> September, 1909 and soon, pamphlets, posters and leaflets proclaiming
> the "evils of alcohol" were streaming from the presses to State
> Leagues and other temperance groups across the nation. Thus were the
> beginnings of the national prohibition movement which would eventually
> culminate in the 18th amendment that stopped the sale and transport of
> alcoholic beverages in the United States of America.
>
> Many consider that Ernest H. Cherrington was the father of the
> temperance movement. he had attracted the attention of the League's
> superintendent, Purley Baker, for his work in the states of Ohio and
> Washington and was named Editor-in-chief of the new American Issue
> Publishing Company. By 1910, Cherrington was general manager of the
> company and editor of the The American Issue, the official newspaper
> and many other publications and papers. His six-volume Standard
> Encyclopedia of the Alcohol Problem is still considered the most
> comprehensive study of alcohol related problems. Cherrington built the
> American Issue Publishing Company into a huge publishing enterprise.
> His power and influence as a temperance reformer was enormous. Most
> considered him to be the one man most responsible for the ratification
> of the 18th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution.
>
> By 1915 over forty tons of printed materials poured from the American
> Issue presses every month. The flow of mail was so large that
> Westerville became the smallest community in the country with a
> first-class post office. After the 18th Amendment became law in 1920,
> the circulation of The American Issue was 1,746,184, proportionately
> as large as many present-day national news magazines.
>
> Westerville was enjoying a building boom in those years. Many
> officials of the Anti-Saloon league, such as Howard Hyde Russell and
> Purley Baker, built large homes on South Grove Street which was
> quickly nicknamed "Temperance Row". Russell, the founder of the
> Anti-Saloon League, was also founder of the Lincoln-Lee Legion. The
> Legion, named for abstainers Abraham Lincoln and General Robert E.
> Lee, launched an aggressive campaign in 1915 for state and national
> prohibition. Accompanied by a male quartet, Dr. Russell drove
> coast-to-coast conducting 125 temperance rallies in 63 days, all in
> "wet" states. All-in-all the Legion collected 5,000,000 pledges of
> abstinence mainly through church Sunday Schools of that day.
>
> William E. "Pussyfoot" Johnson crusaded against alcohol for fifty
> years. He traveled the world for the anti-liquor movement. Possibly
> the most colorful of the many personalities associated with
> Anti-Saloon League, he gained his nickname as a special Indian agent
> in the Oklahoma Territory. A newspaper called him "The booze hunter
> that strikes like lightning even if he is a pussyfoot." He joined the
> American Issue Publishing Company in 1912. Johnson went to England in
> 1919 to attend a meeting of the World League Against Alcoholism, an
> organization founded by Cherrington. During a debate with a London
> barrister, Johnson was hit by a stone hurled by a not-so-tee-totaling
> spectator resulting in the loss of an eye.
>
> [Image] Cherrington, Johnson, Baker, Russell, all worked tirelessly in
> support of the passage of the 18th Amendment which was ratified on
> January 16, 1919, only to be repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933.
> Their vision and dream, their "noble experiment" had failed. Defeat
> did not daunt their spirit. After the repeal, the Temperance Education
> Foundation was established by members of the Anti-Saloon League. It
> was devoted to education, research and data collection on all phases
> of alcohol problems.
>
> In 1948 the name of the Anti-Saloon League of America was officially
> changed to the Temperance Education Foundation. The American Issue
> Publishing Company was put in trust for the Foundation. Cherrington
> died in 1950 and Rev. E. H. Dailey became head of the Foundation,
> American Issue Publishing Company, and the World League Against
> Alcoholism. Part of the land was donated to Westerville Public
> Library. Gradually the staff dwindled, trustees retired or died and
> were not replaced. Changing times left the organization almost
> dormant. Ill health forced Rev. Dailey to make a decision about the
> preservation of the records and unique library that had been started
> by, and continued at the insistence of, Dr. Cherrington. consisting of
> published volumes, manuscripts and research papers, the collection
> contains items that cannot be found elsewhere. It is the largest
> temperance reference library in the world.
>
> The Temperance Education Foundation, as the direct descendant of the
> Anti Saloon League of America, turned over its building and contents
> to the Westerville Public Library in 1973. The building was remodeled
> and now serves as the administration building of the Westerville
> Library. The library assumed the monumental task of preserving and
> cataloging the temperance reference materials, a job that took ten
> years. Most of the material is housed at the Ohio Historical Center
> and those items of local interest are in the Westerville Library. The
> entire collection, generally covering the years between 1870 and 1934,
> is now reproduced on 575 rolls of microfilm. It is available to
> researchers and historians for comprehensive study of the many aspects
> of the temperance and prohibition movement at the height of its
> popularity and influence.
>
> The Anti-Saloon League of America and the wonderful personalities
> associated with it had a profound effect on Westerville and the
> nation. Who is to say that the "noble experiment" was a failure? Many
> benefited. Certainly, Westerville has a truly richer heritage because
> of it.
>