Filter by:

Filter by published date

Photograph of women from the Women's Christian Temperance Union gathered at a bar wearing protest signs.

The Forgotten Temperance Movement of the 1950s

Despite the repeal of Prohibition, alcohol consumption was an enormous political issue for many white American Protestants.
Black and white photograph of four men standing amongst barrels of alcohol.

The Truth About Prohibition

The temperance movement wasn’t an example of American exceptionalism; it was a globe-spanning network of activists and politicians against economic exploitation.
Members of the Women's Christian Temperance Union.

The Secret Feminist History of the Temperance Movement

The radical women behind the original “dump him” discourse.
Artistic collage of black leaders surrounded by images associated with prohibition.

The Forgotten History of Black Prohibitionism

We often think of the temperance movement as driven by white evangelicals set out to discipline Black Americans and immigrants. That history is wrong.
Cartoon drawing of a shopkeeper in front of a dairy shop.

How Dairy Lunchrooms Became Alternatives to the NYC Saloon ‘Free Lunch.’

Ben Katchor's Brief History of the Dairy Restaurant.

The Political Chaos and Unexpected Activism of the Post-Civil War Era

Charles Postel on the temperance crusade that galvanized the American women's movement.
original

The Drunkard’s Progress

Two hundred years ago, it was hard for Americans to miss the message that they had a serious drinking problem.

Born a Slave, Emma Ray Was The Saint of Seattle’s Slums

Emma Ray was a leader in battles against poverty, and for temperance.

A New History of Prohibition

How the ban on booze gave rise to prejudiced policing, the penal system, and the modern American right wing.
Pamphlet for "The Drunkard, or, The Fallen Saved" play with alcohol bottles drawn next to the title

Temperance Melodrama on the Nineteenth-Century Stage

Produced by the master entertainer P. T. Barnum, a melodrama about the dangers of alcohol was the first show to run for a hundred performances in New York City.
New York, 1929, men pointing to a sign reading "No Booze Sold Here"

Freedom From Liquor

Ken Burns’ account of prohibition tells a popular story of booze in America. The historical record is far more sobering.
Watercolor portrait of Bronson Alcott, a 19th century American philosopher and educator.

New England Ecstasies

The transcendentalists thought all human inspiration was divine, all nature a miracle.
Black-and-white image of two men behind bar

The Gilded Age In a Glass: From Innovation to Prohibition

Cocktails — the ingredients, the stories, the pageantry — can reveal more than expected about the Gilded Age.
Two people clinking their bottles of beer together.

Let Us Drink in Public

Open container laws criminalize working-class people and make public life less fun. We need to legalize public drinking.
Collage of a photo of the mayor superimposed on a photo of a large KKK rally in a stadium.

The Los Angeles Mayor Who Was Also a KKK Leader

In 1929, Mayor Porter was part of a long history of city figures who perpetuated white supremacy as a foundational and systemic ideal.

A Complete Halt to the Liquor Traffic: Drink and Disease in the 1918 Epidemic

In Philadelphia, authorities faced a familiar challenge: to protect public health while maintaining individuals' rights to act, speak, and assemble freely.

To Evade Pre-Prohibition Drinking Laws, New Yorkers Created the World's Worst Sandwich

It was everywhere at the turn of the 20th century. It was also inedible.
A political cartoon of Carrie Nation in a destroyed bar

Why Do We Blame Women For Prohibition?

One hundred years later, it’s time to challenge a long-held bias.

Two Hundred Years on the Erie Canal

A digital exhibit on the history and legacy of the canal.
Roy Moore
partner

Roy Moore and the Revolution to Come

Women are rising. Will they be able to create lasting change?
Men dumping a barrel of alcohol down the sewer during Prohibition.
partner

Dried Up

How nativism and racism shaped the national movement towards Prohibition.

Private Matter or Public Crisis? Defining and Responding to Domestic Violence

It is only recently that domestic abuse was identified as a serious, public social problem.

What if the Fourth of July Were Dry?

In 1855, prohibitionists set their sights on the wettest day of the year.
The 1917 Silent Parade march in New York City protesting antiblack violence.

The Social-gospel Roots of Environmentalism

America's environmental movement has always been moralistic, which has made it bad at weighing tradeoffs. This accounts for its successes and also its failures.
Glass of wine spilling.

The Great Alcohol Health Flip-Flop Isn’t That Hard to Understand—If You Know Who Was Behind It

More than 30 years ago, the "French paradox" got America bleary-eyed.
Illustration of Mina Miller Edison in front of news clippings about her.

Mina Miller Edison Was Much More Than the Wife of the 'Wizard of Menlo Park'

The second wife of Thomas Edison, she viewed domestic labor as a science, calling herself a "home executive."

Fountain Society

The humble drinking fountain can tell us much about a society’s attitudes towards health, hygiene, equity, virtue, public goods and civic responsibilities.
Cup of eggnog with cinnamon

From Weddings to Riots, Everything to Know About Eggnog's History

People have been drinking eggnog for hundreds of years. Here's where it originated and how it became a traditional holiday drink.
Book cover featuring abstract watercolor splotches behind the title "American Exceptionalism."

"A New History of an Old Idea"

Richard Cándida Smith on Ian Tyrrell’s "American Exceptionalism: A New History of an Old Idea."
Photograph of Marian Brook, a fictional character in HBO's The Gilded Age

Philanthropy and the Gilded Age

As the HBO series The Gilded Age suggests, charity allowed wealthy women to play a visible role in public life. It was also a site of inter-class animosity.

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person