Welcome to the Nevada Women's History Project web site! Our goal is to provide you with "history about the roles and contributions of Nevada women" and current information about upcoming Northern Nevada and Southern Nevada events.
To access areas of our web site, please click on the titles above.

Ladies of the Carson City Mint

On January 23, Bob Nylen, Curator of History at the Nevada State Museum in Carson City, gave a lively presentation on the building’s original purpose as a federal factory of silver coins, most notably the now rare Carson City dollar. Early photographs show several small chimneys and one huge stack poking up from the roof of the Carson City Mint, an indication of the many assay and coin-making furnaces where a rather large number of young single ladies toiled away for many years until the silver ore ran out on the Comstock. Old drawings and photographs show long tables surrounded by “adjustors” equipped with precise scales, who methodically weighed each coin and trimmed off a few flakes of silver or gold if necessary. Those trimmings were so valuable that their workclothes were burned to recover each tiny filing.

The original coin stamp, which had been carted off to San Francisco years ago after the Mint was closed, was brought back to the Mint when it was transformed into the Nevada State Museum. It sat immobile until the train mechanics down at the V&T museum worked on and got it up and running again. Now it is used often to strike medallions and commemoration coins. The photograph shows Bob Nylen with the famous coin stamp machine.
Member Holly Van Valkenburgh did a great job of organizing the program at the State Museum and then lunch afterwards at B’Spaghetti’s Restaurant.

A few days after the event, Bob Nylen was asked by the U.S. Mint to send them a copy of his presentation so that they can do an article for their newsletter in honor of Women’s History Month in March. He’s also grateful for our paying the entrance fees, as every little bit helps in these dire economic times.

Heidi Englund: New Program Chair

We welcome Heidi Englund to the Leadership Committee of the NWHP. She just started her new job as a Library Technician in the Research Library for the Nevada Historical Society, in Reno, after running the Research Library for the Nevada Department of Transportation for four years. Heidi grew up in Gardnerville, and has lived in Carson City, Las Vegas and Ely, before moving to Reno, where she now lives with her husband Eric. She attended school at Western Nevada Community College, and has been a member of the Nevada Women’s History Project for five years.

Invitation to help

with Marketing and Publicity:
Can you do marketing or publicity with little or no funding? Would you like to learn? If so, you are you might be the perfect choice for the NWHP Marketing and Publicity Committee. Contact Lisa-Marie Lightfoot at 775-849-2050 or lightfeet@charter.net.

Docents need for Thursday, May 27, 2010, if you would liked to be trained to do a Caughlin Ranch House tour for Washoe County School District, please contact Lisa-Marie Lightfoot at 849-2050 or lightfeet@charter.net.  Period dress is optional.

If you are able to organize a NWHP calling tree, please contact Lisa-Marie Lightfoot at 849-2050 or lightfeet@charter.net.

If you have the time to help review the NWHP webpage, please contact Lisa-Marie Lightfoot at 849-2050 or lightfeet@charter.net.

If you have time to help with publicity/member communication, please contact Lisa-Marie Lightfoot at 849-2050 or lightfeet@charter.net.

If you can help Jean Ford research Center by picking up phone calls, please call Kay Sanders at 747-1740 or Grace Davis at 853-3200. 

Story Corps is coming to Reno and NWHP will be particpating:  We need volunteer to woman a table, providing handouts and information about NWHP.  The date is Saturday, May 1st, 2010.  Shifts are 9-11AM, 11-1:00 PM. 1-2:45 PM-you can take multiple shifts if you wish.  PLEASE, PLEASE contact Patti Bernard, 826-3612, awtuv@pyramid.net or Marcia Cucarro, 883-1454, vergato1@sbcglobal.net if you can help!

New Opportunity for People Who
Love to Write and Edit

The position of editor of the newsletter will be vacant by the end of May. If you love to write and edit other members’ articles, this is the job for you. If you also have a knack for taking photographs and formatting them for inclusion in the newsletter, so much the better! Luckily, you don’t have to do the formatting and layout, since we have a professional staff at LRP Printing who does that. This is not a time consuming position, either, because the newsletter is published only three times a year (February, May, and October). Other volunteers produce and apply the mailing labels and take the newsletters to the post office, for bulk mailing. As an added perk, you will be a member of the leadership committee for the Nevada Women’s History Project, intimately involved in creating new projects and programs. Please contact LisaMarie Lightfoot (lightfeet@charter.net) if you are interested in this interesting opportunity.

Save This Information for Missing Newsletters

For missing printed newsletters, please contact Grace Davis @ 853-3200 or kandgdavis@pyramid.net. For missing digital newsletters, please contact Marcia Cuccaro @ 883-1454 or vergato1@sbc.global.net. One of the most common problems with the digital newsletters comes when an email
address is changed.

Volunteer Help Wanted!

We need someone to help pick up NWHP telephone messages.
Can be done from your home.
Please contact Kay Sanders at 747-1740 or Grace Davis at 853-3200.

Mission Statement

To provide visibility and support for the gathering
and dissemination of history about the roles and
contributions of Nevada women of every race, class
and ethnic background.

We welcome your feedback on how we can make this site a better resource for you in the future.

We thank you for your visit and encourage you to stay.