About the Cover
Cover. Historian Jack Blocker suggests that Prohibition was a partly successful public health innovation that actually lowered per-capita alcohol consumption levels, though the dismantling of the American liquor industry also created significant economic hardships and fostered an extensive organized crime network. By showing that alcohol-related health concerns were shaped by multiple agendas for social change in the Prohibition era, Blocker illustrates the importance of accounting for historical context when assessing the successes and failures of public health innovations. The confluence of issues is evident in the century of temperance movements that preceded the 1918 ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment, which established Prohibition. These movements drew together a variety of discourses to make their arguments and persuade others to join their cause. In this image, one of thousands of similar illustrations from the period, a young White woman-the era's prevailing symbol of good health and virtue, here dressed as a crusader and wielding the shield of nationalism-leads the attack against the evils of alcohol. Her aggressive charge captures the strident, righteous, and rousing character of these movements and helps explain how they grew into a popular movement that mobilized moral vision, public health advocacy, and national institutions in the service of a "holy war."
Originally published in New York by Currier & Ives, circa 1874. Artist unknown.
Cover concept and selection by Aleisha Kropf and Robert Sember.
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Copyright © 2006 by the American Public Health Association
