Members - May 3, 2024: Punch Bowls and Prohibition: Newburyport's Scandalous Fight with the Rum Devil
In May, 1877, in a widely distributed leaflet called "The Word of Truth", prohibitionist J.E. Wolfe published the names of the Newburyport merchants "paying special tax for the sale of spirituous and malt liquors", calling them "murderers" with "blood on their hands". This was enough to land Wolfe in the Newburyport jail, where he continued to fume and write. Newburyport was awash in rum in the 19th century, imported and locally distilled. Join Museum of Old Newbury Executive Director and rum punch devotee Bethany Groff Dorau for an illustrated talk on the later years of the West India trade, with its ties to slavery for some and great wealth for others. Explore the social history of rum in Newburyport and the links between the prohibition, abolition, and women's suffrage movements.
