Cultural Impacts to the Comstock in the 1870s Talk – Saturday, October 5, 1-2:30pm

Don’t want to miss this Nevada History talk on Saturday, October 5, 2024, from 1 to 2:30pm

Joe Curtis, historian will talk about Cultural Impacts to the Comstock in the 1870s.

Joseph Fredricks, Paints, Oils, Hardware and Wallpaper. Immigrated from Germany to Virginia City. 1870s. Joe Curtis photo.

Virginia City was a true melting pot for cultures from all over the world during the 1860s to 1880s. The Cornish and Welsh and Irish were the miners, The Germans were the engineers and brewers, The Irish had the distilleries, the Jewish population tended to be the retailers. There were plenty of Chinese, Polish, Native Americans, Italians, French, African Americans, Mexicans and you name it, that were sprinkled throughout the community doing all sorts of services, businesses and employment. Women were also prevalent in business, services and employment of all sorts. Yes, there were some aspects of discrimination, but it was not generally out of dislike for one culture or another but more from a rivalry such as a belief a particular culture was unlucky if they worked in mining for example. We will have a great discussion with appropriate photographs and examples to illustrate the fascinating cultural make-up of the Comstock. A presentation among friends!