This Gutsy Lady Shattered Glass for Kentucky Women Bartenders- Now She’s in the Bourbon Hall of Fame
I love a good story about a feisty woman who changed history. The star of this one is Dixie Demuth. An incredible lady who was determined to fight discrimination for herself, her family, and women across the Bluegrass State.
Who is Dixie Demuth?
Dixie was a diminutive woman whose personality was the exact opposite. In an interview with the Courier-Journal, Dixie's daughter, Dinah Tichy, told stories about her mother getting into all kinds of trouble growing up. Usually with folks in positions of authority. I would assume they were trying to make her abide by rules she deemed unfair.
From Samuels, Kentucky, Dixie was expelled from her one-room high school before being sent to a boarding school near Bardstown that was run by the Sisters of Nazareth. As you can imagine, their rulers and strict nuns were no match for a headstrong girl!
After her father passed away, her family really struggled to make ends meet through the Great Depression. Her mother moved them to Louisville for better job opportunities. Dixie worked as a cocktail waitress until she decided to open her own bar. The Courier-Journal said "Dixie's Elbow Room was a classy joint." What a great name!
Dixie Fought Law and Dixie Won
When she found out about the outdated law that women couldn't legally bartend or even SIT at a bar, she took out an ad in the newspaper touting female bartenders in her establishment. Of course, this caught the eye of the authorities and she was charged with as the Courier put it, "allowing a woman to tend bar and serving a mixed drink to a woman (Dixie's other daughter) who was sitting at the bar." In 1972, after a few years of challenging the law in court, the case was finally appealed.
The Only Woman Inductee in 2023 to the Bourbon Hall of Fame
Because of her persistence, she changed the hospitality industry forever. As well as life for women who wanted to make a career of bartending instead of waitressing positions that were less lucrative at the time. Or ladies who wanted to be treated as equals sitting at the bar. This past September, Dixie Demuth was inducted into the Bourbon Hall of Fame here in Kentucky. The only woman of the bunch this year.
Unfortunately, Ms. Demuth passed away in 2020, but her daughter accepted the award saying how proud her mother would have been. Here is an excellent interview with her family.
I highly recommend checking out this story from the Courier-Journal. They sat down with Dixie Demuth's daughter as well as her cousin, Bill Samuels Jr. Kentuckians, you may be familiar with that name as he just so happens to be the chairman emeritus of Maker's Mark Distillery.