Today local historian Dr. William P. Marchione, Ph.D. presented
a slide show and lecture on the history of Temperance and Prohibition in the
Cobb County area. Georgia was the very first state to embrace prohibition in
the 20th century, doing so in 1908 a decade ahead of the 18th amendment; and
Cobb County strongly supported the initiative.
This lecture examined the
interplay of cultural, economic, religious, and political forces that made the
anti-liquor crusade the most sustained controversy in the area's political
history. Dr. Marchione also discussed bootlegging and speakeasy operations in
the area. This is a topic that has been largely neglected by Cobb County
historians. Additionally, he offered possible explanations as to why this
topic has received such scant attention.
The First Sunday Lecture series is sponsored by the Friends
of Smyrna Library and Smyrna Library.
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