Interpreting the Prohibition Era at Museums and Historic Sites

Jason S. Lantzer is an historian who looks at the intersection of religion, politics, and law in American culture. His first book, Prohibition is Here to Stay was published by the University of Notre Dame Press in 2009, and his second book, Mainline Christianity was published by New York University Press in 2012. He is the honors program coordinator at Butler University, where he teaches broadly on US History.

Interpreting the Prohibition Era at Museums and Historic Sites is exactly the kind of book that busy interpreters, curators, and museum administrators need. Well-researched and lucidly written, it combines a brief history of prohibition with incisive guidelines for interpretation. Lantzer offers an informative account of the long war between “wets” and “drys” in slightly less than fifty pages. His guidelines demonstrate the enduring relevance of prohibition while offering suggestions for telling meaningful, engaging stories about it. Interpreting the Prohibition Era at Museums and Historic Sites is sure to become a standard resource for public historians and museum professionals. In fact, by reminding us that prohibition left no part of the nation untouched, the book shows why its story deserves to be told—and how sites large and small can incorporate it into their programming.

• ForewordIntroductionPart I: The History of ProhibitionChapter 1: Early American Drinking and the Birth of the Temperance MovementChapter 2: Drinking as a Big BusinessChapter 3: The Prohibition MomentChapter 4: Revolutionary Repeal and the End of a ReformPart II: Interpreting Prohibition HistoryChapter 5: Repeal's Legacy and Interpreting the PastChapter 6: Capturing the Local StoryChapter 7: Capturing the National Story and LegacyAppendix: TimelineNotesBibliographyIndexAbout the Author