Teetotalers & Moonshiners: Prohibition in Virginia, Distilled, an exhibit focused on the Prohibition Era in Virginia from 1916 to 1933, is now open at Bowman Library through January 17th. The exhibit includes a series of informational banners and an interactive tablet display to tell the story of the lasting effects of prohibition, including the economic and social costs and the rise of illegal alcohol production and sale as an underground culture and economy. This is a traveling exhibit on loan from the Library of Virginia and is located in the lobby of Bowman Library for patrons to enjoy.
To compliment the exhibition, the Stewart Bell Jr. Archives has curated a display at Handley Library outside the Benham Gallery with photographs, artifacts, and other materials surrounding local events and history during prohibition. More information is available at www.handleyregional.org/teetolalers.
“We are excited to partner with the Library of Virginia to bring this exhibition to Winchester,” says John Huddy, Director of Handley Regional Library System. “I invite everyone to come out to Bowman Library to experience the interactive exhibit and to continue learning by visiting the Stewart Bell Jr. Archives to discover what our local community experienced during this time.”
The Library of Virginia reports that Virginians imbibed their last legal drink on Halloween night in 1916—more than three years before national prohibition was enacted. Newspapers reported bacchanalian scenes in the Old Dominion’s cities as “wets” drank up and bought out the stock of saloons and bars. Most of the state’s liquor, beer, and wine producers quietly shut down. Many farmers worried that a major part of their livelihood from corn and fruit had disappeared overnight, while supporters of prohibition exulted in the promise of a morally upright “Dry Virginia.” For the next 18 years the state became a laboratory for a grand social experiment that ultimately left many Virginians with a serious hangover—and eventually led to repeal.
The exhibition is supported in part by the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and the National Alcoholic Beverage Control Association. The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the Virginia Distillers Association have also provided support.