As part of Women’s History Month, the Bakersfield Demimonde 1870 to 1920 event was held in the Fireside Room on March 9. The guest speaker for the event was Rebecca S. Orfila, assistant director of the Center for Archaeological Research at Cal State Bakersfield.

The Bakersfield Demimonde was about the history of prostitutes, women, boardinghouses and saloons in Bakersfield.

Many of these boardinghouses and saloons were located in what is now called downtown. There was prostitution on various streets such as L Street, K Street, 21st Street and 20th Street.

Some of the more prominent saloon and dance hall owners were Clement Borsi and Luisa Toschi Dellaringa. This man and woman team owned a variety of saloons that served liquor with the side order of a lady of the evening, better known as a prostitute.

Some men supervised the women of fallen virtue, but there were also some women called “madams,” who supervised the painted ladies. Some of the more prominent madams were Mildred Raymond, Camille D. May Brown and Kittie Castro.

However, many attendees admitted that, as Orfila continued to describe the demimonde to the audience, it became more and more interesting. Megan Gutierrez, an audience member, said, “I never realized how amazing this topic was. I actually liked hearing about the prostitutes of Bakersfield’s past.”

Jason Groves, a psychology major, said, “I thought that the demimonde was going to be a very boring topic, but after finding out what ‘demimonde’ means, I have had a change of heart.”

Many attendees said that The Women’s History Month and More Committee definitely chose a topic that was new to a lot of residents in Bakersfield. Other events scheduled at BC for Women’s History Month are “Comrades, Cowgirls and Curanderas” in the Fireside Room at 6:30 p.m. March 19; “Working Women in America” in SE 56 at 7:15 p.m. March 24; and “Salt of the Earth” at 6 p.m. April 2 at BC.