If Mabel Had Worn Trousers

The Preamble

Sharon McMahon

Government, History, Storytelling, Education

4.9 • 15.1K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2023

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today, we’re going to meet the most powerful woman in America during the Prohibition era. Mabel Walker Willebrandt was the Assistant Attorney General and it was her job to enforce the 18th amendment and prosecute those who flouted the new laws of Prohibition. With a boss that didn’t think she’d succeed and a lazy department who didn’t want to work for a woman, Mabel went after some of the most notorious names in bootlegging… and won.

Hosted by: Sharon McMahon

Executive Producer: Heather Jackson

Audio Producer: Jenny Snyder

Written and researched by: Heather Jackson, Valerie Hoback, Amy Watkin, and Mandy Reid

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello friends, welcome!
0:06.1	So glad to have you joining me today for episode 3 of our new series about Prohibition,
0:12.2	what a fascinating time in history.
0:16.9	When 32-year-old Mabel Walker Willoughbrand arrived in Washington DC in 1921, she met with
0:23.1	President Warren G. Harding.
0:25.1	And they made an impressive duo.
0:26.8	Everything was tall and charming, and Mabel was bright-eyed and confident.
0:31.9	Together they sat and talked quietly for a while and at the end of the conversation.
0:37.5	President Harding looked at Mabel sternly and said,
0:41.0	I see only one thing against you.
0:44.3	Your youth.
0:46.8	Mabel calmly replied to him,
0:49.2	I promise to outgrow it, Mr. President.
0:54.2	I'm Sharon McBam.
0:55.9	And here's where it gets interesting.
0:59.8	Mabel got the job.
1:01.6	She had officially been appointed as the US Assistant Attorney General, or basically the chief
1:07.3	legal enforcer of Prohibition, the sobriety czar of the entire United States.
1:13.9	At the time she was the most powerful woman in America, and the most famous woman who
1:19.2	was in a movie star.
1:21.1	The New York Times called her one of the keenest legal minds in the United States.
1:28.1	In the census of 1920, there were under 2000 women in the US categorized under lawyers,
	...

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