Nation, Carry Amelia Moore (1846-1911), was an American activist known for her militant efforts to stop the sale of alcoholic liquors. She was arrested often, and some people considered her intolerant. However, she impressed many with her sincerity, courage, and strong beliefs. She carried the temperance movement from the level of education to that of action. She helped bring on national prohibition, which was adopted in 1919, after her death (see Prohibition ).
Carrie Amelia Moore was born on Nov. 25, 1846, in Garrard County, Kentucky. In 1867, she married Charles Gloyd, a physician suffering from alcoholism who died in 1869. In the following years, she taught in schools and ran a hotel. From 1877 to 1901, she was married to David Nation, a lawyer and minister. During this time, her strong religious interests intensified, and she began to see visions. In 1903, she officially changed the spelling of her first name to Carry, noting that, combined with her middle initial and married last name, it meant “Carry a Nation for Prohibition.”
The Nations moved to Kansas in 1889. In 1880, a state law had banned liquor sales there, but the law was not enforced. Carry Nation began in 1890 to pray outside saloons. Later she began to violently destroy them. A tall and strong woman, she did much damage, first with stones and other implements, and later with hatchets. She closed the saloons of her own town, Medicine Lodge, and destroyed saloons in other Kansas cities. She was arrested several times, usually for disturbing the peace.
Nation was an eloquent speaker, and she lectured frequently in support of her cause. She sometimes sold miniature hatchets inscribed with the words Carry Nation, Joint Smasher. She brought publicity to the temperance movement and supported the temperance work of others. Nation died on June 9, 1911.
