–One of the exhibits created by students in the Creating Digital History course.–
by Catriona Schlosser
Prohibition only lasted for thirteen years, but it changed America forever. Not only did it have a major impact on U.S. politics, legislation and law enforcement, but it also influenced literature, culture, art and even our everyday lexicon. When the Dictionary of American Slang was released in 1960, there were more colloquial synonyms for drunk than any other word. Most of these originated during the 1920s, the dry decade.
Members of the temperance movement may have convinced Congress to outlaw alcohol, but they had a difficult time persuading the public that a liquor free life was the best type of life. In a large and diverse city like New York, it became even more difficult to enforce the moral absolute that drinking was wrong. In Greenwich Village, the land of eccentrics, rebels and progressives, the task of controlling these residents drinking habits became difficult. Villagers fought prohibition through speakeasies, bootleggers and general apathy towards liquor enforcement. This fight created new pop culture icons in Greenwich Village and it also had a great influence on the artists and writers who lived in the area.
To see this exhibit, go to http://aphdigital.org/GVH/exhibits/show/prohibitionandgreenwichvillage