Mining Charity

Abstract

Scalding water, plummeting cage elevators, cave-ins, fiery explosions, toxic air. These were among the many hazards of silver ore mining on Nevada’s Comstock Lode in the late 1800s. This article explores the nature of silver mining society in the 1860s and 1870s, focusing on the dangerous conditions in which miners worked in the mineshafts that ran beneath the communities of Virginia City and Gold Hill, Nevada. The material culture and conditions of mining, the article argues, were central to determining the community’s needs and the charitable efforts mounted to address them. Philanthropic work and fundraising for a diverse set of causes—from attending to individuals’ needs to building a hospital to running an orphanage—shaped residents’ social and cultural lives, as well as the built environment in which they lived.