Carrie Nation

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Hatchet, saloon-destroyer, prohibition, temperance

 

 

 

Illustration by Jimmy Grist www.jimmygrist.net
Illustration by Jimmy Grist
www.jimmygrist.net

 

Carry Nation, A self-proclaimed “bulldog running along at the feet of Jesus, barking at what he doesn’t like,” Carrie Amelia Nation (1884-1911) carved her way (literally) into American history by preaching the woes of alcohol. She believed it was her job to destroy bars with her hatchet throughout Kansas and Missouri in God’s name. She was arrested more than 30 times between 1900 and 1910 and would pay her arrest fines through selling souvenir hatchets.  During her “hatchetation” undertakings, Nation changed her name from Carrie to Carry and trademarked the term “Carry A Nation” toward prohibition as her slogan. Nation made her way to Kansas City in 1901 from Belton, Mo., (where she had resided for many years) and wreaked havoc down 12th Street in downtown destroying bars and every bottle of liquor she could get her hands on. After her arrest in Kansas City, a judge decided to suspend her $500 fine, which is almost $14,000 today, under the premise the Nation would never return to Kansas City again.  However, after writing an autobiography, Nation opened a shelter in Kansas City, Kan., with her earnings to help families of drunkards.