Dear Editor: What Do Local
Editorials Reveal About Public Opinion On Prohibition?
Jacob Bretz
Summer Fellowship Lesson
2008
Champaign County Historical Archives
To download this lesson in PDF format, click here.
Abstract: In
this lesson students will learn about various punishments local violators of
the Volstead Act received as well as the many challenges local law enforcement
officials faced when attempting to crack down on Prohibition violators. Tactics
used by local police will also be studied in this lesson.
Essential
Questions/Enduring Understandings:
·
What were some average
punishments for violating Prohibition laws?
·
How were law enforcement
officials challenged in their attempts to crack down on production, sale, and
consumption of illegal liquor?
·
What types of tactics
did local law enforcement use to counteract the challenges they faced enforcing
the prohibition of alcohol?
Assessment: Students
will complete a Prisoner’s Record Graphic Organizer Worksheet based on their
examination of actual prisoner records from Champaign County Sherriff’s Office
during the Prohibition Era and answer questions regarding an article about the
local county sheriff’s attempt to infiltrate local bootlegging rings.
Setting the Purpose: Students
will use this lesson to build critical thinking skills through the examination
of actual prisoner records. The records subtly convey a wealth of information
and allow numerous historical inferences to be made about the relation between
law enforcement and local citizens who violated prohibition laws.
Duration: Two
days
Procedure:
Day 1
·
Pass out the Prohibition
Law Warm-Up Worksheet and give students 10 minutes to complete it on their own.
·
Reconvene as a class and
discuss student answers with a focus on the following issues.
o
Comparisons
between prohibition which was largely ignored and laws or school rules which
are largely ignored.
o
What
students believe to be proper punishment for various liquor violations and why?
o
Parallels
between prohibition laws and similar laws today that affect society as a whole.
·
After discussing student
responses to the warm-up activity collect each student’s paper and give credit
at your discretion, I will give students a small amount of credit for
completeness and visible effort on the activity.
·
Let students break into
partners and distribute a copy of prisoner records from the Champaign County
Sherriff’s Office 1924-1925 along with the Prisoner Records Worksheet and go
over directions as a class.
·
For the rest of the
class period allow students to work on the Prisoner Records Worksheet in
partners while you circulate around the class providing direction and guidance.
o
This
is designed to get students to think critically on their own so be judicious in
how specifically you steer students toward the answers. The questions are also
designed to allow for a variety of answers.
Day 2
Depending
on the time constraints for your specific class allow students a small amount
of time to finish their Prisoner Records Worksheet or begin class by going over
the activity.
·
After students have
completed the Prisoner Records Worksheet go around collect one assignment from
each partner group. The collected activity will be graded and the activity left
with the partner groups will be used for students to look at while sharing
answers with the class.
·
Go over the Prisoner
Records Worksheet as a class.
·
After going over the
activity reconvene as a class, write the world (infiltrate) on the board, and
discuss what the word means.
·
Then ask students what
the world infiltrate might have to do with law enforcement, specifically law
enforcement regarding Prohibition.
·
Then ask students to
share examples of modern day cinema such as movies and television shows where
infiltration is demonstrated in regards to law enforcement.
o
You
may want to come up with some examples on your own and show clips or pictures at
your discretion.
§
Examples: (Jack Bauer
from 24, James Bond)
·
After discussing the
idea of infiltration pass out the Concerning Mr. Gray Worksheet and have
students answer the first questions by themselves. When students are done (2-3
minutes) ask a few of them to share their answers.
·
Then distribute the Daily Illini Article entitled Concerning
Mr. Gray and have students read the article silently and answer the
questions by themselves.
·
With about 5-10 minutes
left in class collect the Concerning Mr. Gray Worksheet and then discuss the
various challenges that local law enforcement did face when attempting to crack
down on illegal liquor; use the Concerning Mr. Gray Worksheet as a guide.