I’m going to agree with Bourbon Women Association founder Peggy Noe Stevens on this one: Carry Nation is our least favorite Bourbon Woman. A Kentucky native, Carry waged war against saloons and taverns in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Although she died eight years before the passage of the 18th Amendment, her temperance efforts were a major contribution to what would become known as Prohibition.
For 5 1/2 hours over the next three nights, filmmaker Ken Burns explores the rise and fall of the 18th Amendment in the PBS series “Prohibition.” Intended to improve the lives of Americans, the law instead led to speakeasies, gangsters and increased consumption of liquor, especially among young women. And it nearly devastated the bourbon industry in Kentucky.
“Prohibition” airs Oct. 2-4 on PBS, starting at 8 p.m. each night.
