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The Association Against the Prohibition Amendment was established by William H. Stayton in 1918 and became a leading organization working for the repeal of prohibition in the United States. It was the first group created to fight Prohibition. The group was officially incorporated on December 31, 1920. Its activities consisted of meetings, protests, and distribution of informational pamphlets and it operated solely upon voluntary financial contribution. Due to low contributions, the Association was largely stagnant until prominent members joined in the mid-1920s.

Development[edit source]
Although the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment (AAPA) formed in 1918, it largely stayed stagnant until prominent members joined in the mid 1920s. Prominent members of the organization included Pierre S. du Pont, Irénée du Pont, John J. Raskob, Jouett Shouse, Grayson M.P. Murphy, and James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. Its publicity campaign, begun in 1928, helped mobilize growing opposition to the Eighteenth Amendment. It included, as an official song, "Light Wine and Beer" by Dave Kohn and George Vest Jr., music by Bert Keene. Although the Association depended on donations, it refused to accept money from business with a vested interest in alcohol consumption, such as breweries and distilleries. There were over 500,000 members in 28 states.

Activities
In order to promote its cause, the Association distributed over 1,250,000 research pamphlets, often focusing on the negative effects that Prohibition had upon the economy and how it proliferated the amount of illegal distilleries. The Association claimed in the eighteen research pamphlets it distributed that the cessation of Prohibition would help the economy and thus help the country recover from the Great Depression.

Success and Disbandment
The Association Against the Prohibition Amendment officially disbanded on December 5th, 1933 after the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment by three states officially ended Prohibition. The Association's final operation was a celebration on the evening of December 5th of 170 members at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.