Pauline Sabin Organizes Women for Prohibition Reform

In May 1929, Pauline Morton Sabin founded the Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform in Chicago. A Republican organizer who had once supported Prohibition, Sabin argued that weak enforcement and widespread evasion were fostering lawlessness and disrespect for government rather than protecting families. The organization challenged the claim that American women spoke with one voice for continued Prohibition. It built a national volunteer network that mobilized women for repeal and became a prominent part of the broader anti-Prohibition coalition. Its advocacy contributed to the political climate for the Twenty-first Amendment, but neither Sabin nor her organization alone caused repeal.