Anderson, William Hamilton

Prohibitionist.

From the description of Reminiscences of William Hamilton Anderson : oral history, 1950. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 309722661

William Hamilton Anderson (1874-1961?) was born and educated in Carlinville, Illinois. He received his B.S. degree from Blackburn College in Carlinville in 1892 and an LL.B. from the Law School of the University of Michigan in 1896. He received an honorary LL.D. from Illinois Wesleyan in 1919.

Anderson is principally known for his work with the Anti-Saloon League. In 1900, he became attorney for the Illinois Anti-Saloon League and later State Superintendent. He personally drafted the Illinois local option law and was instrumental in federating the churches of the state within the Anti-Saloon League to secure passage of that law. In 1906 Anderson became Associate State Superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League, a position he held until 1914. He then served for ten years as General State Superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League of New York, during which time the state organization grew in strength and influence. Anderson was instrumental in the passage of a City Local-Option Law, after it had been defeated regularly for twenty years. He secured an increase in the number of New York congressmen voting in favor of the Eighteenth Amendment, the National Prohibition Amendment, from three in 1914 to fourteen in 1917, this increase being important for the passage of the amendment in Congress. Anderson was influential in securing ratification of the Prohibition Amendment by the New York State Legislature in 1919 and in the passage of a New York State dry enforcement law. These last measures were considered by most temperance leaders as impossible of attainment in New York State. On July 3, 1924 Anderson was indicted for third degree forgery in connection with the "alteration'' of Anti-Saloon League financial records. It was generally understood at that time the move was politically motivated by Tammany Hall, which wished to punish Anderson for the defeat it had suffered at his hands on the liquor question. Anderson was tried and convicted of the charge and sentenced to two years imprisonment, of which he served nine months. The Board of Directors of the Anti-Saloon League unanimously denounced the proceeding as "a monstrous perversion of justice." The Board and their auditors had officially approved the actions of Anderson in previous years in this matter.

In 1926 Anderson founded the American Christian Alliance and was its general secretary and then director general until his death in 1961 [?].

From the guide to the Anderson, William H. and the Anti-Saloon League. Papers, 1903-1928, (Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.)