A&E Television (an American cable network) will broadcast a new 3 hour program on American prohibition. Among the consultants for this program were David Kyvig, John C. Burnham, and Austin Kerr. The world premiere is July 17 at 8 p.m. EDT. What follows is the press release from their web site: PROHIBITION: THIRTEEN YEARS THAT CHANGED AMERICA At the stroke of midnight on January 16, 1920, America went dry - by decree of the 18th Amendment. A three-hour World Premiere, A&E SPECIAL PRESENTATION: PROHIBITION: THIRTEEN YEARS THAT CHANGED AMERICA presents a remarkable study of the "dry" years. Years that are represented in popular culture by flappers and flivvers, parties and speakeasies, gangsters, G-men and the Jazz Age. Today, prohibition is shrugged off as either a colorful aberration or a categorical failure. In fact, it was neither. The legislation that turned America dry was supported by more than 80 percent of Congress and ratified by no fewer than 90 percent of the states. It was enacted as a result of a campaign that lasted the better part of a century. It succeeded in reducing alcohol consumption in the U.S. by two thirds, and its adoption heralded one of the most affluent periods of American history. Backed by new research, A&E SPECIAL PRESENTATION:PROHIBITION: THIRTEEN YEARS THAT CHANGED AMERICA tells why the 18th Amendment was doomed from the start - how the righteous rejoiced, and the gangster flourished. How the craving for alcohol turned honest citizens into bootleggers, and criminals into millionaire celebrities. For thirteen years, corruption seeped into America's institutions, from the police right up to the White House, forever changing the country's morals and attitudes toward law enforcers, politicians, authority, and woman's roles in society. The scenes include the single-handed axing of saloons by the head of a Kansas knitting circle; the infamous St. Valentine's day massacre; the haunts of Al Capone; the White House where the president who introduced the law remained a hardened drinker; and the Congress that kept its own still in the Senate Library. This A&E SPECIAL PRESENTATION:PROHIBITION: THIRTEEN YEARS THAT CHANGED AMERICA is an enthralling and little-known true story, told by eye-witnesses who ran the speakeasies, ran the rum, bought the cops, defended Capone and were the first on the scene after the St. Valentine's Day massacre. The memories are as sharp today as if the events they report happened only yesterday. It's a program that could change America's perception of those thirteen dry years. What did they mean to the nation then and what can they teach us today? Check out our Special on PROHIBITION: THIRTEEN YEARS THAT CHANGED AMERICA in this website. PREMIERE:July 27 at 8pm/12am ET (5pm/9pm PT) REPEAT DATE: August 2 at 9pm/1am ET (6pm/10pm PT) LENGTH: 3 hour NARRATOR: Ed Asner PRODUCED BY: Atlantic Productions for BBC Wales and A&E Network **NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE [TV PG] © 1997 A&E Television Networks. Please use this form to submit your comments. Site designed and maintained by InterActive8 K. Austin Kerr e-mail [log in to unmask] Professor of History office (614)292-2613 Ohio State University department 292-2674 Columbus, Ohio 43210 USA fax (614)292-2282