Ladies upstairs, downstairs

WALLACE –– Enjoy the ladies upstairs… downstairs.

The Barnard-Stockbridge Museum held its Spring Fling Season Opening Gala this past Saturday. The current exhibit hosts stunning, life-size images from the renowned Barnard-Stockbridge Collection.

Located in the Wallace Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Building, the top floor shows an incredible display of historical photographs of Wallace and surrounding areas.

The display upstairs begins with a stoic self-portrait of Nellie Stockbridge, greeting you to peruse her historic photos.

The images viewed upstairs are of families enjoying a picnic on a hot summer day, photos of local mines, Wallace graduating classes, parades, local families, and more.

Upstairs, a special section highlights the Iron Riders, giving a historical review of the only bicycle corp that the U.S. Army ever authorized. The all African-American unit conducted drills and exercises on bicycles and pedaling 1,900 miles from Ft. Missoula, stopping in Wallace, across the snow-dusted Rocky Mountains and steamy Great Plains, to St. Louis, in 40 days.

To give some context and information about the downstairs ladies, Heather Branstetter, author of Selling Sex in the Silver Valley, explained why we have these photographs and the information found about the ladies.

When women came to work in the Wallace red-light district, they would interview for their job with the madam. If approved for the job, they would head to the local Sheriff's Department to run a background check and receive a mug shot. However, instead of the traditional mugshot, women working in the brothels were also offered a beauty shot by Stockbridge.

"Not all of the portraits were taken by Stockbridge, but she took them from the early 1940s to about 1963. For about twenty years, she took photos for the police, documenting the women who worked in the houses, for the police and FBI," Branstetter explained to the crowd.

"The police would conduct a background check, but the other purpose of this documentation was to see what other people this woman has been in contact with, if they were associated with organized crime or violent, controlling pimps. Wallace didn't want women working in the houses who had ties to organized crime."

After the presentation, the documentary "Wallace" by Delaney Buffet was later shown to those interested, with the description,

"In the tiny mining town of Wallace, Idaho, old west brothels were open and tolerated up until 1991. The short documentary, Wallace, takes you on a trip to the past of a community where prostitution was deeply ingrained for over a cenutry."

Before entering the exhibit for the downstairs ladies, a sign greets you,

explaining that the downstairs features adult content.

The new exhibit, dedicated to Wallace sex workers, features photos from women's groups in early Wallace like the Junior Rose Women's Association, old newspapers, and advertisements showing warnings about venereal disease and "keep away from prostitutes."

Placed along the walls, the eyes of the ladies who worked in the brothel watch as you view mugshots, beauty shots, calendars, and more to give you a look inside what life was like for a woman who worked in this lifestyle.

The Barnard-Stockbridge Museum is located at 312 4th St. in Wallace and will be open seven days a week from 9-5.