Carry A. Nation - Part 9
The Famous and Original Bar Room Smasher
Temperance Timeline
1851
Maine is the first state in the country to pass prohibition.
1855
Women in Lawrence, Kansas, smash a saloon in one of the earliest recorded acts of violence against such establishments.
1874
Woman's Christian Temperance Union founded in Cleveland, Ohio.
1881
Kansas outlaws the manufacture and sale of alcohol through a constitutional amendment.
Summer 1899
Carry Nation and Mrs. Wesley Cain raid Mart Strong's joint in Medicine Lodge.
February 16, 1900
Carry Nation and others raid the pharmacy of O.L. Day in Medicine Lodge.
June 6, 1900
Inspired by a dream, Carry Nation travels alone to Kiowa and smashes several joints.
December 27, 1900
Carry Nation smashes the Hotel Carey saloon in Wichita. It was in Wichita that Nation and the hatchet first came together.
January 21, 1901
Two more Wichita saloons are wrecked by Carry Nation.
January 23, 1901
After destroying a joint in Enterprise, Carry Nation is attacked by the jointist's wife and other women.
January 26, 1901
Carry Nation arrives in the capital city of Topeka.
February 5, 1901
Carry Nation destroys Topeka's Senate Saloon, a favorite of Kansas legislators. Other prohibitionists are active at Harper, Hollenberg, and Winfield.
February 7, 1901
Carry Nation addresses both houses of the Kansas legislature.
February 9, 1901
Citizens smash joints in Holton.
February 12, 1901
Kansas State Temperance Union and the Women's Christian Temperance Union urge uprisings against saloons. 600 people sign resolutions to close the joints in Wichita.
February 13, 1901
Citizens take action against saloons in Osage City, Coffeyville, Smith Center, Solomon, Goff, Winfield, Arkansas City, Sterling, Garden City, Wellington, Perry, and Paola.
February 17, 1901
Carry Nation and 500 followers destroy seven joints and a cold storage house in Topeka.
February 18-23, 1901
Citizens act against saloons in Leavenworth, Hutchinson, Lawrence, Herington, Silver Lake, Eureka, Millwood, Garden Plain, Chanute, Scott City, Junction City, Fort Scott, and Marshall County.
March 12, 1901
Carry Nation announces she will no longer smash joints but will wage war through her paper, The Smasher's Mail.
1919
National prohibition amendment is passed.
1933
United States repeals prohibition amendment.
1948
Kansas repeals statewide prohibition.
Carry A. Nation is an online exhibit developed by the Kansas Museum of History.
- How Well Do You Know Carry Nation? - Fun quiz.
- Hatchetations and Home Defenders - Why reformers smashed saloons.
- Paying the Bills - Selling hatchet pins, buttons, and newsletters.
- Taking on the Role of Crusader - Personal tragedies in Nation's life.
- Other Crusades - Women's health, woman suffrage, and anti-smoking.
- An International Figure - People all over the world followed Nation's work.
- She Hath Done What She Could - Final days in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
- An American Icon - Carry Nation is a household name today.
- Temperance Timeline - Timeline of alcohol reform.
Contact us at kshs.kansasmuseum@ks.gov
