Bylines

Mark Lawrence Schrad

Four typewriters including the Nazi-built Urania model.

Why the World of Typewriter Collectors Splits Down the Middle When These Machines Come Up for Sale

In this new hobby, I found so many stories.
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.
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.
Carrie Nation

Carrie Nation Spent the Last Decade of Her Life Violently Destroying Bars. She Had Her Reasons. 

Nobody was listening, so she brought some rocks.
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.
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.