Comstock Women: The Making Of A Mining Community (Shepperson Series in History Humanities)
This book goes far in refuting the exaggerated popular images of women in early mining towns as dance hall girls or prostitutes. James (Temples of Justice: County Courthouses of Nevada, Univ. of Nevada, 1994) and Raymond (George Wingfield: Owner and Operator of Nevada, Univ. of Nevada, 1992) have written or collected a number of essays offering a much richer portrait of women and their activities in Virginia City, Nevada. Several essays examine various occupations, including needle worker, lodging-house keeper, and social service worker. Other sections address ethnic diversity, opium use, divorce, divination, and participation in social organizations. The final sections deal with opportunities for gendered archaeological research and a critique of the "Wild and Woolly School" of the history of this mining area. Appropriate for collections on the American West or the history of women in academic or large public libraries.?Patricia A. Beaber, Coll. of New Jersey Lib., EwingCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.