Convention to Ratify the 21st Amendment (1933)

The 72nd Congress of the United States proposed the 21st amendment to the U.S._Constitution, repealing the 18th amendment and once again legalizing the manufacture and use of liquor. On October 10, 1933, Governor Henry H._Blood called for the election of delegates to a constitutional convention for the purpose of ratifying or rejecting the 21st amendment. These records document the activities of the convention. The papers include election certificates which list the names and vote count for the delegates. The agenda covers the order of proceedings. Committee reports verify the election of the delegates, provide information on drafting the resolution to ratify, and recording the vote on ratification, and include

drafts of the certificate of ratification. The proceedings were documented in a typed, verbatim transcript. The transcript, with some editing, was then published. Proceedings include the call to order, invocation, election of officers, presentation of the proposed amendment, addresses by various men, the vote to ratify, miscellaneous resolutions and communications, and adjournment. Newspaper clippings from the Salt Lake Tribune provide advance notice of the convention and coverage of the results, the latter with a printed photo of the delegates. The final file consists of correspondence received from other states in response to a request by the Utah Secretary of State for copies of ratification

proceedings in those states; copies of proceedings or related materials are included with the letters from some states.

The 72nd Congress of the United States proposed the 21st amendment to the U.S. Constitution, repealing the 18th amendment and once again legalizing the manufacture and use of liquor. On October 10, 1933, Governor Henry H. Blood called for the election of delegates to a constitutional convention for the purpose of ratifying or rejecting the 21st amendment. The election was held on November 7, and the elected delegates met December 5. The amendment became effective with the ratification of 36 states; Utah was the 36th state to ratify. These records document the activities of the convention.

The papers include election certificates, validated by the secretary of state, which list the names and the vote count for the delegates. The agenda covers the order of the proceedings. Committee reports include that of the Committee on Credentials verifying the election of the delegates, a report of the Committee on Resolutions drafting the resolution to ratify the 21st amendment, and the report of the Secretary of the Convention recording the vote on ratification. Drafts of the certificate of ratification are also included.

The proceedings of the convention were documented in a typed, verbatim transcript. The transcript, with some editing, was then published by order of the convention. The proceedings include the call to order; the invocation; election of convention officers; presentation of the proposed amendment; addresses by various men including the president of the convention, Governor Blood, Anthony W. Ivins who had been a member of the 1895 convention framing the Utah constitution, and Delegate Riter who was chairman of the committee on resolutions; the vote on the resolution to ratify the amendment; miscellaneous resolutions and communications; and adjournment.

Newspaper clippings from the Salt Lake Tribune provide advance notice of the convention and coverage of the results, the latter with a photo of the delegates. The final file consists of correspondence received from other states in response to a request by Utah Secretary of State, Milton Welling, for copies of the ratification proceedings in those states. Copies of proceedings, or related materials, are included with the letters from some states.