Downriver Prohibition: Its People and Perspectives

To many ordinary Downriver Detroit, Monroe, Toledo, and across the Detroit River in Canada residents, Prohibition didn't mean the Purple Gang and criminal activity. Many Downriver residents needed bootlegging and rumrunning money to survive the Depression. To others smuggling liquor meant adventure, and to some, defying the Prohibition law meant showing the government their opinion of what they considered an unjust and intrusive law. Here are some of their stories.