Beaverhead County Museum Hosts Montana Conversation "Kid Gloves & Brass Knuckles: The Life Of Nancy Cooper Russell" With Mary Jane Bradbury

The Beaverhead County Museum  hosts Montana Conversation “Kid Gloves and Brass Knuckles:  The Life of Nancy Cooper Russell” with Mary Jane Bradbury on Thursday January 18, 2024. The program is at The Old Depot Theatre at 6:30 p.m. The presentation is free and open to the public. Funding for the Montana Conversations program is provided by Humanities Montana through grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Montana’s Cultural Trust, and private donations. We are funded in part by coal severance taxes paid based upon coal mined in Montana and deposited in Montana’s cultural and aesthetic projects trust fund.

Against the backdrop of the social and political reform of the early 1900s, Nancy Cooper Russell was a woman ahead of her time. A self-taught businesswoman with the ability to take charge, Nancy helped Charles M. Russell become the highest paid living artist of his time. Art historians consistently give her credit for being the reason the world has the extraordinary Russell paintings and sculptures that grace galleries and private collections today. Bradbury brings Nancy Russell to life and shares the story of her chance meeting with the Montana cowboy artist who would become her husband. She describes the world of art that celebrated the myth of the west at the beginning of the 20th century and tells stories about the renowned artists and celebrities the Russells knew as they traveled from New York City to the growing California suburb called Hollywood.

Mary Jane Bradbury is a scholar and actress who brings history to life for audiences of all ages in the Rocky Mountain region. She teaches for Colorado Humanities and is a historic interpreter for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

For more information, please call Beaverhead County Museum (406) 683-5027