Sisters in Sin - the Nellie Spencer Story
Nellie K. Spencer was an early-day prostitute and also a survivor. From her childhood to her senior years, she persevered against odds that might have sunk a less determined individual. Her story is that of an indomitable woman who thrived and prospered in the world of prostitution during the waning years of the "Old West" through the "Roaring Twenties," and into the World War II era. Interviewed by author Duane A. Smith in the early 1980s when she was in her nineties, Nellie proudly tells an amazing story of her days "on the line" with no regret. Nellie died March 26, 1984, just ten months after her last interview, and is buried at Greenmount Cemetery in Durango, Colorado. In addition to the insight provided by what was possibly Western Colorado's last "Old West" prostitute, this book also includes information about and maps of some of the states most infamous red light districts of "the day." Author Duane A. Smith is a Professor of History at Ft. Lewis College in Durango, and author of numerous western history titles, including San Juan Gold, A Visit with the Tomboy Bride, Crested Butte from Coal Camp to Ski Town, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge: A Quick History, A Brief History of Silverton, Rocky Mountain Mining Camps, and The Irrepressible David F. Day, which are all published by and available through Western Reflections Publishing Company.
- Published
- 2011
- ISBN
- 978-1-932738-95-7
- Pages
- 168
- Place
- Silverton
- Publisher
- Western Reflections Pub.
- Listed at
- $12.95
Publication details from Open Library. The price shown is the last one on record and is historic, not a current offer.
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About this book
Sisters in Sin is a biography of Nellie K. Spencer, and the catalogue description opens with a blunt summary: she was an early-day prostitute and also a survivor. It follows her from childhood to her senior years, and says she persevered against odds that might have sunk a less determined individual.
The description calls hers the story of an indomitable woman who thrived and prospered in the world of prostitution. The description places her story from the waning years of the "Old West" through the "Roaring Twenties" and into the World War II era. It says author Duane A. Smith interviewed her in the early 1980s, when she was in her nineties, and that she died on March 26, 1984 and is buried at Greenmount Cemetery in Durango, Colorado.
What we can confirm is the shape of the book. It is nonfiction, by Duane A. Smith, with 168 pages in our catalogue and the ISBN 978-1-932738-95-7. Open Library lists a 2011 edition from Western Reflections Pub., filed under biography, prostitutes, frontier and pioneer life, prostitution and history. It is the latest book by Smith in our list.
What is inside
A life from childhood
The book follows Nellie K. Spencer from her childhood to her senior years.
A survivor's story
The description stresses that she survived and persevered against heavy odds.
The world she worked in
It treats prostitution as the setting in which she thrived and prospered.
Frontier context
Library subject headings place the book within frontier and pioneer life.
Who it is for
Sisters in Sin is for readers of Western women's history who want a life story rather than a survey. It suits those interested in how women supported themselves on the frontier, and in the lives that polite histories passed over. Libraries collecting biography and frontier life will find it fits those headings. Readers should know that it deals frankly with its subject. Because the book follows one woman across her whole life, it also makes a useful companion to broader histories of western towns.
About the author
Duane A. Smith is a Colorado historian known for books on mining camps, railroads and newspapermen, and this 2011 biography is the most recent in our list. His other books are described on his author page, which also gives what we can confirm about his career. We have no further information about Nellie Spencer than what the book's description gives, so we leave her story to the book.
The place and the period
We were not able to find an independent source for Nellie Spencer that we could read and verify, so this page does not describe her life beyond the catalogue. What can be said is general. Wikipedia reports that gold rush profits from the 1840s to 1900 drew gambling, crime, saloons and prostitution to frontier mining towns.
That is the world the description places her in, though it does not give us a town or a year. If you know of a local source on Nellie Spencer, such as a county historical society record, we would like to hear about it through the contact page.
Good to know
Is it fiction?
When was it published?
How long is the book?
Does it name the towns where Nellie lived?
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