Los Angeles (of all places) gives us the best look at the Goldfield Women's Club. In an article In the Herald, they talk about the Club and social life in general.
The crux of the article is two-fold. First, Goldfield is not a desert when it comes to manners of the day. The article repeatedly remarks on the dress of the women and men. Women were constantly seen in new attire (dresses, not jeans) and men always called in proper evening attire. “If you think you are amount the Philistines when you go to Goldfield, you are mistaken.”
The second point of the article is about the Goldfield Woman’s Club. Mrs. Charles Sprague, who was visiting in Los Angels at the time, remarks that she is the President of the Club and has “been given a life’s sentence” as such. In her words [through the newspaper article] this is the story of the Goldfield Woman’s Club:
The crux of the article is two-fold. First, Goldfield is not a desert when it comes to manners of the day. The article repeatedly remarks on the dress of the women and men. Women were constantly seen in new attire (dresses, not jeans) and men always called in proper evening attire. “If you think you are amount the Philistines when you go to Goldfield, you are mistaken.”
The second point of the article is about the Goldfield Woman’s Club. Mrs. Charles Sprague, who was visiting in Los Angels at the time, remarks that she is the President of the Club and has “been given a life’s sentence” as such. In her words [through the newspaper article] this is the story of the Goldfield Woman’s Club:
A little less than a a year ago Mrs. William Ish and one or two other prominent Goldfield matrons were attending a concert in Tonopah. It was given by a noted violinist and after it was over the musician suggested that he give a concert in Goldfield and asked the women to act as his patronesses, saying he would place a part of the program at their disposal to be used in any work that would please the women of Goldfield.
That gave them their idea and out of that was formed the woman’s club. The first meeting was held at the home of Mrs. William Ish, whose residence is one of the most attractive in the camp. The club was organized with 30 charter members {up to 60 a year later] and Mrs. Sprague was president. A Shakespeare section was formed with Mrs. H. O’Brien as chairman, and other literary work was done by this section during the year. A music and art section was organized and Mrs. Geldert became the chairman of that. In addition the club does much charity work in an unostentatious way, and many lives have been brightened by its members. The section that has attracted the most attention recently is the civic and social sciences section, with Mrs. William Ish as chairman. The object of this section has been to fight vice in Goldfield, wherever it endangered the homes, and two notorious refreshment parlors on Columbia street were recently closed up. The men of the camp have a wholesome respect for the club and the woman get just about everything they want. They go about their work with a determination which wins even the gruffest of their masculine adversaries. When they first began their fight upon the refreshment parlors, they were told by the men who owned the leases on the places that they could not hope to win and might as well give up trying to close them. They smiled and invited the men to “wait and see,” and twenty-four hours later their task had been accomplished. “It’s the Goldfield way, you know,” said one of the patriotic little women. And so it is. |
So who were these women? We will focus on two whose names appear on the Goldfield Woman’s Club certificate.
BLANCHE SPRAGUE: We already know that Blanche was the first president of the club, a position she held for twelve years before she and her husband Charles moved permanently to the Los Angeles area. Charles and his wife moved to Goldfield around 1905 and in bought Goldfield News in 1906, of which he was the editor. President of Goldfield Chamber of Commerce, ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Democrat in 1910, later went into the mining brokerage business. He had interests in and was an executive officer in a number of mining companies in southern Nevada.
His wife, Blanche, ran the beautiful house in Goldfield where the Spargue’s lived. It was such a remarkable structure it earned the name the
“Gables.”
Blanche was very actively social and Civically. Besides being the first president of the Goldfield Woman’s Club, she was the first state regent or the Daughter of the American Revolution. With ancestor like John Alden and Miles Standish, she found the first Nevada chapter of the Society of the Mayflower.
In 1926 she ran unsuccessfully for the Nevada Assembly.
Blanche passed away on April 27, 1935.
His wife, Blanche, ran the beautiful house in Goldfield where the Spargue’s lived. It was such a remarkable structure it earned the name the
“Gables.”
Blanche was very actively social and Civically. Besides being the first president of the Goldfield Woman’s Club, she was the first state regent or the Daughter of the American Revolution. With ancestor like John Alden and Miles Standish, she found the first Nevada chapter of the Society of the Mayflower.
In 1926 she ran unsuccessfully for the Nevada Assembly.
Blanche passed away on April 27, 1935.
Pauline Mills was the wife of Tom A. Mills. She was also active both socially and civically.
She was a very active member of the Goldfield Woman’s Club and took over as president when Blanche Sprague moved to California. Unlike Blanche, Pauline stayed in Nevada and in Goldfield.
She served on the County Board of Education from 932 to 1938. She was the Public Administrator for Esmeralda County through most of the 1950’s.
She was the matron of the Goldfield branch of the Order of the Eastern Star. She was one of three enumerators for the 1940 census. She served as treasurer for the Esmeralda Red Cross. She was appointed United States Commissioner by Federal Judge Frank H. Norcross in 1935. She was also active in the Methodist Church in Goldfield.
My favorite was listed in her obituary. She served as Deputy United States Marshall.
She was also a long time correspondent of the Reno Evening Gazette and the Nevada State Journal (two of her 1951 articles appear on this page).
Pauline, who was born on January 14, 1881 in Alleghany, Pennsylvania, passed away on January 3, 1959 at 78 years old.
These two were on the certificate, so I focused on them. But many other important and influential women were part of the club: Mrs. William (Jessie) Ish. Mrs. Bird Wilson, and Mrs Jeb (Mabel) Kendall to name a few.
1. “Social Gossip at Goldfield” in the Los Angeles Herald, June 24, 1907
2. Nevada State Journal
3. Goldfield Historical Society
She was a very active member of the Goldfield Woman’s Club and took over as president when Blanche Sprague moved to California. Unlike Blanche, Pauline stayed in Nevada and in Goldfield.
She served on the County Board of Education from 932 to 1938. She was the Public Administrator for Esmeralda County through most of the 1950’s.
She was the matron of the Goldfield branch of the Order of the Eastern Star. She was one of three enumerators for the 1940 census. She served as treasurer for the Esmeralda Red Cross. She was appointed United States Commissioner by Federal Judge Frank H. Norcross in 1935. She was also active in the Methodist Church in Goldfield.
My favorite was listed in her obituary. She served as Deputy United States Marshall.
She was also a long time correspondent of the Reno Evening Gazette and the Nevada State Journal (two of her 1951 articles appear on this page).
Pauline, who was born on January 14, 1881 in Alleghany, Pennsylvania, passed away on January 3, 1959 at 78 years old.
These two were on the certificate, so I focused on them. But many other important and influential women were part of the club: Mrs. William (Jessie) Ish. Mrs. Bird Wilson, and Mrs Jeb (Mabel) Kendall to name a few.
1. “Social Gossip at Goldfield” in the Los Angeles Herald, June 24, 1907
2. Nevada State Journal
3. Goldfield Historical Society
Minutes from the Goldfield Woman's Club found in the UNLV digital archives.