Dry Manhattan

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 4/12/2006

Lerner, associate dean of studies at the Bard High School Early College, presents a riveting account of the attempt to rid the Big Apple of alcohol. The temperance movement forged unlikely alliances: Norwegian church groups found themselves allied with African-American labor activists who believed that Prohibition would benefit workers, especially African-Americans. Tea merchants and soda fountain manufacturers also supported Prohibition, thinking a ban on alcohol would increase sales of their products. But when Prohibition did come to New York, it was hard to enforce corrupt cops sometimes set up shop in speakeasies. Prohibition raids were "marked by blatant displays of religious intolerances, class bias, and outright bigotry," says Lerner. Working-class neighborhoods, home to immigrants, were policed much more vigilantly than the dining rooms of WASP penthouses. Notions of a universal feminine morality were shattered by debates among women about Prohibition organizations like the Women's Christian Temperance Union insisted that all women supported the "noble experiment," but women journalists and flappers insisted that some members of the distaff sex wanted to drink. Though Lerner's study is informed by the relevant academic literature, he avoids tedious scholarly debates about Progressive Era reform, resulting in a fascinating study that will appeal to anyone who cares about the history of New York.