Category: Temperance

Temperance & Prohibition Talk at Court House Museum

beer parade detroit
1932 beer parade in Detroit, Michigan (Detroit News Photo, Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University)

I am pleased to speak at the New Castle Court House Museum on August 6, 2024, at 7 p.m. about the history of temperance and prohibition. 

The talk, part of the museum’s annual “History Revival” summer series, examines the historical attempts to regulate alcohol consumption over the centuries, with an emphasis on Prohibition. During the lecture, we will delve into compelling stories of rumrunners, moonshiners, bathtub gin, Coast Guard rum patrols, and the intriguing personalities that emerged during this era. We will also navigate the intricate landscape of Garden State politics, organized crime, and the influential role of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.

“Pass the Rum” is made possible in part by Delaware Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

The “History Revival,” an annual summer program, is sponsored by the New Castle Historial Society and the New Castle Court House Museum, a division of y Delaware Historical and Cultural Affairs .

The program occurs at the Court House, 211 Delaware St., New Castle, DE.

For more information, click this link:

temperance prohibition talk new castle court house museum
Pass the Rum, a temperance and prohibition talk in New Castle.

Prohibition Talk Focuses on New Hampshire

I recently had the opportunity to examine the subject of temperance and prohibition from a New England perspective. While framing this within a national context for the Nashua Public Library, the lecture considered the centuries-long attempt to control and regulate the consumption of alcohol in a regional context. This took in stories of rumrunners landing Canadian whiskey on isolated beaches, moonshiners, bathtub gin, intriguing personalities, complicated New England politics, organized crime, outgunned lawmen, and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. There is a growing interest in this period, and I was pleased to do the prohibition talk while discussing these matters from the New England perspective.

prohibition talk amendment
House Adopts Prohibition Amendment, New York Tribue, June 18, 1917

WCTU Fountain on Penn Square in Reading

Reading WCTU Fountain
The Reading WCTU Fountain was dedicated to Frances Willard

READING, PA — These WCTU fountains, installed as part of the temperance movement’s campaign to convince men to give up stronger drinks, are still found in some cities and towns around the country. Thus since I was in Reading working on research questions related to how a series of turn-of-the-20th century progressive era social movements converged and developed in small east coast cities, I stopped by the drinking fountain.

The granite monument was placed in the center of the bustling industrial town by the Reading Woman’s Christian Temperance Union chapter in June 1904. This drinking fountain is particularly ornate, and it was dedicated to the national president of the WCTU, Frances Willard. It had been carved by Ernst Epp’s Central Granite Works in Reading.,

Reading WCTU Fountain
The WCTU Fountain on Penn Square in the center of Reading. — Aug 9, 2019

For More on WCTU Fountains

For additional photos of the Fountain see this album on Facebook.

For an article on the temperance fountain Salem City, NJ, see this blog post


Here is a WCTU webpage link that has some history of the fountains https://www.wctu.org/wctu-fountains.html.