Researching the African-American involvement in the Bourbon industry before Prohibition is difficult at best. There are not a lot of written sources as enslaved people did not get mentioned much in business documents and if they are mentioned it is only as a slave. After the Civil War recognition of the African-American contributions to the industry did not get much better. However there has to be an oral history of their involvement amongst the families of those who did work in the industry and I would encourage anyone with such stories to share them with a local oral history program. African-Americans made significant contributions to the distilling industry, though much of this history is yet to be discovered.
Here is what I do know. The Filson Historical Society does have a few documents about involvement of enslaved people in the industry. One such document is a distillery ledger that records the rental of enslaved people. The ledger does not mention any names nor what they were rented to do for the person renting them. However, it is known that many enslaved people were skilled coopers and distillers. For example another document in The Filson’s collection is a newspaper containing an advertisement describing a runaway slave from Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage Plantation where he is described as being a talented distiller. And, of course, it is documented that Jack Daniel learned to distill from a former slave, Nearest Green.
It is quite likely that some of the distilling families of ante-bellum Kentucky owned enslaved people and they would likely to have been involved with the distilling business. The economics of enslavement suggests that it was more likely that the families would have used slave labor rather than to hire a free person for a wage. To rent an enslaved person on a seasonal basis was another likely business practice so even if the distilling family were not slave owners themselves, then they likely had the option to rent enslaved people with distilling expertise when they required the extra labor or expertise.
After emancipation, African-Americans were mostly relegated to the menial jobs in society, including those in the distilling industry. When examining photographs from the 19th century distillery crews, there are usually one or two African-Americans shown in the photograph, but they are to the side and holding the coal shovels. This indicates they were doing the hot, hard job of feeding the boilers.
However, we do know that there were African-American women on at least one bottling line. In the Taylor-Hay Family Papers at The Filson Historical Society, E.H. Taylor, Jr. received some attention during one of his campaigns for Mayor of Frankfort because he was said to have favored a black woman over a white woman in assigning a position on the bottling line.
Some distillers were more progressive than others but there was still racism. Being an immigrant and a progressive Jewish man, I. W. Bernheim was a devout Republican because he believed that Lincoln led the movement to end slavery and to give all people a chance at prosperity. He hired African-American workers. He also targeted the African-American market for the sale of his whiskey using a series of advertisements that, by today’s standards, would be considered quite racist. They were stereotypical representations of African-Americans in daily life drinking whiskey. He sold a lot of whiskey in the African-American neighborhoods. The African-American market was an important one to many distillers as shown by the images often found on labels before Prohibition. Unfortunately, these images and brand names contained racist stereotypes of African-Americans with names like “Cotton Picker”, a tone-deaf attempt at marketing to African-Americans.
The role of African-Americans in the distilling industry changed after Prohibition, mostly because of World War II when labor shortages opened the doors to better jobs for many African-Americans. Once again some companies were more progressive than others. Schenley was a very progressive company and hired many African-Americans for positions in the warehouse and distillery. One former Schenley employee told me the story of Louis Rosensteil visiting the Old Quaker Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana in the late 1960s. He flew in by helicopter and upon arrival he ignored all of the executives lined up to greet him and went straight to an African-American warehouse worker who had been with the company for many years to shake his hand and inquire about his family. There are many photographs of Schenley holiday parties and summer picnics with many African-American families in attendance.
African-American workers were gaining respect in the industry and by the end of the 20th century they were moving up in the ranks and gaining positions of leadership. For example, Frenchie Robinson, an African-American woman, was in charge of barrel inventory and warehouse assignments when I was at United Distillers in the 1990s. She was THE person in the company if you wanted to purchase barrels.
There are still barriers to break for African-Americans in the industry, including more African-American ownership of distilleries as well as greater representation in upper management in the large corporations, but there has been a great deal of progress since the days of the nameless enslaved people in a distillery ledger of the 1840s.
There needs to be more research in this field of distilling history. Oral histories from families would be a great contribution to this field. A look at the involvement of African-Americans in the distilleries of Free States like Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio before and after Emancipation is another area of interest. There is work to be done and I hope to see this subject pursued by graduate students in the Universities in the near future. I hope this blog inspires such a student.
Photos Courtesy of the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress
March 2, 2018 at 2:28 pm
Totally agree. Thank you for shedding light on this topic. As an Africa-American and newly enthusiast to whiskey, this is something that I am eager to find out. I do hope someone takes on this task and provide a history lesson for all, Thanks again.
April 12, 2018 at 1:00 pm
Mike, I found this article from 2015 on African-Americans in old whiskey advertising – http://bottlesboozeandbackstories.blogspot.com/2015/02/black-history-month-fourth-look-at.html
April 12, 2018 at 4:06 pm
Thanks Marty.
July 12, 2019 at 3:22 am
Awesome information, Thank you very much for doing the research you are truly appreciated.
July 27, 2019 at 4:59 pm
I am glad you liked the blog.
July 25, 2019 at 6:27 pm
Great Read Mr Veach, You’re a pioneer in the industry. Much appreciated.
Rob Beatty
Kentucky Black Bourbon Guild
July 25, 2019 at 8:09 pm
Thank You. You are too kind. I am just sharing the history of this great industry, warts and all when needed.
February 2, 2020 at 2:29 pm
Thank you for this fantastic post! I am a local historian in Boone County, KY, and the lion’s share of my research is in the area of Underground Railroad and African American history. Boone County was once home to one of the largest distilleries in the Commonwealth, in the little river town of Petersburg. The distillery was born of a steam mill operation established ca. 1816. The land upon which it was built was likely cleared through the efforts of enslaved people held by the founder. Over the ensuing years, the distillery grew to a large twenty-five building complex, and enslaved workers were involved in the operation throughout. The distillery industry grew on both sides of the Ohio River, providing a huge demand for whiskey barrels. An enslaved Boone County man who earned his freedom in 1833, Samuel Barkshire, moved across the river from Rabbit Hash to Rising Sun, Indiana, where he ran a cooperage with his son as early as 1836. In addition to operating a busy cooperage, Barkshire and his family were clandestinely helping enslaved people to freedom, including running an Underground Railroad station. In the late 1870s, an African American man was installed as a government store-keeper at the distillery. His appointment was controversial in Reconstruction-era Petersburg, and the man was placed unwittingly at the center of a violent clash between two local men. The man who stepped up in defense of the storekeeper left the altercation with a near-fatal knife wound; the storekeeper was soon reassigned elsewhere. I’m sure there’s much more to learn about the role of African Americans in the distilling industry; your blog post has inspired me to take a closer look!
June 24, 2020 at 8:47 pm
Hello,
I enjoyed your article.
I am trying to find sources for information I have heard along the way in my bartending career.
Do you know of any sources where I can read about the laws that made it illegal for Black people to obtain distillers licenses and open liquor stores earlier in this century?
Thank you,
Bonny – Portland
June 24, 2020 at 10:35 pm
I think that might depend upon State laws more than Federal laws. I would start by checking with a local law school to see if they could guide you in the search.
June 24, 2020 at 10:51 pm
Yes, what little I have found was per state. That’s a good idea- thank you.
June 26, 2020 at 12:01 am
Let me know what you find out. I am also interested in the fact that women could not be behind the bar for many years.
July 17, 2020 at 12:07 am
Hi Bonny, did you find any information regarding distillers license and liquor license for Black people in Kentucky
July 27, 2020 at 6:36 am
Hi, not yet. I paused my search after I re-directed my attention to some food history, hoping it could be part of my foundation of information that also leads to my questions about the distillers/liquor licences in the long run. Hopefully, when I find some specific sources, I will remember to come back to here to share. As long as this comment chain is active, I look forward to any leads to add to my reading list in case anyone has any. Thanks