Erwin Library – Wayne Community College | Goldsboro, NC

Now that the nights have become much cooler, even shivery, prepare yourself for spooky stories when you join us for Children’s Storytime in the Erwin Library on Wednesday, October 23^rd from 9:00-10:00 a.m.  Don’t worry, though; our ghosts and ghouls are a lot more silly than scary!

Politics always keeps life interesting, and this October we in the United States are reminded that it is a century since one of our most controversial political decisions became law, the Volstead Act, formally the National Prohibition Act. “By its terms, the Eighteenth Amendment prohibited “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquours” but not the consumption, private possession, or production for one’s own consumption … To define the prohibitory terms of the Amendment, Congress passed the National Prohibition Act, better known as the Volstead Act, on October 28, 1919. The Volstead Act charged the U.S. Treasury Department with enforcement of the new restrictions, and defined which “intoxicating liquours” were forbidden and which were excluded from Prohibition (for example, alcoholic beverages used for medical and religious purposes). President Woodrow Wilson vetoed the bill, but the House of Representatives overrode the veto, and the Senate did so as well the next day. The Volstead Act set the starting date for nationwide prohibition for January 17, 1920, which was the earliest day allowed by the Eighteenth Amendment.”

Prohibition was initially inspired by the Temperance movement, but support took on racist and anti-immigration elements, since consumption of wine and liquor was clearly identified with groups such as Germans, Jews, as well as Irish and Italian Catholics. These cultures were rightly offended by the prohibitions. Occurring during an already adventurous and very prosperous era in the U.S. known as the “Roaring Twenties” Prohibition became a focus of rebellion and probably more illegal spirits were sought out as a thrill, often with tragic consequences, than might have been without the ban.

Even the country’s House of Representatives had its own rebels and illegal liquor providers. As mobs and gangsters got into the manufacture, import and distribution of alcohol, the crime rate finally persuaded the public in 1933 to enact the Twenty-first Amendment, to repeal, that is effectively cancelling out the Eighteenth Amendment. States now individually decide on how to manage the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages, such as those having (ABC) Alcoholic Beverage Control stores, as in North Carolina.

Books currently on display in the Erwin Library Circulation Desk area will provide more reading about Prohibition and its effects on U.S. culture. As always, all of these books are available for you to check out.

So, you’ve been working hard all semester, and Fall Break is just in view.  So what’s next?!  It’s frighten up time, that’s right, Halloween.  “Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated each year on October 31, and Halloween 2019 occurs on Thursday, October 31. It originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints; soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween.”

“Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, festive gatherings, donning costumes and eating sweet treats.”  Thus, as humans will, we simplify any serious observation down to a time for fun and food.

Books on display, and ready for you to check out, are now in the library’s Reference exhibit area covering ghosts, witches, ghouls, and anything else you can think of for Halloween, even recipes for such classics as Kitty litter cake (no, it just looks like kitty litter; however I will never be able to eat another Tootsie roll without remembering …)

What did WCC students do in 1972? How about those hairdos .. and that’s the faculty! You’ll see it was a slightly different world, but still Goldsboro and still our school as you flip through thirteen newly digitized WCC Yearbooks (Yearbooks link) published between 1964 and 1985, now part of the WCC Historical Archives. You’ll also find the WCC Campus Voice newspaper (See: Newspapers) published between 1968 and 2008, and the WCC Renaissance literary magazine (See: Campus Publications) for 1985 through the present.