Don’t miss our August and September Programs!
If you love Nevada History, make sure to attend any of our FREE On The GO! Programs
Writers’ Wednesday – On The GO!
Wednesday, August 12, 2026, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm
Speaker: Jon Ralston, author, reporter
Book Title: The Game Changer: How Harry Reid Remade the Rules and Showed Democrats How to Fight
Summary of Talk: The book is a biography of the life and career of Harry Reid, the five-time Senator from Nevada. The book explores Reid’s ruthlessness and tenacity, which produced groundbreaking legislation and tactics that kept the Democratic Party in control. It covers Reid’s rise from a childhood in a ramshackle home to becoming a powerful political figure, including his role in ensuring Obamacare became law, the Dodd-Frank Act, and other significant legislation. The biography also highlights Reid’s influence in Nevada, where he built a political machine that turned a red state
High Noon Virtual Zoom Talk
Thursday, August 20, 2026 at Noon
Speaker: Ted Faye, Historian, Author, and Film Producer
Title: History of the Twenty-Mule Teams of Death Valley
Talk Summary: Long before modern branding dominated American culture, one image reigned supreme: a massive train of wagons pulled by twenty mules, stretching across the unforgiving desert. It was as instantly recognizable in its time as today’s most iconic logos—a symbol of grit, endurance, and ingenuity. This was the trademark of Pacific Coast Borax Company and its flagship product, 20 Mule Team Borax—a name forever tied to the harsh mystique of Death Valley.
Register for this Lecture: https://events.washoecountylibrary.us/event/16804752
Thank you Dr. Christopher von Nagy for such an informative talk for our August Nevada History – On The GO!
Nevada History – On The GO!
Saturday, September 5, 2026, from 1 to 2:30 pm
Speaker: Richard Markley, historian, author, and retired Forest Service Administrator
Title of Talk: “Tragedy and Heroism in the Work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Nevada: The Rock Creek Fire of 1939”
Summary of Talk: This presentation will share recently published research about a little-known tragic wildfire that took the lives of 5 young Civilian Conservation Corps firefighters in northern Nevada in 1939. Two of the fallen firefighters had heroically tried to save several of their fellow firefighters but were overtaken by the fast-moving flames and perished. Known as the Rock Creek Fire, it ranks as one of the worst firefighter fatality fires in Nevada history.
Writers’ Wednesday – On The GO!
Wednesday, September 9, 2026, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm
Speaker: Stanley Paher, author and historian
Book Title: Nevada Courthouse Controversies
Summary of Talk: Nevada Courthouse Controversies. The book features a large section on the controversial topic of moving the county seat and courthouse from Washoe City to Reno between 1868 and 1873. This is sure to be an engaging talk with Stan Paher, and this is his latest book!
High Noon Virtual Zoom Talk
Thursday, September 17, 2026, at Noon
Speaker: Dr. David G. Schwartz, historian and director of the UNLV Center for Gaming Research
Book Title: Something for Your Money: A History of Las Vegas Casinos
Talk Summary: Las Vegas has been a gambling town since its 1905 founding. Its gambling halls, casino hotels, and resorts made it first a local curiosity, then a national obsession, and finally a global destination. The modern American casino resort was born on a lonely stretch of road that, within a decade, would become known as the Las Vegas Strip. This was a place where America could cut loose, enjoying pleasures denied at home. As visitors flocked to Las Vegas, casinos became a business and then an industry. Today, with casino gambling widely proliferated, Las Vegas still is the pinnacle of American gambling, be it on slot machines, blackjack, sports betting, or poker.
This book shares stories about how Las Vegas became—and stayed—America’s gambling capital, focusing on the casinos that made it famous and the hustlers, gangsters, number-crunchers, and dreamers who made them. Those who fought against Las Vegas show up as well: the senator whose campaign against legal gambling magnificently backfired, or the pair of muckrakers who made Las Vegas seem more tantalizing than ever before—and gave the town its defining myth.
Register for this Lecture: