Monthly Archives: October 2011

John Carter Brown Library: Drugs from the Colonies– the New American Medicine Chest

Posted on October 31, 2011 by

Last week, just moments after Matt Crawford posted his guest blog on Doing Early Modern Drugs,  Points got word of a fantastic new exhibit at the John Carter Brown Library in Providence, R.I. that speaks directly to some of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Trysh Travis | Tagged , ,

“Stars Don’t Fall”: Felicia G., Marty Mann, and Other Women of the Early Alcoholics Anonymous Movement, Part II

Posted on October 28, 2011 by

Editor’s note: We’re pleased to present the second part of Amanda Smith’s three-part series: “‘Stars Don’t Fall’: Felicia G., Marty Mann, and Other Women of the Early Alcoholics Anonymous Movement.”  New readers may wish to check out Part One first.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Bloggers | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Doing Early Modern Drugs

Posted on October 27, 2011 by

Editor’s Note: Points today welcomes the first in a series of guest posts by Matthew Crawford, Assistant Professor of the History of Science and Technology at Kent State University.  A historian of the early modern Atlantic World, he is at … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Bloggers | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

“Stars Don’t Fall”: Felicia G., Marty Mann, and Other Women of the Early Alcoholics Anonymous Movement, Part I

Posted on October 26, 2011 by

Editor’s Note: We’re pleased to bring Points readers a short series of posts from Amanda Smith, author of the recently-released Newspaper Titan: The Infamous Life and Monumental Times of Cissy Patterson (Knopf, 2011).  This historical exploration of the life of … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Bloggers | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Ken Burns and Me– Charles Ambler’s Brief Career as a Talking Head

Posted on October 25, 2011 by

Let me admit it up front.  It was an indirect connection.  My local public TV station in El Paso, KCOS, decided to produce a short piece on “Prohibition on the Border” that would be tacked on to the third segment … Continue reading →

Posted in Charles Ambler | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Washington State’s Prop. 1183: The Iowa Dustup and Trends Thereafter

Posted on October 24, 2011 by

This is the second of two Points posts on Prop. 1183; the first is here. Arguably the best available historical evidence on the consumption effects following a U.S. state’s privatization of distilled spirits sales derives from Iowa’s experience in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Ron Roizen | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

From the Hindsfoot Foundation: AA History Resources

Posted on October 24, 2011 by

Editor’s Note: Points readers who enjoyed Ernie Kurtz’s post of a few weeks back, which talked about the challenges and subtleties of “AA History,” may be interested in the following announcement from Glenn Chesnut, moderator of the AA History Lovers … Continue reading →

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Freaky Friday: Exploring the “Secrets Mushroomic”: R. Gordon Wasson in Mexico

Posted on October 21, 2011 by

Editor’s Note: Today’s Freaky Friday brings Points readers the insights of Tace Hedrick, Associate Professor of English and Women’s Studies at the University of Florida and a specialist in 20th-century Latin American literature and culture.  Having written previously on Mestizo … Continue reading →

Posted in Freaky Friday, Guest Bloggers | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

“Drunken Orgy” and the Perils of Social Climbing, 1909 Style

Posted on October 20, 2011 by

So there I was in the back room of a small local history museum in North Dakota, watching the frail-looking director heft large bound volumes of early-twentieth-century newspapers on and off the shelf.  My friend and I were on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Michelle McClellan | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Bummer: Barack Obama Turns Out to be Just Another Drug Warrior

Posted on October 19, 2011 by

Editor’s Note: When asked to characterize the “politics” of Points, it’s become my habit to describe our collective vibe as “Left-Libertarian.”  The term may sound like an oxymoron in this moment of Tea Party ascendancy, but as I noted last … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-postings | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments