Historians Do Booze: Exploring Prohibition’s Impact with Elizabeth Pearce and Sally Asher
Wed, June 5th at 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
In this program, food and drink historians Elizabeth Pearce and Sally Asher discuss prohibition, booze, and temperance. This discussion will highlight objects featured in Rebellious Spirits: Prohibition and Resistance in the South, which was curated by Laura Ochoa Rincon, Decorative Arts Trust Curatorial Fellow at the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Pearce and Asher will discuss why the temperance movement was successful, how individuals and communities of different races and socioeconomic statuses enjoyed spirits, and all the inventive ways that Southerners evaded prohibition laws in the 1920s.
After the talk, enjoy a Prohibition era-inspired cocktail flight, get a signed copy of Pearce’s Drink Dat New Orleans: A Guide to the Best Cocktail Bars, Neighborhood Pubs, and All-Night Dives, and tour the exhibition.
This event is free and open to the public. Advance registration is required.
Schedule
5:30–7 pm | Discussion and Q&A with Sally Asher and Elizabeth Pearce
7–8 pm | Cocktail hour and book signing
7:30 pm | Gallery talk with Laura Ochoa Rincon, Decorative Arts Trust Curatorial Fellow at NOMA
About the Exhibition
Rebellious Spirits: Prohibition and Resistance in the South explores the unique methods in which the South, in particular New Orleans, dealt with the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which banned alcohol in the United States.
About the Speakers
Laura Ochoa Rincon
Laura Ochoa Rincon is the Decorative Arts Trust Curatorial Fellow at the New Orleans Museum of Art. During her fellowship, Ochoa Rincon organized Rebellious Spirits: Prohibition and Resistance in the South, drawing on her interests in the history of food, politics, and class.
Sally Asher
Sally Asher is a New Orleans-based author and photographer. She has two master’s degrees from Tulane University in English and Liberal Arts (with a concentration in history). She is the author and photographer of Hope & New Orleans: A History of Crescent City Street Names and Stories from the St. Louis Cemeteries of New Orleans, photographer and co-author of 111 Places in New Orleans That You Must Not Miss, and author of the children’s books The Mermaids of New Orleans and The Mermaids’ Night Before Christmas. She also contributed chapters (and photographs) to two New Orleans tricentennial books: New Orleans: The First 300 Years and New Orleans & The World.
Her articles and fiction have appeared in over a dozen publications and she won the New Orleans Press award for best feature reporting for her article on Storyville. Asher’s photography has appeared in many local, national and international media outlets. Asher is the owner and operator of Red Sash Tours, President of Save Our Cemeteries, and is a member of the Arts Council of New Orleans and Press Club of New Orleans.
Elizabeth Pearce
Drinks historian Elizabeth Pearce is the founder of “Drink & Learn,” through which she offers cocktail tours, virtual happy hours, and classes, sharing New Orleans and American history through drinks. She is the host of the “Drink & Learn” podcast, the author of the book Drink Dat New Orleans, the co-author of the French Quarter Drinking Companion, and the monthly cocktail columnist for New Orleans Magazine. She is also an educator for the Sazerac Liquor Company, and in 2017 was named a “Person to Watch” by New Orleans Magazine. Prior to creating “Drink & Learn,” Pearce was the founding Senior Curator of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum and was responsible for creating its early exhibits including Toast of New Orleans: The Drinks of the City. Her exhibit Restaurant Restorative, commissioned by the James Beard Awards, honored the role New Orleans restaurants played in the city’s recovery following Hurricane Katrina.