Lifelong Learning Institute at Waubonsee Community College

Co-facilitator:  Ann Hastert

Aurora, Illinois in 1929, the “Roaring Twenties” were hastily coming to a close and Prohibition was in full swing. An illegal liquor raid, an innocent young mother killed in her own home, victim of a shotgun blast delivered by an overzealous Kane County Sheriff’s Deputy. Her husband Joe lay on the floor, unconscious from a blow to the head by the same deputy. Their twelve-year-old son Gerald picked up a gun and defended his family and their home. Thirty-eight-years-old, Lillian DeKing was just one of the many victims in a Noble Experiment gone awry. Lillian was the first woman to die as the result of a Prohibition liquor raid. Join us as Katharine DeKing Johnson, Gerald DeKing’s daughter, tells Lillian’s story including personal anecdotes, facts learned through extensive research, highlighting questionable activity in the legal processes and investigation into Lillian’s death.