Abstract
The Harold Stocker Photographs depict Harold Stocker and his family from 1850 to 1980. Materials include photographs of Harold Stocker, his parents, his siblings, and his extended family. Materials also include photographs of Harold Stocker's business interests such as the Northern Club in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Nevada Silica Sand Company in Overton, Nevada, and the Chief Hotel Court on Fremont Street in Las Vegas, Nevada. The collection also contains photographs of Stocker participating in Republican Party events in Nevada.
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Scope and Contents Note
The Harold Stocker Photographs depict Harold Stocker and his family from 1850 to 1980. Materials include photographs of Harold Stocker, his parents, his siblings, and his extended family in Nevada, Pennsylvania, New York, Utah, California, and Alaska. Materials also include photographs of Harold Stocker's business interests such as the Northern Club in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Nevada Silica Sand Company in Overton, Nevada, and the Chief Hotel Court on Fremont Street in Las Vegas, Nevada. The collection also contains photographs of Harold Stocker participating in Republican Party events in Nevada as well as several autographed photographs of politicians addressed to Harold Stocker.
Access Note
Collection is open for research. Some collection material has been digitized and is available online.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials are roughly arranged by subject.
Biographical / Historical Note
Harold Stocker was a significant figure in Nevada business and politics for over five decades. After helping his family operate the Northern Club in Las Vegas, Nevada, he operated the Nevada Silica Sand Company in Overton, Nevada from 1932 to 1940. In 1938, he started construction on the Chief Hotel Court on Fremont Street in Las Vegas. In 1948, he started construction on the Desert Plaza Apartments, the largest apartment complex in Nevada at the time. Stocker was also an active member of the Republican Party; he served as county commissioner for one term while operating the Silica Sand Company, and he served as state chairman of the party in the 1950s.
Harold Stocker's parents Oscar Stocker and Mayme Virginia Clifton were married in Reading, Pennsylvania on December 26, 1891. Oscar Stocker, who was born on April 1, 1872 in Easton, Pennsylvania, was employed by the railroad. Mayme, who had worked at a silk mill in Philipsburg, New Jersey, was born in Reading on September 5, 1875. The Stockers' three sons were all born in Reading: Lester Stocker, November 16, 1892; Clarence Stocker, April 10, 1894; and Harold Stocker, March 8, 1900.
The Stocker family left Reading in 1904 and settled in Las Vegas, Nevada in October 1911. Mayme opened the Northern Club in 1920 after her sons became unemployed as a result of a railroad strike. She became the first recipient of a gaming license after Governor Fred Balzar signed the bill legalizing gaming in 1931. Oscar Stocker's name could not appear on the license because he was a railroad employee. The Stockers' sons operated the club until the Great Depression forced its closure. They continued to operate the hotel and leased out the first floor.
Harold Stocker's brothers Lester and Clarence Stocker were charter members of the Las Vegas Elks Lodge. Lester Stocker died in Las Vegas on December 17, 1934, and Clarence Stocker died June 5, 1951. Their father, Oscar, a thirty-nine year member of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainsmen, died September 10, 1941.
Mayme Stocker was a member of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainsmen, the Royal Neighbors, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and other organizations in the Las Vegas area. Mayme Stocker died December 12, 1972.
Harold Stocker supported the University of Nevada, Las Vegas by donating his personal and professional papers to the University Libraries. He also established the Harold J. and Mayme V. Stocker Foundation to provide scholarships to engineering and chemistry students who graduated high school in Clark County.
Stocker died January 9, 1983 in Las Vegas.
Source:
"Longtime LV businessman, gaming pioneer dies at 82," Las Vegas Review-Journal, January 10, 1983.
Preferred Citation
Harold Stocker Photographs, 1850-1980. PH-00006. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 1977 and 1978 by Harold Stocker; accession number 1978-013.
Processing Note
Materials were processed by Special Collections staff. In 2015, as part of a legacy finding aid conversion project, Lindsay Oden wrote the collection description in compliance with current professional standards.