This photo is a larger overview of the Women's History Exhibit at the Shoshone Museum, showing the area reserved for showcasing the kinds of work done by women in Death Valley. Here the early innkeepers of Death Valley, including Agnes Reid, Peg Putnam, Helene Eichbaum, Pauline Gower, Kathryn Ronan and Beulah Brown, are highlighted.
This first view includes a wood cook stove, kerosene heating stove, a burlap food cooler, and a treadle sewing machine as examples of some of the ways women cared for their homes. A braided rag rug made by Stella Fairbanks Brown, and a velvet crazy quilt made by her mother Celestia Fairbanks, are an interesting part of the display.
This panel showcases portraits and stories of a variety of Death Valley women. From miner Louise Grantham to prostitute Diamond Tooth Lil, the stories are a complex and diverse lot.
Although women appeared mostly as background characters in the history of Death Valley, they were actively involved in most major events that occurred here. The women were an essential part of the day-to-day workings of life on the desert.
At the junction of the panels is an original oil painting of the Panamint Springs Resort. Painted by a woman guest in 1951, the canvas was treasured by Agnes Reid, who built Panamint Springs Resort with her husband in 1937. The painting is on loan to the Shoshone Museum from the Reid/Piver Family.
This display showcases the work of Celesta Lisle Lowe, who attended grammar school in Shoshone in the early 1920's. She later went on to write for popular desert magazines, including Desert and Westways, as well as Las Vegas newspapers. The works here represent her research for a biography of the popular western writer, B.M. Bower, who many were surprised to learn was a woman. Materials on loan from Celesta Lisle Lowe.
These photographs and documents tell the story of Bess Davis, the first teacher to arrive in the rough camp of Death Valley Junction in 1915. Bess taught school there for nearly three years while she lived in a canvas tent. She later remembered those years as some of the best times of her life. Materials on loan from Barbara Brown, dance program courtesy of U.S. Borax.
These artifacts are from the Panamint Springs Resort, built by Agnes and Bill Reid in 1937. After Bill died in 1945, Agnes continued to run the resort alone until the late 1950's. She was famous in Death Valley for her fine cooking and warm hospitality. The photo shows Agnes in the 1950's with a pet burro and dog. Materials on loan from the Reid/Piver Family.
These artifacts were used or collected either at the medical clinic at Death Valley Junction, where nurse May Dorville was the main medical practitioner starting in the early 1930's, or later the Furnace Creek clinic, where she eventually transferred. Because doctors were hard to keep in this part of the world, May was often the first one on hand at births, disasters, bar fights, and car wrecks. These items were a gift from Dr. Ben Jones, who worked with May Dorville at Furnace Creek.