January 16th, 2012 was the 92nd anniversary of the passage of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which transformed Prohibition into federal law.
Much of our understanding of Prohibition is framed by its urban impacts and consequences–bootlegging and organized crime, car chases though downtown areas, speak-easies on city blocks, police raids on drinking establishments, and bathtub gin manufactured in apartments. But how did it affect rural areas? The most frequently documented rural areas are in Appalachia, where the moonshiners ran their stills. What about Wyoming?
Well, with the Otto Plaga Photograph Collection, you can witness how Prohibition would have affected Wyomingites.
Here are a few sample images from the collection, or click the link above to browse more images.
For a general introduction to Prohibition history, Ken Burns’ documentary, Prohibition, originally released in October of 2011, is a good starting point. While Wyoming doesn’t feature prominently in Ken Burns’ work, viewers will have the opportunity to learn how Prohibition affected the U.S. as a whole, including some lesser-known unintended consequences
On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution overturned Prohibition. Since then, whether your choice was an occasional beer or to forswear alcoholic beverages, it was once again a personal choice rather than a matter of Constitutional importance.
Cheers!
I cannot get the Otto Plaga link to work.
Thank you for letting us know Matt! Our digital collections links recently updated and some computers are not automatically routed to the new site. I’ve updated the link in the post and it should work for you now, but please let us know if you still cannot access this.