NHS digital e-newsletter
April - June 2021
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Happy Spring!
The NHS Docent Council celebrated the members’ many achievements at the Docent Council Virtual Luncheon on April first.
Linda B. gave an amazing presentation about the 29-year history of the Docent Council, those who have volunteered for over 20 years, and the many projects the Docents completed in service to the NHS and our community. The NHS simply could not operate without docent support, and the awardees reflect this, including those who have volunteered over 9000 hours! THANK YOU DOCENTS!!!
NHS volunteerism remains strong at the NHS with our docents, other community partners, and staff’s family members! Docents researched, wrote scripts, filmed, starred-in, and edited the 4th grade Nevada History tours. Shery, her family, and friends provided expert production, filming, and editing. Robert H. Zorn, CTE teaches Communications Arts and Media at the Academy of Arts, Career & Technology in Reno. Highschool senior son Izaac and friend and classmate Ian directed and produced some videos as part of their Senior Videography project.
Cheers,
Catherine
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Photograph of saloon interior; Albert Schnitzer behind bar; four posing, Mr. Blum, Mr. Tucker sitting on a barrel, Louis John Reick (Reish or Reich), owner of the saloon and Billy Scheim; Virginia City, Storey County, Nevada. NHS Photo# ST-00380. |
Louis John Reick headstone in Virginia City, Nevada. It is dated April 7, 1894. Image from Find a Grave. |
Albert Schnitzer and Rose Reick marriage California ledger entry, February 7, 1905. Ancestry.com image. |
Framed Lithograph that possibly hung in Albert Schnitzer's Nevada Brewery in Virginia City, Nevada. HM-26121-g-10. |
Close-up of Albert Schnitzer's ad within the framed illustration. |
Albert Schnitzer on ladder viewing the tank and Mr. Tucker holding the stein inside the Nevada Brewery in Virginia City, 1900, NHS Photo# ST-00378. |
The Nevada Brewery, saloon, home and beer garden in six-mile canyon.
NHS Photo # ST-00379.
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Bedroom interior of Rose and Albert's bedroom in the living quarters at the Nevada Brewery. NHS Photo# ST-01046. |
Muriel Goodwin, artist drawing of old Schnitzer brewery and beer garden.
Image from RGJ November 21, 1942.
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Zoray Kraemer, artist is pictured on right with Ray Steinheimer (left) and Don Bowers, editor of the Nevada Highways Magazine. Image from RGJ article. |
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Historical Collections
by Shery Hayes-Zorn
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Did you know that April 7th, 2021 is National Beer Day? In this issue, we are highlighting stories about that golden liquid beverage known as Beer and the Brewery businesses in Nevada.
Here is the little known story about the Reick and Schnitzer families and the Nevada Brewery in Virginia City, Nevada.
There are conflicting reports on how Louis John Reick emigrated to the United States. One version says that Louis came from Germany in 1862 and headed to Downeville, California before coming to Nevada. The second version shows that he emigrated to New Orleans back in 1832. On the ship records, it lists a Louis John Reick from Germany and his occupation as brewer. Did he take a ship around the Cape Horn to California before coming to Nevada?
Louis came to Virginia City and purchased this business in Six-Mile Canyon. He added an upstairs addition right before the 1875 fire. His niece and nephew, Rose (Rosa or Rosina) and John came to America in the 1882 to assist their uncle with the daily operations of the brewery and saloon.
Louis John Reick died April 7, 1894 and is buried in the Masonic plot in Virginia City.
Louis owned and ran the brewery and bar from 1862-1892, and then turned over the daily operations of the business to his niece and nephew. After his death in 1894, Rose and John inherited the business. The question that doesn't have an answer at this time is when did Albert arrive in Virginia City and begin work at the Nevada Brewery. The photograph of the saloon interior has Albert Schnitzer and Louis Reick in the photograph. So the photo has to be no later than 1894. Sometime between 1894 to 1900, Albert Schnitzer took over the management of the brewery. In the 1910 census, Albert was listed as brewer, John was the bartender and Rose was the barkeeper.
At the back of the building, there was a shaded beer garden that the locals would recall as "being a favorite gathering place."
Albert came to America and arrived in New York through Ellis Island in 1888. We are unsure exactly when Albert came to Nevada. Once he was here, he purchased lots on East 4th Street, and California and Marsh Avenues, owned several bars and invested in several mines businesses in the area including the Alpine Divide Mining Company.
He married Rose in 1905 and they went to California for their honeymoon. Rose reported that her two valises were stolen from the "wait-room at the ferry depot" in San Francisco.
The family lived in the upstairs apartment of the saloon/brewery. We have an interior photograph of the bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Schnitzer residence; Virginia City, Storey County, Nevada.
By 1915, there were brief entries in the newspaper that mention that Albert was visiting Reno to check on his local investment properties. A couple of them mention that he purchased an REO studebaker and was traveling the road from Virginia City to Reno.
The photo of the Nevada brewery has a man and woman posing in the automobile could possibly be the John and Rose. While the man standing next to the vehicle has a similar profile, stance and hat when comparing the known photo of Albert Schnitzer on the ladder.
When the 18th amendment prohibition law was in place, Albert closed down the brewery. He was known for the wonderful "old Dutch dinners that included pretzels, tripe and limburger cheese." He owned two bars in Virginia City, the Senate Bar and the Sixty-Two Bar and one bar in Reno, the Dew Drop Resort and had to close them by 1923.
Albert passed away in 1925. Rose's niece, Mrs. Clara Jahn and her husband Albert Jahn moved into Rose's home in Virginia City. In 1930, they all moved to Reno.
Rose Barbara Kick Schnitzer died at her home at 842 Nixon Street, Reno in 1938. Albert, Rose, her brother John and uncle Louis are buried in the family plot in Virginia City.
In 1939, there was a Jubilee play called Schnitzer's Beer Garden that was performed by the Gay Nineties in Carson City and Reno that was "a comic review which was termed a riot."
The first mention of the Nevada Brewery in the Reno papers is 1942. Zoray Andrus Kraemer and husband, Erick Kraemer purchased the building to take up residence and convert the barroom into an artist's studio.
In a separate newspaper article, it is mentioned that Zoray opened her art gallery that was called the Welcome Grant. The article doesn't mention an address so was it located in the Nevada Brewery?
She graduated from the California School of Art and participated in area art shows and nationwide art exhibitions. She was one of the early Virginia City bohemian artists associated with helping create the Nevada Artist Association and the Nevada Artist Co-Op in Reno.
She was known for her artwork nationally but has been forgotten today in Nevada. When the Reno Veterans hospital opened up in 1947, Zoray and Beck Young painted beautiful murals of the Comstock for the recreation room. Are the murals still there?
This article came about from wanting to learn more about the framed lithograph that is hanging in the Research Library.
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Harold's Club Illustration, MSNC461 |
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This was Nevada NHS Series
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The Single Men's Protective Association
Proper, marriageable women were usually in short supply in the early days of most Nevada mining camps, but this imbalance in the sexes was usually rectified to some extent if a camp made the transition to a settled community.
To learn more about this fascinating
club, click on the article link.
TWNS - published on March 30, 1986.
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Did you know that June 29th, 2021 is national camera day?
A fun day to honor the invention of the camera and photographs. The camera captures a moment in time that future generations might use to tell a story.
The camera form and format has changed over time but it is such an irreplaceable tool to record and document events and people. Cameras are in most people's hands everyday, i.e. your cellphone. People take and post selfies, photos of loved ones, pets and share them with friends and family. I would have to say that everyday life is influenced by our cameras.
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The Camera Club of Virginia City posing outside of George Noe's law office, Virginia City, Nevada. 1895. NHS Photo# ST-00871.
The six women in the group are proudly displaying their prized cameras and two young men.
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Filming Digital History Videos |
NHS goes “Ken Burns”—we are working to create online tours, beginning with our most popular tours, the Nevada History tours that augment the 4th grade Nevada History curriculum. Pre-COVID the NHS served our schools’ needs through onsite tours and paid for the school bus transportation. Because this onsite service is currently not possible, we are using staff and docents’ hidden talents and are becoming filmmakers!
Covid-19 has made sharing history to students challenging this year.
Our educational docents and staff decided that creating videos would be the best way to fulfill our mission. What a wonderful opportunity to share the history of the state and provide better access to students and people interesting in Nevada's varied history.
Everyone worked very hard in researching and writing scripts, reviewing and selecting images and artifacts for their virtual tours. It has been a long but worthwhile project.
Seniors, Izaac Zorn and Ian Thunder from AACT High School spent four Saturday afternoons in March working with our Educational docents and Curator of Manuscripts filming three tours, Living on the Land, Mountain Men, and Mountain Men and Fur Trappers and the introduction video.
Izaac and Ian compiled the credits for each video and added these to each video and added the introduction greeting to each video. The videos give all viewers, from school children and adults an opportunity to get a guided tour to learn more about Nevada's history.
The project came about by talking with Shery's husband, Robert Zorn and son, Izaac Zorn and the amazing AACT Arts and Media Academy.
Robert H. Zorn is the CTE Communications Arts and Media Academy Teacher, and student advisor for the filming project.
"This project with the Nevada Historical Society ties into my Video Production program which strives to find real-world work for students. In this case it’s especially pertinent as the regular “Capstone” projects normally required of seniors were cancelled due to the pandemic, but this experience with the museum is very similar to a capstone project and it provided these two students with a chance to apply their production skills in a practical way."
The Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology (AACT) is an advanced career technical education academy within the Washoe County School District.
AACT provides the opportunity for students to determine what career or college pathway they want to pursue in post-secondary education. AACT creates the support structure to ensure students enter a college or profession ready to use all available technology and tools necessary to be the best and brightest in the field.
AACT has been recognized as a top performing school within the Washoe County School District, and it has produced the highest graduation rate for all Northern Nevada High Schools. To learn more about this great program, check out this link: AACT High School.
We didn't want to overlook the fact there are two other tours created by our wonderful educational docents, Betsy Morse, Jana Dunn with Mark Ullom filming.
The titles of these two videos are Prehistory in Nevada and Along the California Trail through Nevada.
All five videos are now available
on the NHS website.
Click on the Education tab for the Educational History Videos page.
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Lorraine Petersen and Ian Thunder are recording her audio about eating insects. |
Izaac Zorn and Ian Thunder are getting ready to record Pam Walker talk about the Mountain Men. |
Larry Walker, Mountain Man Re-enactor and educator, taking a break between filming. |
Lorraine Petersen is filming her introduction while Izaac Zorn holds the sound mic and Ian Thunder is filming this segment. |
Izaac Zorn and Ian Thunder are reviewing the script with Lorraine before filming begins. |
Pam and Linda are waiting to record another audio segment for their Mountain Men video. |
Ian Thunder and Izaac Zorn are reviewing their introduction footage while using the gimble tripod.
Shery Hayes-Zorn, NHS Curator of Manuscripts took photos during the filming project.
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High Noon: Shootout with Neal Cobb Series |
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Thursday, May 20, 2021
Speaker, Loren Jahn, Nevada artist and preservationist
Lecture Title: Preserving one of the UNR Gateway District Homes
Learn more about Loren Jahn’s latest Reno preservation project. He is among a small group of people that saved the historic homes from the UNR Gateway area. He will talk about saving the last historic, 1890s Queen Anne cottage from the UNR Gateway District Adopt-A-House program.
Loren Jahn is a Reno native, artist and local preservationist. He specializes in murals and other art forms that depict historic Northern Nevada, particularly its architecture and has worked on several local conservation efforts.
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Thursday, June 17, 2021
Speaker, Ramon Seelbach, Balloonist
Lecture Title: Ballooning in and around the Truckee Meadows
Ramon Seelbach bought his new balloon in 1984 and flew it every year for the next 27 years. Most balloons last 6 to 8 years. This slide show covers all aspects of hot air ballooning including races, upkeep and maintenance.
Ramon has been flying balloons for more than 30 years, both locally and throughout the western United States. Although his balloon, “Up Early,” is no longer airworthy, he still uses it as a “walk in a balloon” at the Great Reno Balloon Race as well as at other venues locally. Learn the basics of ballooning and enjoy many of his adventures in balloons including a collection of over 200 special shape balloons from around the world.
Ramon Seelbach is a commercial hot air balloon pilot with more than 30 years’ experience. He is retired from active flying now but is still active in the ballooning community.
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Thursday, July 15, 2021
Speaker, Jack Bacon
Lecture Title: 19th and 20th Century Painters in Nevada
An illustrated overview of the art and history of painters of Nevada of the 19th and 20th centuries based on the first comprehensive biographical dictionary on the subject ever published. The talk will cover artists from the early days of western exploration, the Latimer School of the early 20th century, and many of the popular and charismatic art figures of the times.
Jack Bacon, a fine art appraiser, settled in Reno in 1974 and together with his wife of 38 years, Kim Bacon, raised their two children, Jack and Lacy. For nearly 40 years they owned a successful art gallery in Reno during which time they came to know many of Nevada’s great artists. Since 1983, Jack Bacon & Company has routinely published books on Nevada history, culture, biography, and art.
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Thursday, August 19, 2021
Speaker, Jon Wagner, Retired Reno Fireman
Lecture Title: Finding and restoring part of RFD’s past
In April 2006 Jon and a group of Reno Firefighters found out about an ex-Reno FD 1917 American Lafrance tractor drawn aerial fire ladder truck for sale in the SFO Bay area. After a couple of trips to see the 1917 ALF arrangements were made to purchase it and bring it back to Reno. The 1917 ALF is now 95% complete with only a few details remaining incomplete along with some tools and equipment. The restoration process was extensively documented with photographs. This program will take you through all the steps in this 15 year restoration process.
Jon has been a Reno resident since October 1978. Moving to Reno from Miami, FL where he was born and raised. After Jon moved to Reno, he started working for the NV Division of Forestry in October of 1979. He helped build the NDF Verdi Fire Station that was located on Garson Rd. At 8:00 am on Jan. 21, 1985 Jon started work as a recruit in the Training Academy at the Reno Fire Department.
Jon lead the effort to successfully find and fully restore one of Reno’s early ladder trucks. Working with many other Reno firefighters, have restored four large pieces of equipment and numerous photographs and artifacts. The group has created a a few exhibitions to show what they’ve done and to celebrate Reno firemen history.
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NHS Docent Project Highlight |
We are spotlighting one of our NHS Docent's Karen and what project she is working on for NHS.
Karen is doing double duty with admissions and cataloging new accessions in our events space/collections workspace.
Its wonderful to see how she gets transported back in time looking at the materials and thinking about the people who used, collected, and lived with them.
Karen’s enthusiasm reinforces how lucky and honored we are to preserve our cultural heritage.
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Karen working on creating an inventory of a family collection that includes these children's toys. |
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Teacher Appreciation Week |
Did you know that Teacher Appreciation Week was May 3-7th, 2021?
Teachers play a vital role in shaping students opinions and forming ideas about society, life and personal goals.
Teachers can be role models for children and leave a lasting impression.
Make sure to take time to thank a teacher that made a difference in your life or is making a difference in your child’s life.
Here are a few examples from the NHS Collection: photos of an early Reno elementary classroom, a group of teachers at a professional development training in Fallon, and students with their teacher posing outside in Manhattan,
and a document teachers oath from 1887.
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A new school law required all Nevada teachers to sign the Public-School Teacher’s Oath, March 1887.
NHS Library holding file.
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Photograph of Teachers posing outside of the school building. Teacher's Institute, Fallon, Nevada, 1911. Mueller #1689. |
Photograph of an unidentified schoolteacher with elementary students, Reno, Nevada.
MSNC305 Robert L. Fulton.
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Photograph of an unidentified schoolteacher standing outside with students. Manhattan, Nevada, 1906.
Mueller #0692.
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A fun photograph of the Williams family posing in front of a Sierra Beer Poster, Reno, Nevada. 1912. NHS Photo No# |
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Nevada Historical Society 'Q' |
The Breweries of Nevada
Copper King, Tahoe, Mount Rose, New Style Lager, Sierra, Riter's Elite
Steam--these are just some of the many beers once brewed in Nevada.
In the Silver State, as in other parts of the country, the production and bottling of beer was a colorful "local industry" during much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Beers produced locally or, in some cases, beers made elsewhere but shipped in bulk to a local bottling works, engaged in lively competition with "foreign" beers (as local brewers contemptuously labelled out-of-state products).
To learn more about the breweries in Nevada, click on the article link.
NHSQ - Fall 1982, pages 210-218.
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Goldfield Fire Department, 1908.
NHS Photo# ESM-00385.
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This was Nevada NHS Series
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The Beer that saved Goldfield
In terms of fire protection, the early history of Nevada’s 20th century mining camps is not unlike that of Reno and the Comstock Lode. The initial water supply developed in the camps minimally served the needs of residents and businesses and took care of the mines and mills, but fire protection had a low priority.
To learn more about beer saved Goldfield, click on the article link.
TWNS - published on July 29, 1987.
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NHS Program Lectures Available |
Did you know that many of our lectures are available on our website?
Did you miss one of our live programs? Don't worry, you can watch these great programs anytime.
Just click on the image above to view the available programs!
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Nevada's Oldest Cultural Institution
Nevada Historical Society
1650 N. Virginia Street
Reno, NV. 89503
775.688.1190
NHS is part of the Dept. Tourism & Cultural Affairs, Div. of Museums & History
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