Shumaker and the City

Today I had the opportunity to speak to the Marion County Historical Society at the wonderful downtown Indy venue of Roberts Park United Methodist Church.  Truly a jewel, the congregations dates itself to the first Methodist gathering in Indianapolis (which also produced Meridian Street United Methodist) and have been in their current home since just after the Civil War.  While the turnout wasn't large (it was a beautiful day), it was still a great time.  The question and answer time was enhanced by the presence of a member of Attorney General Arthur Gilliom's family, as well as by a former student of mine (it is always good to see students after they've graduated).  Advanced coverage in the Indianapolis Star was also very nice.

I opted to talk about Shumaker and the City, and the idea that it was really in America's urban areas where Prohibition was debated, and where the battle was fought.  One of the points I tried to make was that things changed a great deal between 1910 and 1930, to the point that drinking as it had been known pre-Prohibition, simply didn't exist in post-Prohibition America.  And drys were partially responsible for both that change, as well as others throughout American society.  To say that Prohibition "failed" then is to misunderstand both what drys were attempting to do and what actually happened.  That I got to do so from whose pulpit the dry crusade was once proclaimed made it all very special.

The past year's journey with this book has really been special.  From book signings to book talks, from getting reviews and emails, to hearing the kids say "Daddy, that is YOUR book," I wouldn't trade a minute of it.  With other speaking events planned, and news this week that my second book (on the American Mainline) is looking increasingly likely, I can't wait to see what the next 12 months bring.

Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

The Ghost of Wayne Wheeler

For the second time in a month, Wayne Wheeler has come to haunt me......

For those of you who do not know who Wheeler is, he was the Washington, D.C. face of the Anti Saloon League.  That is to say, he headed up the League's D.C. legislative affairs office (a nice way of saying he was a lobbyist) and helped craft both the 18th Amendment as well as the Volstead Act.  Not unlike Shumaker, Wheeler was lucky enough to die before Prohibition came to an end, for surely seeing his life's work undone would have killed him.

Now, I say he's come to haunt me because earlier this month in a review of Prohibition, it was pointed out that I didn't make much comment about Wheeler in the pages of my book.  And that is a fair criticism, to an extent.  It's not as if I didn't know who he was, but rather, it is that he plays almost no role (at least none that I really came across in the years I spent working on Shumaker) in what Shumaker did in Indiana.  Wheeler didn't draft Hoosier dry laws, and when Shumaker wrote to League officials it wasn't to Wheeler.  While I very much intend on making some more mention of him should I get the chance to craft a second edition of the book, to say that it is lacking because Wheeler doesn't play a prominent enough role in Shumaker's story is to not realize that it is Shumaker's story, not Wheeler's that I was trying to tell.

Be that as it may, a student of mine sent me a link to an article in the Smithsonian Magazine about Wheeler this week (hence the "second" haunting experience in a month), which you can read here:  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/90852034.html.  The author is Daniel Okrent, who has a new book out about Prohibition (which is going to be used as part of Ken Burn's upcoming miniseries for PBS about the Dry Era).  Okrent, I think it is safe say based on reading both the article and his book (http://www.amazon.com/Last-Call-Rise-Fall-Prohibition/dp/0743277023/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274453575&sr=1-1) wants to know  why/how Prohibition came to pass, and in looking to have a main character to explain it all (or perhaps even to blame) he settled on Wheeler.  Indeed, his article title calls Wheeler "the man who turned off the taps."

I have no problem with this in the main.  Wheeler was important for the coming of Prohibition.  He also was a national figure.  And he has an interesting story.  But I do have problems with some of the implications.  First, that (to again quote Okrent) Wheeler "foisted temperance on a thirsty nation," is to fall into the old Wet trap of arguing that Prohibition was "put over" on the nation.  It wasn't.  Wheeler was but the tip of the spear, so to speak, of what Drys had been working for since the late 19th century (at least).  This is why understanding what was going on at the state level (such as with Shumaker) is so important.  The coming of national prohibition was the culmination of efforts across the nation.  It was not just because a small cadre of Drys sent Wheeler to Washington!

In all actuality, if you want to "blame" someone for the coming of Prohibition, blame the brewers who dominated the saloon trade in the early 1900s who refused to abide by even the most basic of laws.  There would have been no Wheeler (or Shumaker for that matter) had Wets not provoked them by disregarding laws and being a part of political corruption (not to mention other things).  At the end of the day, it was American Society at large, both wets, drys, and damps, that produced Prohibition.  Not Wayne Wheeler (or Shumaker for that matter) all by himself.

Shumaker comes to Columbia City

Ever since 1994, Columbia City has been a part of my life. Sure, back in high school I'd been there once or twice (to go to Paige's Crossing), but once Erin entered my life, so did Columbia City. Her dad's family is based there, so I've had the pleasure of being a part of lake activities as well as witness the fun of Hoosier Hysteria there, not to mention getting an inside view of one of greatest county courthouses in the state (and I'll just say it, nation). Today, however, marked a new moment in my relationship with Columbia City. Today, I got to be "Professor Lantzer" there for the very first time.

The Whitley County Historical Society hosts a monthly event called "Second Sundays" in which they have guest speakers come in and give presentations to the public. Last year I contacted the WCHS about bringing Shumaker's story to "the City," and my proposal was accepted. The WCHS is based in the home of Vice President (former governor and Columbia City favorite son) Thomas Marshall. As luck would have it, not only does Marshall play an important role in my book, but March 14 also happens to be his birthday, so it all came together rather nicely as it turned out.

The WCHS went all out. There was good publicity in the Ft. Wayne papers and a presence on the internet beyond my own efforts on Facebook and Twitter. In addition to PR, they also put together a nice display, complete with artifacts from a brewery that had operated in CC, some clippings on Prohibition raids on stills, and lots of things from the WCTU. The centerpiece by far was the Francis Willard memorial window from the old Methodist Church. The PR paid off, as the hall was filled, and not just because I had 7 family members in attendance, there were about 30 other people there I'm not related to!

My talk itself centered on Shumaker (of course) but also on the 1908 election cycle, when Shumaker and Marshall first went head-to-head. It went well, the questions after I was done were great, as was the discussion I had (actually before as well as) after the talk with folks who were there. This included the grandson of the woman for whom that aforementioned memorial window had been dedicated (who also passed along that his grandfather had been saved at a revival in town and had taken the temperance pledge, which helped him land the aforementioned grandmother as his wife), the grandson of Attorney General Arthur Gilliom (whose father I had the honor to interview), a member of the ABC board for Whitley County, and a local oral historian who recently interviewed a man in the southern part of the county who told about a brewing operation that never closed when Prohibition became law, and was never shut down during Prohibition.

All in all, it was just a great time! I was very happy that Erin, Kate, and Nick got to watch me in action, and very pleased that my CC in-laws and my parents were in attendance to boot. I hope there are more days like this for the book, it was a very nice way to cap off the spring set of Shumaker talks.

Shumaker comes to Anderson

Today I took part in the 30th Annual Indiana Association of Historians conference. It was a snowy trip up to Anderson (where this year's conference was held), but well worth it. The conference was at Anderson University's "off site" MBA building (which is a partnership with Purdue). It was a nice place to hold a conference, and right off of I-69, so very easy to get in and out of (and probably a bit easier than going on to the Ravens' campus proper).

It was good to see some my IUPUI profs, who are now colleagues, as well as colleagues from Butler, as well as meet others from the University of Indianapolis and Anderson University (these were the Big 4 at the conference this year). I was part of a panel that looked at Religious History. A colleague from Butler gave a paper on the rise of the Methodists in Indiana, I talked about Shumaker (re-introducing him to the state), and a prof from Anderson talked about missionary activity in the Belgian Congo. It was a good panel, and of course we went long! The comments were good (though basically everything he questioned is in the book), and I got a question on Catholics and wine for the Eucharist. So, as professional presentations went, I thought it was good. We had a full room, which is always nice too! We'll see if that translates into any more book sales or not! In the meantime, I was asked to be part of a Peace and Justice panel at the end of March (but we'll have to see if that can happen or not).

Up next is taking Shumaker to Columbia City. There is a possible "road trip" to talk about Shumaker at NorthWood High School in Nappanee, but we'll see about that. And who knows, maybe something else will open up as well! In the meantime, I enjoyed my trip to A-Town and am thankful that my parents were able (and willing) to make the trek down to watch the kids so that I could.