Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2021/Spring/105i/Section 24/Mary Miller

Overview
Mary Miller was an African American woman born on a farm about twelve miles away from Asheville, North Carolina. She was a female bootlegger during the Great Depression. Miller was interviewed by the Federal Writers Project on February 9, 1939, in Asheville, North Carolina.

Early Life
Miller was born on a farm near Asheville, North Carolina at an unknown date. She grew up on the farm with her parents and seven siblings. Miller and her siblings all tended the farm with their father. Miller's father was a former sharecropper who eventually saved up enough money to buy his own farm directly outside of the town of Asheville. He sold crops to the white families in town, and in the winter would sell wood when the crops would die out. She continued to help on her family’s farm until she got married at the age of 16, and had one daughter.

Later Life
Miller's husband died circa 1900, and she became employed as a maid with a white family in town. Her daughter had a son and shortly thereafter died, so Miller took in her grandson until he also died a few years later. She eventually became the family's cook as well as their maid, cooking for several families throughout the years. While working for the Holt family, Miller states that they would fetch her to get the alcohol quite often. Prohibition was a practice that was in place in North Carolina, which made the production and consumption of alcohol illegal, so Miller's job would be to get the alcohol for the Holts since they were not keen on getting caught by law enforcement. Soon after this, Miller discovered a way to buy the liquor in bulk, and sold it to the Holts for a profit she was able to keep herself. She then realized with the profits she was making she could quit her job as a cook and move into her own house to begin bootlegging as her career. She learned how to craft her own liquor and sold it to families as well as selling it out of her house. After World War I, Miller moved into a nice home in a black community in Asheville. In her home, Miller continued to sell liquor, building a loyal clientele of white men from all backgrounds, refusing to serve most black men, as she claimed they "had a smell that lingered" when she saw them. When the interview took place, she had already turned 65 years old. Miller's date and location of death are unknown.

Prohibition in North Carolina
Before the Prohibition Era began, North Carolina had already put restrictions on alcoholic beverages. On May 26, 1908, the voters in the state passed a prohibition on the selling of alcoholic beverages across the state. North Carolina was the first state to do so, and much of the state approved this measure. There had been regulations in place since the early 18th century, but the temperance movement sped up the addition of more strict rules. Since North Carolina was one of the first states to put laws in place about temperance, individuals would go to Virginia or South Carolina to get ahold of alcohol.

Leading up to the Prohibition Era, waves of religious revivalism occurred, which called for temperance as well as the support of the abolitionist movement. Women also had a pivotal role in the temperance movement, as alcohol was seen as a reason many marriages turned bad.

On January 16, 1919, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It officially went into effect in early 1920 with the passage of the Volstead Act. This amendment stated that the sale and manufacturing of liquor was illegal, and deemed it a federal crime. This led to network chains of individuals selling alcohol illegally called bootleggers developing in every one of the 50 states. The agreement that Prohibition was necessary died down, leading to the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the passing of the 21st Amendment in 1933. Despite the repeal, North Carolina was one of only two states that refused to ratify the repeal. It was not until 1937 when the Alcohol Beverage Control was established in many North Carolina counties that most of the state began to sell alcohol again, still with a system in place.

Bootlegging
Prohibition and its rules failed due to Americans who did not quit drinking after the 18th Amendment was ratified, and was increased by the process of bootlegging. Bootlegging involved the making, selling, and transporting of numerous types of liquor without proper or legal registration. This illegal activity went on throughout most of the decade, working alongside businesses like speakeasies, where illegal liquor would be sold out of an establishment. Individuals would also smuggle alcohol across state lines and make liquor out of their homes to sell. The lawlessness that occurred during Prohibition made bootlegging an always present occurrence. With liquor being illegal, organized crime ran rampant everywhere. Bootlegging operations varied in size, from middlemen and suppliers to the kings of the industry such as George Remus and Al Capone. Mob bosses such as Capone were able to make millions off of bootlegging and speakeasies. As Prohibition continued, violations of the law became increasingly worse. The illegal activity was not actively stopped by law enforcement, who often were bribed to stay silent by the mob bosses and mafia.

Eventually, due to high prices on liquor as well as increased costs for amenities like prisons, support for Prohibition began to wane by the end of the 1920s. Many of the original people who supported Prohibition to start with had now changed their opinions after seeing the rise in criminal activity and gang violence. The 21st Amendment was passed in early 1933 and was ratified by all states except North and South Carolina, and took effect in late 1933.