Hello, NARA nation! My name is Bruce Bustard
and I'm a senior curator here at National Archives in Washington DC
I'm standing out in front of the entrance to the Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallery
and we're about to take a walking tour of our newest exhibition
Spirited Republic: Alcohol in American History
Spirited Republic
Alcohol in American History is about the love-hate relationship that Americans
have with alcohol. It's an exhibit
that deals with the changing attitudes
of the American people about alcohol and also looks at that through the records
of the National Archives and our Presidential Libraries
we're standing here at the entrance of the exhibition
and when a visitor first comes into the gallery he or she encounters
what we've been calling our tower of jugs
and sees the question: "how much did we drink?"
and this represents the amount of alcohol that was consumed by Americans at a
particular time in our history
and so for example in 1830 we see that
Americans consumed the astounding amount of about 7.1 gallons
of alcohol per person per year. There are four sections in Spirited Republic. I'm
standing in front of the first section which is entitled "Good Creature of God"
this section emphasizes some of the positive associations
that americans have had with alcohol and the role
of the federal government in some of the early part of American history
this section also contains some
beautiful patent drawings and label for example we have in 1864
lithograph that went on the end of a whiskey barrel
the second section of the exhibit
is called Demonizing Drink, and that deals with the
rise to the temperance and prohibition movement and some of the
less positive associations that Americans have made with alcohol
for our history
one of the most unique items that we have
in the Demonizing Drink section is
this 1843 petition that protests
the spirit ration in the United States Navy. This petition
is over 10 feet long and contains almost 400 signatures
The Sober Nation
section of the exhibition deals with the Prohibition era in American history
how the government tried to enforce
prohibition. It also displays
some credentials from prohibition agents. Displays the 18th amendment
to the United States and it shows the different ways that people tried to get
around prohibition
as well as be growing movement to repeal the 18th amendment
we have four audio-visual stations
in the exhibition this one deals with
the prohibition-era and it shows film of
prohibition agents raiding bars and
smashing beer barrels and bottles. The audio-visual stations
in Spirited Republic our motion activated and they also contain
sound domes which more clearly focus the sound so that visitors can listen to
the film. [from film: "outlawing all alcoholic liquor"]
So I'm gonna walk in closer to the
AV station you'll notice that the sound kicks in as I come close to it
the Conditional Acceptance section of the exhibition
deals with more recent developments in the history of alcohol
in our country like how prohibition ended
and how businesses ramped up
to meet the new demand for alcohol
in post-prohibition America. For example we have a display
of 30 alcohol labels from our records of the Patent and Trademark Office
that are a variety of different beers
wines and spirit. This part of the exhibition
highlights documents and artifacts
such as a prototype for
what would become a breathalyzer which is called a "drunkometer"
the federal government has
used its public relations ability to
warn about the dangers of alcohol
whether that would be fetal alcohol syndrome or alcoholism
we also have public service announcements warning about the
dangers of alcohol abuse
and drunken driving. [from film: "there's one Shaq you'll never see
and that's Shaq the drunk driver. That's because I know drinking and driving
don't mix. So if you drink, don't drive."]
just before we leave the gallery we have a display
of gifts and other artifacts that have been used by
presidents in the more recent period
and we also have a video that emphasizes
presidential toasts and the importance that
toasting plays in diplomacy.
we have several artifacts on display from our Presidential Libraries
for example here's a cocktail set that was used by President Franklin
Roosevelt when he was governor of New York during Prohibition
and also when he was president we also have on display
some gifts the president's receive for example
a decanter that was given to President Reagan during his trip to Ireland
and also a cask with a cassock riding
on top of it that was given to President Clinton and
the glasses that were used by President Ford and Secretary-General Brezhnev
as they toasted the Helsinki Agreements.
Alcohol is for better for worse something that has helped
shape the course of American history and
and has been an important part of our
political and social life
thanks for coming along on this virtual tour of Spirited
Republic. I hope you can come to Washington DC and make it person
[music]