The Nevada Historical Society will sponsor a six-part lecture series focusing on the emigrant trail, beginning Nov. 9, 1999 and running through April of 2000. The free lectures will be held at the newly renovated Historical Society at 1650 N. Virginia Street in Reno. All the talks begin at 7 p.m., and they fall on the second Tuesday of
the month.
The series will kick off on Tuesday, Nov. 9 with a special showing of the movie The Covered Wagon, which was filmed in 1923 in Eastern Nevada and Western Utah near Baker. We will discuss the various points concerning the 1920s perception of emigrant trails. The lecture and movie will run about two hours.
On Dec. 14, the topic is The Overland Emigrant Crossing: A Social History, which will focus upon the demography of those who came west, daily life on the trail, women and children's experiences, and the "Indian problem." The evolution of historical concepts in trail scholarship will be examined. We'll also consider wagon train leadership, survival elements in trail preparations and the latter views of those who survived the journey.
On Jan. 11, 2000, we will hold forth on The Lincoln Highway in Nevada: America's first Transcontinental Highway. We'll consider the state of Nevada's roads at the turn of the century, the coming of the automobile, the politics of highway construction, federal, state and private financing, as well as business evolution, tourism and the social impacts on ommunity. Slides will be used to illustrate the lecture.
Zion in Gomorrah: The Mormons of Nevada will be the subject on Feb. 8, with a look at the origins of the Latter Day Saints, their persecution in Missouri and Illinois, the journey west from 1846-47, and their part in the settlement of the American West. Brigham Young's concept of "Outer Cordon Settlements" will be discussed, as will his efforts to achieve a measure of political and economic independence for his people. We'll also look at the Mormon settlement of Carson Valley and Las Vegas Valley in the 1850s and Moapa Valley, Meadow Valley Wash and the Virgin River country in the 1860s and 1870s. The growth of Mormon populations in White Pine county in connection with industrial and mining developments in the area after 1900 and in Las Vegas Valley following the completion of the railroad in 1905 will able be considered Prohibition in Nevada: Drying Up America's Wettest State will be the topic on March 14. We will consider the temperance movement in the early mining camps, the activities of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, early temperance legislation in the state, and the relationship of Prohibition to the Progressive Movement from 1900-1918. We will also analyze the final push to Prohibition in 1917, and the involved, particularly the part played by the Anti-Saloon League. The failures of enforcement from 1919-33, the corruption of law enforcement and the end of the "Noble Experiment" following the election and inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as president in 1932, will all be explored.
The final lecture will address World War II in Nevada: The Homefront, on April 11. This talk will include the treatment of alien Japanese and German and Italian minorities during the war. It will examine the significance of military bases in Nevada and the impact of wartime military and industrial developments on communities. We will also spend time on such problems as housing, labor shortages, prostitution, wartime rationing, household management and scrap and bond drives. The role of women on the homefront will be prominently featured.
The series is free to the public, but seating is limited. The Nevada Historical Society is now featuring a new exhibition entitled "Path of the 49ers," on display through Dec. 31. For more information, please call Nita Phillips at (775) 688-1191, ext. 225.
Photo: "Unknown pioneers on the emigrant trail. Photo from the Denver Public Library, courtesy of the Nevada State Museum."
