Carry Nation papers

Wielding bricks, hammers, and hatchets, Carry Nation and her brigade of prohibitionist “smashers” attacked illegal saloons in an effort to build a movement against such "joints." In Kiowa, Wichita, and Topeka (Kansas), Nation and her followers smashed saloon mirrors, windows, bars, and bottles and forced state and local leaders to confront anti-liquor laws that had been ignored for decades. But the force of her words could be just as blunt. Like the blow of a hatchet, Nation’s unequivocal demands broke through gender stereotypes and smashed traditional notions of public decency. Her fight to enforce prohibition would ultimately foretell the importance of women’s suffrage in electoral politics. The Carry Nation papers are now available on Kansas Memory.

Nation’s demands were often aimed at politicians. Jailed in Wichita in 1900, Nation wrote Kansas Governor William Stanley demanding he “please come at once” and claiming that she was “restrianned [sic] unlawfully of my liberty.” From a Topeka jail in 1901, she similarly wrote the Kansas attorney general stating “Now you come to see me. We have plenty of evidence against the Moser brothers.” And on a visit to Governor Stanley’s office, Nation’s forcefulness led Stanley to retort "You are a woman. But a woman must know a woman's place. They can't come in here and raise this kind of disturbance."

But if Nation’s public words reflect her saloon “smashing,” her private words reveal a thoughtful inner life. The Carrie Nation papers on Kansas Memory include considerable private correspondence between Nation, her family, and her supporters. A partial diary also reveals her inner thoughts, concerns, and economic and family challenges that partially motivated her public campaign against the saloon.

See the category People - Notable Kansans - Nation, Carry Amelia,1846-1911 on Kansas Memory for additional sources. For more information on prohibition in Kansas, see the category Government and Politics - Reform and Protest - Prohibition and temperance.