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May 2022

HRPS News & Updates

Dear HRPS Members,

It's hard to believe I've been at the helm of HRPS for 6 years, or that my time as President is drawing to a close.  I hope my legacy won't just be navigating through the pandemic.  We have certainly adapted, maintained our ability to offer programs, kept members informed about important developments that threatened historic buildings or neighborhoods, and we've attracted new grants and many new Lifetime Members. 

We've installed a membership management system to greatly improve our ability to keep track of dues and contact information, sent out informative e-mails, such as this monthly newsletter you're reading, and soon we will be able to register people for our walking tours and home tour, and eventually use this system to integrate with a new accounting system.

I've outlined many more achievements in the upcoming issue of FootPrints, but overall, I can say that I'm very satisfied with where HRPS stands today.

What I'm NOT satisfied with, is the fact that even at this late date, I still do not have a successor!  HRPS is a well-run, fiscally strong organization, with a knowledgeable and hard-working board.  If I could have one parting wish, it would be to have someone who believes strongly in the importance of historic preservation in our community step forward to take on this role.  I, and the rest of the board will be here to work with you. 

We will hold our Annual Membership Meeting (virtually) on Monday May 9, at 5:30pm and I hope you can all attend.  A little later in the month I'll be the guest speaker on Neal Cobb's High Noon with Neal Cobb program through the Washoe County Library System, talking about HRPS' upcoming 25th anniversary, some of our accomplishments, and sharing ideas about good books to read and other organizations in our community that also play a role in preserving our history.

Speaking of reading, our newsletter features a couple of new books on Nevada, a feature about the new African American Firefighters Museum, a couple of memoir-writing workshops, and a lot of outdoor activities, including a link to our own, much anticipated Walking Tours!

With great thanks for all of your support,

Carol Coleman, President

Historic Reno Preservation Society

board@historicreno.org

HRPS Annual Meeting

Monday, May 9, 2022, 5:30pm via Zoom

It's that time of year when we call members together to hear the annual message from the President, receive program and financial updates, and any other news for the good of the organization.

Following the meeting we'll join Carol Coleman and author, Jerry Aaron, as they discuss Jerry's aerial tour of Nevada mining sites. In the "High Over Nevada" presentation, you'll visit places such as Hawthorne, Tonopah, Round Mountain, Eureka, Hawthorne, Winnemucca, and more.

Jerry Aaron moved to Nevada from California as a boy in the late 1950s.  His love of discovery in the state began then and has never waned.

Jerry spent 50 years in the trucking industry and has published 4 books, the most recent, "Nevada's Times in Rhymes".

Author Jerry Aaron

High Noon with Neal Cobb

"Where to Hear About Nevada History"

Thursday, May 19, 2022, 12 Noon via Zoom

Our own Carol Coleman is the featured speaker on this month's High Noon with Neal Cobb.

HRPS celebrates its 25th anniversary as an organization this year, producing its quarterly FootPrints publication with stories about local history, its summer walking tours, the fall Harvest of Homes Tour, monthly speaker programs, and now this monthly online newsletter to keep members even more informed about local events.

HRPS also manages Reno Historical, the local history app.

Carol will talk about the history of HRPS, interesting books on local history, and other organizations listeners should know about

Program is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required.

Carol Coleman

Carol retired to Reno in 1999, after a career in the computer field. After joining Newcomers and HRPS, she became a docent at the Nevada Historical Society (NHS). In 2010, she wrote "Early Reno", an Arcadia book, for NHS.

Walking Tours Return!

House on the Bricks & Stones Tour

After two long years, we're excited to bring back our popular Walking Tours!  

We have 17 tours lined up this year running from June through the end of July, with the July tours being held in conjunction with Artown. 

Tours will be held on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings.  The first tour - Bricks & Stones - begins June 4.  

Details and registration 

Sparks Heritage Museum Presents

"Lifescapes Memoir Writing"

Beginning Tuesday, May 10, 1-3pm

Sparks Museum, 814 Victorian Ave (parking available in back)

Lifescapes is a memoir writing class for seniors and adults. Created in 2000, Lifescapes was designed for Northern Nevada seniors to connect with others in a friendly, community setting.

Over the last 20 years, Lifescapes has engaged over 800 community members in writing, sharing, and publishing their life stories. Over 250 publications, including over 35 anthologies have been locally and internationally published. Some members’ works have been published by major publishers, and a few have been translated into several languages.

Lifescapes is free to attend and open to all adults and reoccurs every second and fourth Tuesday of each month.

To attend e-mail info@sparksmuseum.org

How You Got Here - Illustrating Your Family History

Beginning Monday, May 23, 2022, 1-3pm

Nevada State Museum, 600 N. Carson St., Carson City

The Nevada State Museum, Nevada Arts Council and Lifetime Arts is sponsoring this special arts program for mature adults.

How You Got Here – Learn to tell your story, illustrate your family history, and preserve your family record for future generations. Taught by professional artist Tina Drakulich and fellow teaching artists.

7 classes meeting Monday, May 23, Tuesday, May 24, Tuesday, May 31, Monday, June 6, Tuesday, June 7, Monday, June 13 and Tuesday, June 14 from 1:00 pm-3:00 pm at the Nevada State Museum, 600 N Carson Street, Carson City, NV 897014.

No fee, all supplies will be provided, no previous experience necessary. Space is limited and reservations are required.

Discover Your Parks Walks

Next walk - Wedekind Park - May 5.     REGISTER

Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation leads free weekly interpretive walks in parks near you! Come experience a beautiful park and learn about its ecology and history. Plan on spending a little more than one hour on each walk. Distances range from 0.5 miles to 1.5 miles. These walks are a great way to get outdoors, spend time with loved ones, and even meet new people.

Walks begin Thursday, March 31, 2022 (6pm-7pm), and continue every Thursday through the end of September.

The walks are free and open to everyone. 
Registration for each walk is required. 

Discover Your Parks Walks | tmparksfoundation

Driving ‘Loneliest Road in America’ 

Long described as the "Loneliest Road in America," the highway gets that name due to long stretches between towns and in some of them, limited services such as gas, auto repair or medical service. So, best have your car prepped for this trip across the Silver State, as well as any personal medications. Lonely, yes, but spectacular scenery and historic sites compensate.  Driving ‘Loneliest Road in America’ leads to adventure, grandeur across Nevada (yahoo.com)

Outback Nevada: Real Stories from the Silver State

Join author John M. Glionna on a journey to discover the real Nevada, a place inhabited by diverse, spirited, and sometimes quirky people who make up the fabric of the Silver State.

Outback Nevada explores the far-flung corners of the seventh-largest state in the nation and introduces its readers to the humanity, courage, strength, and charm of these little-known Americans.

Each story is part of the vast collection of published articles Glionna has written during his decades of work as a journalist for the Los Angeles Times and the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 

Exploring the 'something-ness' of Nevada's Outback (rgj.com)

Purported to be part jackrabbit and part antelope, the jackalope began as a local joke concocted by two young brothers in a small Wyoming town during the Great Depression. 

Reno author Michael P. Branch takes readers on an often whimsical journey, tracing the horned bunny through prank, myth, pop culture and – literally – hard science. Although the jackalope is an invention of the imagination, it is nevertheless connected to actual horned rabbits, which exist in nature.

Author Michael P. Branch is Foundation Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. 

"On the Trail of the Jackalope": how a prank is (tangentially) helping to cure cancer • Reno News & Review (renonr.com)

Northern Nevada African American Firefighter Museum opens

The Northern Nevada African American Firefighter Museum is now open. The museum, also known as the Black Springs Volunteer Fire Department Museum, celebrated its grand opening Saturday, April 23, 2022.  

The event showed off the new museum, a collection of restored historic fire engines and “the story of a small unsung fire department that did big things for the North Valleys Community.”

Black Springs Volunteer Fire Department was built by the community in response to lengthy delays in firefighting response to the area. After it fell out of use, it was under the control of Washoe County which used the facility for park maintenance.  Now, thanks to community efforts the building has been restored and built into the small museum it is today.  

VIDEO: Northern Nevada African American Firefighter Museum opens (thisisreno.com)

James Madison’s plantation vowed to share power with Black descendants. Then things blew up.

James French stands in front of his ancestral home near the Montpelier estate in Virginia. (Julia Rendleman/The Washington Post)

James Albert French stood on his family’s ancestral land, on a mountain ridge in Orange County in Virginia. Six miles away was Montpelier, the plantation that belonged to the country’s fourth president, James Madison, known as the father of the Constitution.

French’s great-great-great-grandparents were enslaved on a nearby plantation before buying their freedom and building a house that remains today, tucked away amid enormous boxwood trees. French pointed beyond the tree line. “The Declaration of Independence by Jefferson was written at Monticello, 17 miles in that direction,” French said. “The Constitution was conceived just a few miles from here.”

The history of this area is rich, he said, but what is often left out are the substantial contributions made by enslaved Black people who fueled the country’s intellectual and economic development. “No one would have heard of Madison had he not benefited from the 300 people who were enslaved there,” French said.

Montpelier plantation shared power with enslaved descendants. Then it collapsed. - The Washington Post

Ben-Hur Lawsuit Changed Hollywood Forever

In 1971, when CBS broadcast the 1959 film “Ben-Hur” on television for the first time, more than 85 million people tuned in to view this Hollywood spectacular of friendship, betrayal, revenge, redemption and — of course — a thrilling chariot race.

However, that film — winner of 11 Academy Awards, including best picture — was not the first movie about this fictional story in the Holy Land. Two silent “Ben-Hur” films were produced in 1907 and 1925. The first one spawned a major lawsuit on intellectual property rights that went all the way to the Supreme Court, leaving a legacy that still affects the movie industry today.  ‘Ben-Hur’ Supreme Court copyright case changed Hollywood movie rights - The Washington Post

Telling the Full History Preservation Fund

Grant Recipients

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, together with National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), is pleased to announce the recipients of the Telling the Full History Preservation Fund. Made possible with support from NEH through the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021, the Telling the Full History grant program helps interpret and preserve historic places of importance to underrepresented communities across states and territories of the United States.

Telling the Full History Preservation Fund | National Trust for Historic Preservation (savingplaces.org)

Remember when.....

The Ed Sullivan Show now has its own YouTube channel, where you can watch some of your favorite entertainers from the late 50s and early 60s perform.

The Ed Sullivan Show ran for an astonishing 23 years on television!

Ed Sullivan Show - Official Site

A Fun Way to Spend a Saturday or Sunday Afternoon

Get outdoors and explore our city!  Reno Historical is a fantastic tool you can download onto your phone to have instant access to stories and historic Reno buildings.  Just go to the App Store on your phone and search for "Reno Historical".

You can do a little exploring in advance by going to the website - renohistorical.org.  You're guaranteed to find something interesting!

Encourage Your Friends to Join HRPS!

The Reno landscape is changing every day, new buildings going up, and sadly, some old ones coming down.  HRPS is "Dedicated to Preserving and Promoting Historic Resources in the Truckee Meadows through Education, Advocacy and Leadership"  HRPS has nearly 500 members, and your membership is a vote for historic preservation. 

Do you have friends, neighbors, or family members who share an interest in our mission?  If so, forward a copy of this newsletter and encourage them to join HRPS!

A single membership is just $25/year ($45 for a family membership), and you can now join and pay online. 

Members enjoy monthly e-mail newsletters, our information-packed quarterly FootPrints magazine, free admission to walking tours and certain other HRPS events, plus the knowledge you are helping support historic preservation in Reno.

Meet Our Board

Secretary - Alexis Thomas
Treasurer - Joy Orlich

Directors

Historic Reno Preservation Society | P.O. Box 14003, Reno, NV  89507

board@historicreno.org  |  775-747-4478

Virginia Street Bridge photos courtesy of Nevada Historical Society

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