Join Iowa historical fiction writer Ann Hanigan Kotz for “Iowa’s Prohibition & Bootlegging Legacy” at the Ackley Public Library, an engaging journey through the eight times the state of Iowa limited or banned alcohol and the determined Iowans who made it happen.

Ann begins with a sweeping overview of Iowa’s complicated relationship with alcohol before plunging into the dramatic stories that defined the era: the tarring of an official by the Iowa City Beer Mafia, the shocking murder of a pastor in Sioux City, and the rumrunning operations that made Templeton infamous for its rye whiskey. Along the way, you’ll gain insight into why Iowa became a whiskey making powerhouse during Prohibition and learn the how and where behind the state’s thriving illegal enterprise.

Ann concludes by connecting past to present, exploring the modern echoes of today’s underground whiskey scene.