The Girls of the Gulch Museum Brothel Exhibit Because no historical record of Deadwood is complete without mention of the infamous sporting girls and madams, the Adams Museum has developed a new permanent exhibit, Prostitution and Deadwood's Badlands District. Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok rode in with Charlie Utter's wagon train, bringing two infamous madams and their girls into the gulch. Madam Mustachio and Dirty Em, who were experienced at running houses of prostitution and dealing faro, set up the first verifiable brothels in Deadwood, where upstairs houses continued to operate until l980 when the State Attorney General's office permanently shut down the last four. Artifacts on display in the new exhibit include poker Alice Tubb's pocketbook, a faro case, a morphine bottle, syringe and needles, photographs of some of the notorious madams, and a sporting girl doll designed by local artist Deb Sterna. Located at 54 Sherman Street next to the post office, the Adams Museum is open from l0 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Admission is free, but donations are welcome.
Summer programs at Adams Museum You can get a man with a gun, according to Judith McGaw. The University of Pennsylvania Professor will explore the historical relationship between women and guns during a free lecture at Deadwood City Hall on June 6. An all-day workshop on May 17 will focus on the care of heirloom textiles and papers. Presented by Helen Alten, field services director for the Upper Midwest Conservation Association in Minneapolis, the Saturday workshop will demonstrate proper techniques for handling,, cleaning, displaying and storing fragile family memorabilia. Popular song stylist Shirleen Joseph will entertain at the Adams Museum from noon to 4 p.m. on June 28.