Prohibition Descends on Washington, D.C.

• The Atlanta Georgian, 1917 •

It was mandated by the Founding Fathers that Washington, D.C., have no mayor, no city council and no say whatever as to the goings on in Congress; the city was lorded over by the President and a Congressional committee - and that is how Prohibition came to that burg. With the flick of his wrist, President Wilson signed the Sheppard Bill, that declared that after November 1, 1918 all alcohol would be prohibited within the District of Columbia.

Washington memoirs like The War-Whirl in Washington have documented that Washington bars and saloons, having been forced out of business, filled their spaces with cots in order to house the itinerant military contractors.

two from Amazon: The War-Whirl in Washington(1918)