From the Archives – Nov 2021

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A Rummage Sale Find!  Have you ever been to a yard or rummage sale and come across a “mystery box”? An old box filled with an interesting item or two, that might not look like much of “a find”, but yet you just have to take a look inside?  Taking a look at the old photographs, Sonja noticed that several were taken by photographers in Virginia City, Nevada. She then wondered if there might be a museum in Virginia City that would be interested in the historical items. Sonj...
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Season’s endings

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The Historic Fourth Ward SchoolMuseum & Archives NewsletterSeptember 2021We Are Open Daily from May 1st until October 31st We are amazed that September is already here, and we have little over one month to go before the end of the season, October 31st.  It has been a productive season for sure, piloting many successful events and guests visiting from all over the United States despite the COVID pandemic and the devastating fires.We're thrilled that we're getting mor...
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Swing Dance on the Comstock: What Was Dancing Life for Kids on the Comstock in the Heydey of Swing?

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by Taylor Hamby Just as the doors of the Fourth Ward School in Virginia City closed as a schoolhouse in 1936, a new door was swinging open for youngsters all across America: swing dance! Whether you did “Swing”, “the Jitterbug”, “Lindy Hop”, “Balboa” “Jive” or “Shag”; if you were a teenager or young adult in the mid-1930s through the 1940s, swing was the thing! While there were many regional and musical variations of this then-emerging dance style, each were often upbeat and relatively i...
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Black History & Women’s History in Virginia City

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In honor of Black History Month and as a lead into Women's History Monthin March, we'd like to recognize the black women and girls who were members of the Storey County community and identified in the 1870 and1880 U.S. censuses.  Each of the women were certainly striving to make aliving in the mining community and care for their families.  It shouldalso be noted that some of the women may have been enslaved just a shorttime before the 1870 census. In the 1870 census, thirty-two bla...
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End of Year Campaign 2021

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Dear Member,With 2021 coming to a close, as many of you know there is a whole new effort now beginning as we plan for our 2022 season and address certain maintenance issues in the off-season.   For the past two years we have reached out to you, our dedicated members and supporters, to contribute to important projects here at the Historic Fourth Ward School. This year our campaign is for the installation of heating in parts of the museum: our main exhibit is of cours...
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