Abstract
The Joe Andre Photograph Collection (approximately 1906-1980) contains photographic prints, postcards, and negatives documenting Joe Andre’s life. The images in this collection document his involvement in the United States Marine Corps Band and his days as a touring musician throughout the northwest and southwest United States. Also included are photographs of family vacations and businesses he owned in Beatty, Nevada.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The Joe Andre Photograph Collection (approximately 1906-1980) includes photographic prints, postcards, and negatives. The images document stages of Andre’s adult life such as his military service and involvement in the United States Marine Corps Band; his life as a touring musician and band leader throughout Oregon, California, and Nevada; his businesses (Silver Diner Cafe, Exchange Club, Andre’s Drugs) in Beatty, Nevada; and family travels with his wife Dorothy and daughter Ruth.
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials remain in original order. Duplicate negatives appear at the end of the inventory.
Biographical / Historical Note
Joseph (Joe) Otto Andre was born in Carlow, Missouri in 1890. He joined the United States Marine Corps (USMC) around 1906. He became part of the United States Marine Band, learning how to play clarinet and other instruments. After completing his military service, Andre pursued a career in music, traveling around the northwestern United States with a small band. While traveling, Andre met Dorothy Engel in Astoria, Oregon. The couple married, had a child, and opened a music store there, but the store was unsuccessful. Andre then went to San Francisco, California to find work as a musician. He found two opportunities abroad and one in the United States as a band leader for the Big Casino in Tonopah, Nevada. The Andres chose to move to Tonopah because they wanted to stay in the United States.
Joe and Dorothy Andre settled in Tonopah, Nevada in 1921 and Joe worked at the Big Casino until it burned down on August 23, 1922. The couple left Tonopah and moved back to California. Joe eventually found work in several other Nevada mining communities before he and Dorothy moved to Beatty, Nevada in 1942. They bought the Exchange Club and two buildings across the street which became the Silver Diner and Fountain Drugs. These establishments were popular rest stops for buses traveling through the west. After running the businesses for several years, Joe and Dorothy sold them and travelled throughout the southwest United States before retiring in Las Vegas, Nevada. Joe Andre died in 1982 and Dorothy Engel Andre died in 1983.
Source:
McCracken, Bob. “In Bygone Era, Federal Government Once Operated Tonopah Brothel.” Pahrump Valley Times, September 5, 2014. Accessed November 6, 2019. https://pvtimes.com/news/in-bygone-era-federal-government-once-operated-tonopah-brothel/
Preferred Citation
Joe Andre Photograph Collection, approximately 1906-1980. PH-00124. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Photographs were donated by the nieces and nephews of Joe and Dorothy Andre; accession numbers 81-68 and 2015-040.
Processing Note
Material was processed by Joyce Moore and Dallas Rieber. In 2019, Lauren Paljusaj updated the inventory and revised the finding aid.