"Bone Dry" Liquor Law of 1917
The Arkansas State Liquor Law of 1917, commonly called the "Bone Dry" Liquor Law of 1917, was a law passed in January 1917 that outlawed "the transportation, delivery, and storage of liquor, excepting only alcohols used for scientific, religious, and medical purposes." This law was a follow-up to the 1915 Newberry Act which outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcohol within state borders and to the 1913 Arkansas Law that made the entire state officially dry. The Governor of Arkansas at the time, Charles Brough, who served from 1917 to 1921, was a major supporter of the Act and the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The residents of Arkansas had been fighting to legislate the sale of alcohol since 1874 with much progress being made by the enacting of many dry counties within the state, in addition to the Newberry Act in 1915. However, many supporters of anti-prohibition volleyed to have their voices heard in the state as well. In 1913, the anti-prohibitionists claimed a small victory in that the Arkansas Liquor Law in 1913 still allowed saloons and bars to petition county courts for licenses, much like Arkansas bars and clubs today. The "Bone Dry" Law finally finished off the anti-prohibitionist ideas in Arkansas by attempting to completely eliminate the existence of alcohol in the state. The only victory left for them to claim was the a Supreme Court decision that the "Bone Dry" Law did not prevent individuals from bringing individuals from bringing alcohol within the state borders.
The full intention of the "Bone Dry" Liquor Law of 1917 was reached when in 1919 Arkansas ratified the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, making the purchase of alcohol nearly illegal in the entire United States.
Historians find an interesting fact with the Prohibition laws in Arkansas in that many of the successes could be attributed to prominent African-Americans in the state urging those African-Americans with the voting rights to vote to outlaw alcoholic substances in the state.
