About the Seminar

Prohibition bred glamour — speakeasies, flappers, the Jazz age. Prohibition bred crime — gangsters, smuggling, shoot-outs.

It also pitted country folk against city dwellers, Protestants against Catholics, the native-born against immigrants. It promoted women’s liberation, stoked racial fears, made drinking alcohol an act of treason, and turned America into a nation of informers, all this while raising fundamental questions about the role of government in the lives of Americans and challenging definitions of American identity. Learn how to combine Ken Burns’ series Prohibition with primary sources to teach this rich and exciting period.

Leader

Michael A. Lerner, Ph.D.

Principal
Bard High School Early College

Supporters

Funding is provided by Bank of America; Public Broadcasting Service; Corporation for Public Broadcasting; The National Endowment for the Humanities; The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; the Montrone Family through The Penates Foundation; and Park Foundation, Inc.