Join author/historian Marni Davis as she discusses her recent book Jews and Booze: Becoming American in the Age of Prohibition.
At the turn of the century, American Jews and prohibitionists viewed one another with growing suspicion. Jews believed that all Americans had the right to sell and consume alcohol, while prohibitionists insisted that alcohol commerce and consumption posed a threat to the nation’s morality and security. The two groups possessed incompatible visions of what it meant to be a productive and patriotic American, and in 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution made alcohol commerce illegal, Jews discovered that anti-Semitic sentiments had mixed with anti-alcohol ideology, threatening their reputation and their standing in American society.
This program is part of the ongoing Authors Out Loud series at the Washington DCJCC. Enjoy an evening of entertainment and stimulating conversation with great authors and fellow readers. Meet the author, get your book signed and discuss your favorite books with friends over a glass of wine.