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2019-07-10 - Wet as the Atlantic Ocean: Prohibition in NJ - Closes July 18, 2019

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Wet as the Atlantic Ocean: Prohibition in New Jersey
Exhibit Closes July 18,2019
Eden Woolley House, 703 Deal Road, Ocean, NJ 07712

 
If you have not seen it, or want to see it one more time, Prohibition Exhibit closes July 18, 2019.

The 18th Amendment—the measure that made the manufacture, sale, or transport of alcoholic beverages a federal offense for the 13 years, 10 months, 19 days, and 17 hours of Prohibition—was repealed in 1933. It is the only Constitution Amendment ever to be undone. And its doing and undoing were the results of a tug-of-war between the “Wets” and the “Drys” that played out across the country.

A new exhibit opening to the public Sunday, June 24, in the Richmond Gallery of the Eden Woolley House reveals where New Jersey stood in that tug-of-war. “Wet as the Atlantic Ocean: Prohibition in NJ” brings the debates, glamour, and violence of the Roaring Twenties home.

How did it happen?

The prohibition debate had been argued across the country for nearly a century before the 18th Amendment outlawed alcohol nationwide. Maine passed the first state prohibition law in 1846 and by the Civil War, several other states had followed suit.

So what happened in the first decades of the next century to elevate debate into a campaign for a Constitutional Amendment—that took the fight national?

• Drunkenness was a real problem. The proliferation of saloons fueled a drinking culture, and between 1900 and 1913, beer and alcohol consumption soared. Women and families suffered.

• Women had been campaigning for abstinence since the early 1800s, By the turn of the century they were finding their voice, stridently advocating for Major 
exhibit opens to the public in the Richmond Gallery, Sunday, June 24thevote-— and Ours was the last state to ratify the 18th amendment and it did so in 1922, two years after the measure was in effect. (Rhode Island and Connecticut never ratified.) We fought Prohibition in court. New Jersey joined Rhode Island in a losing challenge before the Supreme Court (1920). And we were back

The last state to ratify

Under these conditions, pro-prohibition sentiment grew. By 1919 more than half the country lived in dry states, counties, or towns. If the 18th Amendment were to be passed, it needed to happen before the 1920 census, the results of which would give greater power to the anti-prohibition cities.

• On the global scene, the unthinkable carnage of the First World War and the alarming success of the Russian Revolution fueled a nostalgic longing for control and order.

• Many Americans felt threatened by the influx of immigrants whose cultural norms around alcohol threatened prevailing white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant values.

increasingly for prohibition. Organizations like the Women’s Christian Temperance Union were gaining ground.in1931, when the Supreme Court overruled a New Jersey federal judge’s decision invalidating the 18th Amendment.

New Jersey’s resistance

It’s no surprise, then, that Prohibition enforcement in New Jersey was lax. Local fishermen and boaters shuttled bootlegged liquor to shore from rum-running ships lined up just outside the legal limit. Speakeasies thrived with little risk of raid. The state underfunded enforcement. Corruption was rampant. Local police turned a blind eye. Even the teetotaling and incorruptible Ira Reeves, the man put in charge of federal enforcement in New Jersey, resigned after eight months and took up the anti-Prohibition cause
Coming Soon to The Museum
Richmond Gallery - "Votes for Women: The Story of Sufferage"  Opens July 28, 2019, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.More.
Currently At The Museum
Richmond Gallery - "As Wet As The Atlantic Ocean: Prohibition In New Jersey"  Ends July 18, 2019.More.
Our Town Gallery - "Deal Test Site: 100 Years of History"  Exhibit runs until November 28, 2019. More.
Together with our permanent exhibits in the Our Town Galleryand the Hearth and Home Gallery
The Township of Ocean Historical Museum, founded in 1984, is a member-supported, 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey. Its headquarters, the Eden Woolley House, is one of the few 18th century structures still in existence in the Township and is open to the public on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (1 p.m. to 4 p.m.), Thursday Evenings (7 p.m. to 9 p.m. March 15 through December 15) and the first and second Sundays of each month (1p.m. to 4 p.m.). The Township of Ocean Historical Museum offers exhibits on the history of coastal Monmouth County and a full calendar of events. The Museum is also 100% volunteer supported, with no paid staff. The Museum maintains a library and archive, which houses manuscripts, books, and photographs of historical and genealogical interest. For more information, please call 732-531-2136 or visit our website at
 

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Funding for the Township of Ocean Historical Museum provided by the New Jersey Cultural Trust.
Funding has been made possible in part by an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a Division of the Department of State, through grant funds administered by the Monmouth County Historical Commission
Painting and repair of the exterior of the Stucile Farms Dairy Barn have been accomplished with 2018 financial assistance from The 1772 Foundation in cooperation with and administrated by the New Jersey Historic Trust.

Painting and repair of the exterior of the Stucile Farms Water Tower have been accomplished with 2016 financial assistance from The 1772 Foundation in cooperation with and administrated by the New Jersey Historic Trust.

Painting and repair of the exterior of the Eden Woolley House Farms Water Tower have been accomplished with 2014 financial assistance from The 1772 Foundation in cooperation with and administrated by the New Jersey Historic Trust.
Township of Ocean Historical Museum
Located in the Historic Eden Wooley House
Address: 703 Deal Road, Ocean, NJ 07712
Mailing: P.O. Box 516, Oakhurst, NJ 07755-0516

(732) 531-2136
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Township of Ocean Historical Museum · 703 Deal Road · Ocean, NJ 07712 · USA

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