{{Short description|US law enforcement agency (1920–1933)}} {{Infobox law enforcement agency | logo = File:Agent Badge Prohibition Unit.jpg | badge = File:Bureau of Prohibition Agent Badge.jpg | flag = File:Bureau of Prohibition Special Agent Badge.jpg | formed = January 16, 1920 | preceding1 = ''Agency established'' | dissolved = {{end date|1933}} | superseding = {{ubl |Alcohol Beverage Unit |Alcohol Tax Unit |Bureau of Industrial Alcohol }} | country = United States | legaljuris = opsjuris | oversightbody = {{Unbulleted list |Bureau of Internal Revenue (1920–1929) |Department of the Treasury (1929–1933) |Bureau of Investigation (1933) }} | headquarters = Washington, D.C. | sworntype = Federal agent | website = }} The '''Bureau of Prohibition''' (or '''Prohibition Unit''') was the United States federal law enforcement agency with the responsibility of investigating the possession, distribution, consumption, and trafficking of alcohol and alcoholic beverages in the United States of America during the Prohibition era.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How was Prohibition enforced? {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/question/How-was-Prohibition-enforced |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> The enumerated enforcement powers of this organization were vested in the Volstead Act. Federal prohibition agents of the Bureau were commonly referred to by members of the public and the press of the day as "prohis," or "dry agents."<ref>{{Cite web |title=18th Amendment 1919 (National Prohibition Act) {{!}} Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives |url=https://www.atf.gov/our-history/timeline/18th-amendment-1919-national-prohibition-act#:~:text=The%20Prohibition%20Unit%20is%20created,Agents,%E2%80%9D%20by%20the%20public. |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=www.atf.gov}}</ref> In the sparsely populated areas of the American west, agents were sometimes called "Prohibition Cowboys."<ref name=":0" /> At its peak, the bureau employed 2,300 dry agents.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |date=January 1, 2020 |title=The Early Years |url=https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2018-05/Early%20Years%20p%2012-29.pdf |website=Drug Enforcement Administration}}</ref>
== History ==
=== Volstead Act and formation in the Department of the Treasury ===
==== Prohibition Unit ==== The Prohibition Unit was formed to enforce the National Prohibition Act of 1919 (Volstead Act) which enforced the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution regarding the prohibition of the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages.<ref name=":2">{{Citation |last=Alcoholism |first=National Research Council (US) Panel on Alternative Policies Affecting the Prevention of Alcohol Abuse and |title=Temperance and Prohibition in America: A Historical Overview |date=1981 |work=Alcohol and Public Policy: Beyond the Shadow of Prohibition |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK216414/ |access-date=2024-08-18 |publisher=National Academies Press (US) |language=en |last2=Moore |first2=Mark H. |last3=Gerstein |first3=Dean R.}}</ref> When it was first established in 1920, it was a unit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. <ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=TIME |date=1924-12-08 |title=PROHIBITION: The Unit |url=https://time.com/archive/6652795/prohibition-the-unit/ |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=TIME |language=en}}</ref> The commissioner of Internal Revenue, Daniel C. Roper, strenuously objected to absorbing the responsibilities of managing a prohibition organization, as he believed they were beyond the scope and mandate of his Bureau which had primarily been responsible for investigating tax violations.<ref name=":7" />
Initially, there were 960 dry agents in the Prohibition Unit.<ref name=":7" />
==== Elevation to Bureau status ==== House Resolution 10729, passed by the 69th Congress, became law on March 3, 1927 and simultaneously created two new bureaus out of Treasury's efforts: the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Prohibition.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last=Laurence F. Schmeckebier |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.58055/page/n33/mode/1up?q=industrial |title=The Bureau Of Prohibition Its History, Activities And Organization |date=1929 |page=20}}</ref> The new bureau would consist of a commissioner of prohibition, an assistant commissioner, two deputy commissioners, a chief clerk, and their staffs.<ref name=":10" /> On April 1, 1927, with 10729 becoming effective, the organizational restructuring was officially completed, and prohibition was elevated from Unit status to Bureau status.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legisworks.org/congress/69/publaw-751.pdf |title=Treasury Department Reorganization Plan of 1927 - P.L. 69-751 |work=44 Stat. 1381 ~ House Bill 10729 |date=March 3, 1927 |publisher=Legis★Works |access-date=January 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121024853/http://legisworks.org/congress/69/publaw-751.pdf |archive-date=November 21, 2015 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>
=== Transfer to the Department of Justice === On July 1, 1930, the Prohibition Bureau was transferred from the Treasury Department to the Department of Justice (DOJ).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legisworks.org/congress/71/publaw-273.pdf |title=Prohibition Reorganization Act of 1930 - P.L. 71-273 |work=46 Stat. 427 ~ House Bill 85741 |date=May 27, 1930 |publisher=Legis★Works |access-date=January 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120230726/http://legisworks.org/congress/71/publaw-273.pdf |archive-date=November 20, 2015 |url-status=usurped }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=22208 |title=Herbert Hoover: "The President's News Conference," May 27, 1930 |author1=Peters, Gerhard |author2=Woolley, John T |publisher=University of California - Santa Barbara |work=The American Presidency Project |access-date=January 22, 2018 |archive-date=January 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123072459/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=22208 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
=== Mission === thumb|right|300px|Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol, c. 1921The Bureau of Prohibition's main function was to stop the sale and consumption of alcohol.<ref name=":2" /> Agents would be tasked with eliminating illegal bootlegging rings, and became notorious in cities like New York and Chicago for raiding popular nightclubs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Masters of Disguise: Prohibition agents "Izzy" Einstein and Moe Smith |url=https://prohibition.themobmuseum.org/the-history/enforcing-the-prohibition-laws/law-enforcement-during-prohibition/ |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=Prohibition: An Interactive History |language=en-US}}</ref>
Agents were often paid low wages, and the Bureau was notorious for allowing many uncertified people to become agents.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Lerner |first=Michael A |title=Dry Manhattan: Prohibition in New York City |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0674030572 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=1–351}}</ref> Doing so strengthened the bureau, as they were able to hire agents in greater numbers.<ref name=":4" />
In 1929, the Increased Penalties Act (Jones Law) increased penalties for violations previously set in the Volstead Act.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Jones Act |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/jones_act |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=LII / Legal Information Institute |language=en}}</ref> First time offenders were now expected to serve a maximum of five years and a $10,000 fine as opposed to the previous six months and $1,000 fine. This strengthened animosity toward Prohibition agents, as many of them (such as Major Maurice Campbell, Prohibition administrator of New York City), were already hated for their raids on popular clubs frequented by New York City's elite.<ref name=":5" />
=== Transfer to the Federal Bureau of Investigation === Early in 1933, with the repeal of Prohibition imminent, as part of the Omnibus Crime Bill, the Bureau was briefly absorbed into the Bureau of Investigation (BOI).<ref name=":2" /> The Prohibition Bureau was demoted from Bureau status to Unit status and became the FBI's Alcohol Beverage Unit (ABU). Though part of the FBI on paper, J. Edgar Hoover, who wanted to avoid liquor enforcement and the taint of corruption that was attached to it, continued to operate it as a separate, autonomous agency in practice.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bureau and the Great Experiment |url=https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/the-bureau-and-the-great-experiment-012420}}</ref>
=== Repeal of Prohibition and dissolution === In December 1933, once repeal became a reality and the only federal laws regarding alcoholic beverages were limited to their taxation, the ABU was removed from the FBI and the DOJ and returned to Treasury, where it became the Alcohol Tax Unit, ultimately evolving into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF).<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Prohibition Reorganization {{!}} Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives |url=https://www.atf.gov/our-history/prohibition-reorganization |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=www.atf.gov}}</ref>
== Leadership and organization ==
=== Directors of Prohibition, Internal Revenue === Prior to the 1st of April 1927, the chief duties for leadership of prohibition enforcement and investigation were vested in the director of the Prohibition Unit. * James E. Jones<ref name=":8" /> * John H. Kramer<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vyhnanek |first=Louis |date=1981 |title="Muggles," "Inchy," and "Mud": Illegal Drugs in New Orleans during the 1920s |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4232096 |journal=Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=253–279 |issn=0024-6816}}</ref>
=== Commissioners === After April 1927, with the elevation of the Prohibition Unit to the Bureau of Prohibition, the chief administrator of the organization was the commissioner of prohibition. * Acting Prohibition Commissioner Roy Asa Haynes<ref>{{Cite news |date=1940-10-21 |title=ROY HAYNES DIES; AIDE OF HARDING, 58; Prohibition Commissioner Was Appointed in 1921 and Also Served Under Coolidge EDITOR FROM 1900 TO 1920 On the Staff of The Hillsboro Dispatch-Was Active in Banking and Insurance |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/10/21/archives/roy-haynes-dies-aide-of-harding-58-prohibition-commissioner-was.html |access-date=2024-08-19 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * Prohibition Commissioner James M. Doran<ref>{{Cite web |last=TIME |date=1927-09-19 |title=PROHIBITION: New Sponge |url=https://time.com/archive/6656502/prohibition-new-sponge/ |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=TIME |language=en}}</ref> * Prohibition Commissioner Henry W. Anderson<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure |url=https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/alcohol-prohibition-was-failure#conclusion-lessons-for-today |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=www.cato.org}}</ref>
=== District headquarters offices === Source:<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Laurence F. Schmeckebier |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.58055/page/n229/mode/1up?q=branch |title=The Bureau Of Prohibition Its History, Activities And Organization |date=1929}}</ref> In the summer of 1925, the 48 state enforcement districts were abolished and replaced with 22 federal prohibition districts, closely aligned with the federal judicial districts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prohibition Reorganization {{!}} Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives |url=https://www.atf.gov/our-history/prohibition-reorganization |access-date=2024-08-19 |website=www.atf.gov}}</ref> This number would grow by 1929 to 27 districts.{{Location map+ | USA | width = 800px | caption = District Headquarters Offices of the Bureau of Prohibition, circa 1929 | relief = 1 | places = {{Location map~| USA | label = 1st | position = right | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Boston | link = Boston | lat_deg = 42 | lat_min = 21 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 71 | lon_min = 3 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~ | USA | label = 2nd | position = right | background = white | mark = Cyan pog.svg | alt = alt text for New York City | link = New York City | lat_deg = 40 | lat_min = 43 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 74 | lon_min = 0 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 3rd | position = top | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Buffalo | link = Buffalo, New York | lat_deg = 42 | lat_min = 52 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 78 | lon_min = 52 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 4th | position = | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Newark, New Jersey | link = Newark, New Jersey | lat_deg = 40 | lat_min = 44 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 74 | lon_min = 10 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 5th | position = bottom | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Philadelphia | link = Philadelphia | lat_deg = 39 | lat_min = 57 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 75 | lon_min = 9 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 6th | position = | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Pittsburgh | link = Pittsburgh | lat_deg = 40 | lat_min = 26 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 79 | lon_min = 59 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 7th | position = | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Baltimore | link = Baltimore | lat_deg = 39 | lat_min = 17 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 76 | lon_min = 36 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 8th | position = bottom | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Richmond, Virginia | link = Richmond, Virginia | lat_deg = 37 | lat_min = 32 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 77 | lon_min = 26 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 9th | position = | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Savannah, Georgia | link = Savannah, Georgia | lat_deg = 32 | lat_min = 4 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 81 | lon_min = 5 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 10th | position = | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for New Orleans | link = New Orleans | lat_deg = 29 | lat_min = 57 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 90 | lon_min = 4 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 11th | position = bottom | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Louisville | link = Louisville | lat_deg = 38 | lat_min = 19 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 85 | lon_min = 45 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 12th | position = left | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Columbus, Ohio | link = Columbus, Ohio | lat_deg = 39 | lat_min = 59 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 82 | lon_min = 58 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 13th | position = left | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Chicago | link = Chicago | lat_deg = 41 | lat_min = 52 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 87 | lon_min = 37 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 14th | position = | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Saint Paul, Minnesota | link = Saint Paul, Minnesota | lat_deg = 44 | lat_min = 56 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 93 | lon_min = 5 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 15th | position = left | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Topeka | link = Topeka | lat_deg = 39 | lat_min = 3 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 95 | lon_min = 41 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 16th | position = bottom | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for St. Louis | link = St. Louis | lat_deg = 38 | lat_min = 37 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 90 | lon_min = 11 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 17th | position = | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Fort Worth | link = Fort Worth | lat_deg = 32 | lat_min = 46 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 97 | lon_min = 18 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 18th | position = left | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Denver | link = Denver | lat_deg = 39 | lat_min = 44 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 104 | lon_min = 59 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 19th | position = | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Helena, Montana | link = Helena, Montana | lat_deg = 46 | lat_min = 35 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 112 | lon_min = 1 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 20th | position = | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Seattle | link = Seattle | lat_deg = 47 | lat_min = 37 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 122 | lon_min = 21 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 21st | position = | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for San Francisco | link = San Francisco | lat_deg = 37 | lat_min = 46 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 122 | lon_min = 25 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 22nd | position = | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Los Angeles | link = Los Angeles | lat_deg = 34 | lat_min = 3 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 118 | lon_min = 14 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 25th | position = | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Detroit | link = Detroit | lat_deg = 42 | lat_min = 19 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 83 | lon_min = 44 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 26th | position = top | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Albany, New York | link = Albany, New York | lat_deg = 42 | lat_min = 39 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 73 | lon_min = 45 | lon_dir = W }}
{{Location map~| USA | label = 27th | position = top | background = white | mark = Purple pog.svg | alt = alt text for Salt Lake City | link = Salt Lake City | lat_deg = 40 | lat_min = 45 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 111 | lon_min = 53 | lon_dir = W }} |float=center|AlternativeMap=Usa edcp location map.svg}}
Offices not seen above: * Twenty-Third District, Honolulu, Hawaii * Twenty-Fourth District, San Juan, Puerto Rico
== Narcotics Division == thumb|Narcotics agents and inspectors would sometimes be classed as working for the "Prohibition Service" With the establishment of the Prohibition Unit in 1920, leadership established a Narcotics Division{{efn|Not to be confused with the Bureau of Public Health Narcotics Division, whose name was changed to the Division of Mental Hygiene on June 14, 1930, and became the National Institute of Mental Health in 1949.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |date=January 1, 1930 |title=Treasury Department Outline |url=https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/T-0814.pdf |website=Congressional Directory}}</ref> That division primarily focused on addressing addiction for those confined to the "narcotic farms".<ref name=":11" />}} with the enumerated powers to investigate all violations of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act,<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 10, 2022 |title=Opium Order Form |url=https://museum.dea.gov/museum-collection/collection-spotlight/artifact/opium-order-form#:~:text=A%20part%20of%20the%20Prohibition,public's%20view%20of%20addiction%20changed. |access-date=August 18, 2024 |website=DEA Museum}}</ref> taking over the duties of investigations and enforcement from the agents of Revenue's Miscellaneous Division.<ref name=":7" /> Narcotics Agents and Narcotics Inspectors in these early days primarily were responsible for investigating medical licenses for the distribution of narcotics, but their duties evolved over the course of the decade.<ref>{{Citation |last=Study |first=Institute of Medicine (US) Committee for the Substance Abuse Coverage |title=A Century of American Narcotic Policy |date=1992 |work=Treating Drug Problems: Volume 2: Commissioned Papers on Historical, Institutional, and Economic Contexts of Drug Treatment |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234755/ |access-date=2024-08-19 |publisher=National Academies Press (US) |language=en |last2=Gerstein |first2=Dean R. |last3=Harwood |first3=Henrick J.}}</ref> Narcotics Agents overall secured more convictions to federal prison for Harrison Act violations than their Dry Agent counterparts did for Volstead Act violations.<ref name=":7" />
In the single fiscal year of 1920, more than half a million dollars were budgeted for narcotics enforcement.<ref name=":7" /> The requirements for entry into the Narcotics Division were far more stringent than for their dry agent counterparts; narcotics recruits were required to have an accredited bachelor's degree in pharmacology or medicine.<ref name=":7" />
=== Deputy Commissioner for Narcotics === thumb|354x354px|Levi Nutt in his office at the Narcotic Field force at Internal Revenue, around 1920. Levi Nutt developed the Narcotics Division - sometimes called the Narcotics Field force prior to 1927, and was appointed the position of assistant commissioner for narcotics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pietrusza |first=David |title=Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series |publisher=Carroll & Graf |year=2003 |location=New York}}</ref> His position would absorb the dual capacity as Secretary of the Federal Narcotics Control Board with its establishment in 1922.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Laurence F. Schmeckebier |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.58055/page/n149/mode/1up?q=%22federal+narcotics+control+board%22 |title=The Bureau Of Prohibition Its History, Activities And Organization |date=1929 |page= |pages=136-137}}</ref> He was a registered pharmacist, who had worked with Treasury since 1900.<ref name=":7" /> He led the division to the arrest of tens of thousands of drug addicts and dealers in the 1920s. After 1927, with the elevation of Prohibition to Bureau status, he was promoted to deputy commissioner for narcotics.
==== Rothstein Scandal ==== Nutt's biological son Rolland Nutt and son-in-law L. P. Mattingly were attorneys for racketeer and gangster Arnold Rothstein in tax matters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mabry |first=Donald J. |title=The Latin American Narcotics Trade and U.S. National Security |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=1989}}</ref> After an investigation into the relationship, in 1930 a grand jury found no criminal impairment of Narcotics Division activities, but Nutt lost his position as chief of the Narcotics Division.<ref name=":12">{{Citation |last1=Gerstein |first1=Dean R. |title=A Century of American Narcotic Policy |date=1992 |work=Treating Drug Problems: Volume 2: Commissioned Papers on Historical, Institutional, and Economic Contexts of Drug Treatment |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234755/ |access-date=2024-08-16 |publisher=National Academies Press (US) |language=en |last2=Harwood |first2=Henrick J.}}</ref> thumb|Official Portrait of Harry Anslinger, 1931
==== Anslinger ==== Harry J. Anslinger assumed his duties as the assistant commissioner for narcotics.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 1, 2020 |title=The Roaring Twenties |url=https://museum.dea.gov/exhibits/online-exhibits/anslinger/roaring-twenties |website=DEA Museum}}</ref> On July 1, 1930, the Narcotics Division would be merged into the newly established Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) under the leadership of Anslinger, the first United States commissioner of narcotics.<ref name=":12" /> Anslinger remained the commissioner of narcotics until his retirement in 1965. The FBN is considered a predecessor to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
=== Prohibition Service fallen officers === Source:<ref>{{Cite web |title=United States Department of the Treasury - Prohibition Service, US |url=https://www.odmp.org/agency/5715-united-states-department-of-the-treasury-prohibition-service-us-government |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP)}}</ref>
The first narcotics agent to lose his life in the line of duty was Charles Wood, fatally shot in the back after a two-hour gunfight following a whiskey raid in El Paso, Texas.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=CHARLES ARCHIE WOOD: Agent |url=https://museum.dea.gov/wall-honor/charles-archie-wood |website=DEA museum}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |+ !'''Position''' !'''Name''' !'''Date''' !'''Cause of Death''' |- |Narcotics Inspector |Charles Archibold "Arch" Wood |March 21, 1921 |Gunfire |- |Narcotics Inspector |Bert S. Gregory |October 25, 1922 |Gunfire (Inadvertent) |- |Narcotics Agent |James T. Williams |October 16, 1924 |Gunfire (Inadvertent) |- |Narcotics Inspector |Louis L. Marks |October 24, 1924 |Automobile crash |}
=== Narcotics Field Divisions === center|711x711px|Narcotics Field Divisions and their headquarters, circa 1929.|alt=Narcotics Field Division headquarters circa 1929|thumb The Narcotics Division consisted of between 100 - 300 Narcotics Agents and Inspectors<ref name=":7" /> based out of 15 Narcotics Field Divisions;<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Laurence F. Schmeckebier |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.58055/page/n184/mode/1up?q=%22federal+narcotics+control+board%22 |title=The Bureau Of Prohibition Its History, Activities And Organization |date=1929 |pages=171-172}}</ref>
== Industrial Alcohol and Chemical Division == In 1925, the Industrial Alcohol and Chemical Division was headed by James M. Doran.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_united-states-official-register-of-the-united-states_1925/page/18/mode/1up?q=%22levi+g.+nutt%22 |title=United States. Official Register of the United States 1925 |date=1925 |publisher=Superintendent of Government Documents |others=Internet Archive |page=18 |language=English}}</ref>
With the Prohibition Reorganization Act of 1930, this division was elevated to bureau status and became the Bureau of Industrial Alcohol.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Section 108, act May 27, 1930, ch. 342, §8, 46 Stat. 430 |url=https://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=46&page=430 |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=uscode.house.gov}}</ref>
== Audit Division == In 1925, the Audit Division was headed by J.M. Young.<ref name=":8" />
== Famous agents == === The Untouchables === thumb|Eliot Ness in 1931 The most famous dry agent of the bureau was undoubtedly the "Untouchable" Eliot Ness.<ref name="Collins & Schwartz" /> The group of agents that Ness oversaw, "The Untouchables," were by far the most famous group of prohibition agents.<ref name="Collins & Schwartz" /> Ness was overseen by the northwest district administrator, Malachi Harney, based out of the Chicago Prohibition Office.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Valentine |first=Douglas |title=The Strength of the Wolf, The Secret History of America's War on Drugs |pages=22}}</ref> Their fame resulted from their investigation to capture and arrest the infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone. They earned their nickname after members of the Chicago Outfit repeatedly failed to bribe or intimidate them, proving they were not as easily corrupted as other prohibition agents.<ref name="Collins & Schwartz" /> Through their efforts, Capone was indicted on 5000 separate counts of conspiracy to violate the National Prohibition Act, though it was ultimately decided not to bring these charges to trial, but rather to concentrate on income tax violations. Nevertheless, the Untouchables gained national acclaim, in particular, Eliot Ness, who ran the group.<ref name="Collins & Schwartz">{{cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Max Allan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n38zDwAAQBAJ&q=scarface+and+the+untouchable |title=Scarface and the Untouchable: Al Capone, Eliot Ness, and the Battle for Chicago |last2=Schwartz |first2=A. Brad |date=2018 |publisher=William Morrow |isbn=978-0-06-244194-2 |edition=1st |location=New York}}</ref>{{Rp|317–331, 349–365, 385–421, 493–496}}
=== Georgia Hopley === The first female prohibition agent was Georgia Hopley.<ref>{{cite web |title=Prohibition Agent Georgia Hopley {{!}} Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives |url=https://www.atf.gov/our-history/prohibition-agent-georgia-hopley |website=www.atf.gov |language=en}}</ref> In early 1922, Hopley was sworn in as a general agent, serving under Federal Prohibition Commissioner Roy A. Haynes. Her appointment made news around the country.<ref>e.g. [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84031081/1922-02-16/ed-1/seq-7/ ''Albuquerque Morning Journal''] (Albuquerque, New Mexico), February 16, 1922; [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86058242/1922-02-27/ed-1/seq-2/ ''The Lake County Times''] (Hammond, Indiana), February 27, 1922, [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90066132/1922-02-02/ed-1/seq-6/ ''The Capital Journal''] (Salem, Oregon), February 2, 1922</ref> Her hiring encouraged local law enforcement agencies to hire more women to investigate women bootleggers.<ref name="Minnick2013">{{cite book |last=Minnick |first=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ke7UAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA32 |title=Whiskey Women: The Untold Story of how Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch, and Irish Whiskey |publisher=Potomac Books |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-61234-565-9 |pages=32–33}}</ref>
=== Frank Hamer === Frank Hamer was an American lawman and Texas Ranger who led the 1934 posse that tracked down and killed criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. His service in the Bureau of Prohibition was brief but eventful while stationed in El Paso, the scene of countless gunfights during the Prohibition era.<ref name=":6" /> He participated in numerous raids and shootouts, and he was involved in a gun battle with smugglers on March 21 which resulted in the death of Prohibition Agent Ernest W. Walker.<ref name=":6">Dolan, Samuel K. ''Cowboys and Gangsters: Stories of an Untamed Southwest'' (TwoDot Books, 2016) {{ISBN|978-1-4422-4669-0}}</ref> Hamer transferred to Austin in 1921, where he served as Senior Ranger Captain.
=== Tom Threepersons === Tom Threepersons was an American lawman, who claimed to be the son of a Cherokee chief. He is considered to have been one of the last of gunfighters of the Old West. He invented the "Tom Threepersons holster."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Arganbright |first1=Bob |title=Handgun Leather |url=https://americanhandgunner.com/1986issues/HJF86.pdf |access-date=December 25, 2016 |website=americanhandgunner.com |publisher=American Handgunner}}</ref> In 1916, he joined the U.S. Army, and served under General Jack Pershing in pursuit of Pancho Villa in Mexico. He was later assigned to Fort Bliss on the Texas–New Mexico state line. On June 10, 1922, Threepersons was appointed as a Prohibition Agent for El Paso, where he worked for 90 days.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=Tom Threepersons {{!}} Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives |url=https://www.atf.gov/our-history/tom-threepersons |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=www.atf.gov}}</ref>
=== Two-Gun Hart === thumb|317x317px|Richard James "Two Gun" Hart (born James Vincenzo Capone) with his collection of confiscated stills, 1926. Ironically, while Chicago gangster Al Capone was one of the biggest targets of investigation for the dry agents of the Chicago prohibition office and their Untouchables, Capone's eldest biological brother was himself a dry agent, or "prohibition cowboy".<ref name=":0" /> Richard James "Two-Gun" Hart, born James Vincenzo Capone, had lost communication with his family at age 16 after fleeing New York City following a gang brawl.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Lauterborn |first=David |date=2011-12-01 |title='Two-Gun' Hart: The Prohibition Cowboy |url=https://www.historynet.com/two-gun-hart-the-prohibition-cowboy/?f |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=HistoryNet |language=en-US}}</ref> Hart kept his familial relationship a secret from most of his coworkers.<ref name=":0" />
=== Izzy and Moe === The two-agent team of Isidor "Izzy" Einstein and Moe Smith, working out of the New York City office, compiled the best arrest record in the history of the agency.<ref>[https://www.freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/izzy_moe/izzy_moe.html Jenis, Albert. "Izzy and Moe"], Reprinted from ''Empire State Mason'', Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. Quote: "Bro. Moe W. Smith was raised a Master Mason in Emanuel Lodge No. 654 on November 8, 1922. His friend, Bro. Isadore "Izzy" Einstein, was affiliated with Emanuel Lodge on December 13, 1922." Retrieved April 11, 2011.</ref> Izzy and Moe, as they would later be called, had 4,932 arrests while confiscating over five million bottles of alcohol. The duo would disguise themselves as street vendors, fishermen and many other undercover roles.<ref name="asbury">{{cite book |last=Asbury |first=Herbert |title=Players |date=2002 |publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press |isbn=9781560253808 |editor1-last=Hyde |editor1-first=Stephen |location=New York |chapter=The Merry Antics of Izzy and Moe |editor2-last=Zanetti |editor2-first=Geno}}</ref> Both investigators were also able to speak multiple languages, and this skill was also helpful when they were working undercover.<ref name="asbury" /> In late 1925, Izzy and Moe were laid off in a reorganization of the bureau of enforcement.<ref name=":1">{{Cite magazine |date=November 23, 1925 |title="PROHIBITION: Izzy and Moe" |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,928717,00.html#ixzz1JF576LbS |url-status=dead |magazine=Time |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508200914/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,928717,00.html#ixzz1JF576LbS |archivedate=May 8, 2008 |accessdate=2011-04-11}}{{Subscription required}}</ref> A report in ''Time'' magazine suggested they had attracted more publicity than wanted by the new political appointee heading the bureau, although the press and public loved the team.<ref name=":1" />
Other famous lawmen who, at some point, carried a Prohi badge include James L. "Lone Wolf" Asher,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1925-10-27 |title=Lone Wolf [Agent James L. Asher] Praised Enforcement Hero |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-lone-wolf-agent-james/138711294/ |access-date=2024-08-18 |work=The Buffalo News |pages=16}}</ref> Chicagoan Pat Roche,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1929-08-27 |title=Roche Predicts New Clashes in Beer Gang War :reference 27 |url=https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-roche-predicts-new-clash/145957864/ |access-date=2024-08-18 |work=Chicago Tribune |pages=13}}</ref> and Hannah Brigham.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prohibition Agent Hannah Brigham {{!}} Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives |url=https://www.atf.gov/our-history/prohibition-agent-hannah-brigham |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=www.atf.gov}}</ref>
==Corruption and public opinion== On September 9, 1927, Assistant Treasury Secretary Seymour Lowman issued the following statement to the world's press:
<blockquote>"There are many incompetent, crooked men in the prohibition service. Bribery is rampant, and there are many wolves in sheep's clothing. We are after them. Some days my arm gets tired signing orders of dismissal. I want to say, however, that there are a lot of splendid, fearless men in the service, and, fortunately they greatly outnumber the crooks."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prohibition Service. - Contains Many Crooks |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3878629 |access-date=2024-08-22 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref></blockquote>
=== Public opinion === The major obstacle faced by the Bureau was that the Volstead Act and the Prohibition of alcohol was widely unpopular, controversial, and divisive in American society.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |title=Prohibition - American society in the 1920s - AQA - GCSE History Revision - AQA |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z7spn9q/revision/1#:~:text=One%20clear%20problem%20was%20that,produced%20alcohol%20known%20as%20moonshine. |access-date=2024-08-22 |website=BBC Bitesize |language=en-GB}}</ref> In 1929, the number of speakeasies and bars was double the number from before prohibition began.<ref name=":13" />
=== The mob infiltrates the bureau === Despite their mandate to stop consumption of alcohol, many prohibition agents reportedly accepted bribes in exchange for ignoring illegal trade in liquor, which has been ascribed, in part, to their relatively low wages. It was rumored that many agents imbibed the alcohol which they were responsible for confiscating.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Unintended Consequences |url=https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/unintended-consequences#:~:text=The%20sums%20of%20money%20being,to%20go%20into%20bootlegging%20themselves. |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=Prohibition {{!}} Ken Burns {{!}} PBS |language=en}}</ref> The public perception of Bureau agents was not favorable. Some prohibition agents became notorious for killing innocent civilians and harassing minor bootleggers, while ignoring gangsters and their rich customers.<ref name="Collins & Schwartz" />{{Rp|69, 96–98}}
=== The Ku Klux Klan and Prohibition enforcement === Temperance was often used as a smokescreen for many variations of bigotry to include xenophobia, white supremacism, nativism, anti-catholicism, eugenicism, and Manifest destiny.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nativism and Prohibition |url=https://ehistory.osu.edu/sites/ehistory.osu.edu/files/mmh/clash/Prohibition/Sub-Narratives/nativismandprohibition.htm |access-date=August 22, 2024 |website=Oregon State University history}}</ref> Their perception maintained an observation of the correlation that the target of their bigotry was an alcoholic; that many of the Catholic, Italian, Eastern European, and Irish immigrants to the United States were associated with public drunkenness.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McGirr |first=Lisa |date=2019-01-16 |title=Opinion {{!}} How Prohibition Fueled the Klan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/16/opinion/prohibition-immigration-klan.html |access-date=2024-08-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Many of the members of the Anti-Saloon League joined the new Ku Klux Klan with the influx of immigrants to America at the turn of the century, which took a vigilante militia role in prohibition enforcement; they would extrajudicially target those suspected of violating the Volstead Act.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-27 |title=How Prohibition Fueled the Rise of the Ku Klux Klan |url=https://www.history.com/news/kkk-terror-during-prohibition |access-date=2024-08-22 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref>
=== Black speakeasies and Prohibition enforcement === Certain speakeasies and hooch joints of the prohibition era were owned by black Americans searching for economic stability less than fifty years after the passage of the 15th Amendment, and have been called the birthplace of the jazz age.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-02-15 |title=Harlem and Jazz During The Prohibition: The Harlem Renaissance {{!}} Welcome to the Harlem Standard |url=https://harlemstandard.com/harlem-and-jazz-during-the-prohibition-the-harlem-renaissance/ |access-date=2024-08-22 |language=en-US}}</ref> By the fact of their existence, these speakeasies were defying the law, and formed intimate business relationships with the bootleggers and gangsters that traded in illicit alcohol.
However, many of the leaders of the prohibition movement were also the most prominent voices in black American equality and civil rights.<ref name=":14">{{Cite web |last=Schrad |first=Mark Lawrence |date=February 6, 2021 |title=The Forgotten History of Black Prohibitionism |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/02/06/forgotten-black-history-prohibition-temperance-movement-461215 |website=Politico}}</ref> The list of prominent black 'drys' (prohibitionists) includes Frederick Douglass, Martin Delany, Sojourner Truth, F.E.W. Harper, Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Booker T. Washington.<ref name=":14" />
This dichotomy created a complex relationship between black Americans and their interpretation of freedom. No matter the relationship between black Americans and prohibition, this complicated the Bureau's ability to enforce the Volstead Act.
==In popular culture== * Eliot Ness's memoir, ''The Untouchables'', went on to become a bestseller and was later adapted into two television series (in 1959 and 1993) and a feature film. * ''Izzy and Moe'', a TV-movie starring Jackie Gleason and Art Carney, was loosely based on the real life Isador Einstein and Moe Smith. * The Bureau of Prohibition is featured prominently in the HBO period crime series ''Boardwalk Empire'', particularly through the character of Agent Nelson Van Alden. * Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's documentary "Prohibition - Unintended Consequences" on PBS covers the exploits of the Prohibition Bureau as part of The Prohibition Film Project.
==See also== {{Portal|United States|Law|Modern history}} * Drug Enforcement Administration * Jouett Shouse * Mabel Walker Willebrandt * United States House Committee on Alcoholic Liquor Traffic * William Harvey Thompson
==Notes== {{noteslist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{cite web |url=https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/prohibition-bureau-bureau-of-prohibition/ |title=Prohibition Bureau (Bureau of Prohibition) was a Troubled Agency Riddled with Corruption |last=Hanson, Ph.D. |first=David J. |website=AlcoholProblemsandSolutions.org |date=30 November 2015 |publisher=State University of New York}} * "Prohibition." Prohibition. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. <http://mailer.fsu.edu/~jmrichar/amh1000/fa02/prohibition.htm{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. {{US Treasury agencies}}{{prohibition}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bureau Of Prohibition}} Category:Alcohol policy Prohibition Category:Prohibition in the United States Prohibition