Pearls and pistols are both in the arsenal of the women who helped build Nevada.
Some were rugged ranchers who organized rodeos or protected the state's wild mustangs. Others were sophisticated socialites who used the arts and entertainment to raise funds for new community institutions and social services.
Feminine wiles and charm are apparent in the success of Las Vegas modeling czarina Bernie Lenz. Ditto for innovative guitarist Mary Ka'aihue of the Mary Kaye Trio-she "invented" the concept of the lounge act-and dancer Dottie Goffstein, who strongly supported local charities after marrying into casino wealth.
But in the early twentieth century, high-achieving Nevada women also entered fields dominated by men.
Anna Roberts Parks in 1927 founded her own Las Vegas funeral home. Gale Dailey Colton ran an early private-detective service in Southern Nevada. Colanthe Florence Jones Murphy built and operated the airfield that evolved into the present North Las Vegas Airport. Patricia Walsh was an ambulance driver in World War I for the French military, then lived the second half of her life on a ranch near the Truckee River.
Leading to the twenty-first century, Nevada women also rose to positions of power in gaming, state government, and national campaigns for justice.
Steadfast Sisters of the Silver State brings to life the stories and accomplishments of these remarkable women.
Forty-two women authors are responsible for the rich accounts of these one hundred women. Each made her mark in arenas ranging from civil rights to animal rights, from casino ownership to casino operations, as well as in marketing, modeling, medicine, mining, the media, or the military. Also documented are female leaders in the arts, education, philanthropy, public safety, sports, politics, and government of Nevada.
Steadfast Sisters continues the mission of a prior volume, Skirts that Swept the Desert Floor, by the Southern Region of the Nevada Women's History Project, which documented the achievements of another set of one hundred superlative Nevada women.
