From 1920 to 1933, national Prohibition was the law of the land. There was perhaps no region more opposed to Prohibition than Baltimore and Maryland. The Free State was defiant in its protest, from thoroughly wet Governor Albert Ritchie to esteemed Catholic Cardinal James Gibbons. Speakeasies emerged at Frostburg's Gunter Hotel and at Baltimore's famed Belvedere Hotel, whose famous owls' blinking eyes would notify its patrons if it was safe to indulge in bootleg liquor. Rumrunners were frequent on the Chesapeake Bay as bootleggers populated the city streets. Jounalist H. L. Mencken drew national attention criticizing the new law.

In his new book, historian Michael Walsh provides an in-depth look at the Prohibition years in Baltimore. Walsh teaches at the Community College of Baltimore County and also serves as a grants and contracts manager at UMBC.

Book sales provided by the Ivy Bookshop.

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