From Illegal Liquor Stills to Legal Christmas Cheer

By Thomas F. Schwartz Prohibition kept law enforcement officials busy busting wooden barrels of illegal spirits and confiscating copper vats and tubing from illegal stills.  The District of Columbia decided to put the confiscated property to good use and sent the copper to occupational therapy instructors at Walter Reed Hospital.  Here the materials were given … Continue reading From Illegal Liquor Stills to Legal Christmas Cheer

Jonathan Eig, author of Get Capone, Speaking at the Hoover Museum

New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Eig will be discussing his book, Get Capone, at the Hoover Presidential Library-Museum on August 20, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. Get Capone draws on thousands of pages of recently discovered government documents, wiretap transcripts, and Al Capone’s handwritten personal letters. Jonathan Eig, New York Times bestselling author, tells the dramatic … Continue reading Jonathan Eig, author of Get Capone, Speaking at the Hoover Museum

“The First Lady of the Law”

– Mabel Walker Willebrandt by Spencer Howard For much of the Prohibition Era (1920-1933), the most prominent Prohibition enforcement official was also the highest ranking woman in three presidential administrations -- Assistant Attorney General Mabel Walker Willebrandt.  Appointed by President Harding in 1921, Willebrandt prosecuted Prohibition cases and tax fraud, and oversaw Federal prisons.  In … Continue reading “The First Lady of the Law”