Prohibition and Government Documents

One invaluable resource for your students’ National History Day 2012 projects is the database HeinOnline.  HeinOnline is a premier online research product with more than 70 million pages of legal history.  This online database is a fully-searchable, image based format.  HeinOnline provides online access to the Congressional Record Bound volumes in entirety, complete coverage of the U.S. Reports back to 1754, famous world trials dating back to the early 1700′s, legal classics from the 16th to the 20th centuries, the United Nations and League of Nations Treaty Series, all United States Treaties, the Federal Register from inception in 1936, the Code of Federal Regulations from inception in 1938, and much more.


HeinOnline provides exact page images of the documents in PDF format just as they appear in the original print – this includes all charts, graphs, tables, pictures, hand written notes, photographs, and footnotes – thus providing excellent primary sources. 

Using “prohibition” as the search term, our results list will contain various documents such as Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, Wickersham Commission Reports, and U.S. Attorney General Opinions.  Click the titles below to see examples: 

Challenge: Liquor and Lawlessness Versus Constitutional Govenment by William Gibbs McAdoo (1928).


Selected Articles on Prohibition, Modification of the Volstead Law by Lamar T. Beman (1924).

U.S. Wickersham Commission Reports. U.S. National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, Report on the Cost of Crime (1931)  (Includes a fascinating chart which tracks the cost of enforcing prohibition laws in the federal courts 1929 - 1930). 


These are only a few examples of the many documents and resources available through HeinOnline.  To access this database, start from GoWyld.net.  From here, access HeinOnline either through the alphabetical listing at the top of the page, or by selecting the Government Information link. Selecting HeinOnline from the list of databases will take you to the HeinOnline hompage.  Explore this fabulous resource for your each of your students’ History Day projects! 

NOTE: Only available in the State Library, State Law Library, and participating public libraries.  Check this list to see if you have access through your library.  

Agency Documents

Not only does the Wyoming State Library Federal Documents collection contain useful Congressional and Presidential documents, but also many publications by various federal agencies.  One example is the Social Security Board, which existed from 1935 to 1946. 

On August 14, 1935, against the backdrop of dark economic times of the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law The Social Security Act of 1935.  Upon the signing of the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935, a three-person Social Security Board was created to run the new program.  The Social Security Act was a revolutionary idea at the time of its inception and many found it very controversial.  Focusing on this revolutionary legislation and subsequent reaction and reform, might be a possible topic for your students.  Within the Wyoming State Library collection are a series of Informational Service Circulars published under the newly created Social Security Board.  These circulars include:

·         Call #: SS 1.4:1/8

A Brief Explanation of the Social Security Act – Informational Service Circular No. 1, 1938

·         Old-Age Insurance under the Social Security Act – Informational Service Circular No. 3, 1938

·         Call #: SS 1.4:6/4

Aid to Dependent Children under the Social Security Act – Informational Service Circular No. 6, 1937

·         Call #: SS1.4:4/7

Social Security: What and Why? – Informational Service Circular No. 7, 1936

·         Call #: SS 1.4:8/2

Public Assistance under the Social Security Act for The Needy Aged, The Needy Blind, Dependent Children – Informational Service Circular No. 8, 1938

What a terrific original source these and other agency materials might make for your students’ History Day projects!