Bozeman Magazine

In the boomtowns of the 19th-century American West, madams were much more than brothel owners; they were influential figures—landlords, employers, cultural tastemakers, and political agents. This lecture dives into the world of frontier madams through the captivating story of Josephine “Chicago Joe” Hensley, once a sweatshop worker who became the wealthiest woman in Helena, Montana. Through six years of archival research, Siriana Lundgren will reveal how Joe built her red-light empire and strategically wielded sound to assert her power. From courtroom battles regarding “hurdy-gurdy” houses to turf wars involving noise and music, Chicago Joe’s story demonstrates how performance became a tool in larger struggles over gender, morality, and space. Raised in Billings, Montana, Siriana Lundgren has always loved the big and wild stories of the land she calls home. She is earning her PhD in Historical Musicology with a secondary field in American Studies at Harvard University, where she writes about the music making of women in boomtown red-light districts. Before returning to Montana, Siriana taught as a visiting professor at St. Olaf College, where she designed courses in music and Western history. She’s developed programming and exhibits across institutions like the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, the Montana State Library, and Harvard Libraries. She’s published her work on Western history in PointsWest Magazine, the Ethnomusicology Review, and most proudly, Teen Vogue. You also might catch her work on Wyoming Public Radio or Classical Minnesota Public Radio. While not feverishly hunting down information in the archives, you can find Siriana designing video games or playing her cello.