Abstract
The Lori Lipman Brown Papers date from 1975 to 2009 and document former Nevada State Senator Lori Lipman Brown's political career. It includes correspondence and materials from Brown's service as a Nevada State Senator from 1992 to 1994, case files from her defamation lawsuit against Nevada State Senator Kathy Augustine, and papers from her work opposing the Nevada Question 2 ballot measure on same-sex marriage in 2000. The collection also contains photocopies of biographical materials and personal and publicity photographs of Brown, as well as material from her time working with local high school and commmunity theatre programs.
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Scope and Contents Note
The Lori Lipman Brown Papers date from 1975 to 2009 and document former Nevada State Senator Lori Lipman Brown's political career. It includes correspondence and materials from Brown's service as a Nevada State Senator from 1992 to 1994, including documents related to SB 466 overturning the Nevada sodomy law, case files from her defamation lawsuit against Nevada State Senator Kathy Augustine, and papers from her work opposing the Nevada Question 2 ballot measure on same-sex marriage in 2000. The collection also contains photocopies of biographical materials and personal and publicity photographs of Brown. Other materials in the collection include souvenir t-shirts collected by Brown, campaign ephemera, materials from Brown's 2004 run for Nevada Supreme Court, and her work in the community and high school theatre.
Access Note
Collection is open for research, with the exception of materials that are restricted to protect personally identifiable information. Restrictions are noted at the file level of this inventory.
Publication Rights
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
Material remains in original order.
Biographical / Historical Note
Former Nevada State Senator Lori Lipman Brown works as a lawyer, educator, civil rights advocate, and secular activist in the United States. Born in New York on June 17, 1958, Brown graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and then received her Juris Doctor from Southwestern University School of Law in 1983. After working as an attorney, Brown returned to UNLV and took courses to get her teaching license and went to work as a high school teacher.
In 1992, voters elected Brown to the Nevada State Senate. As a senator she supported the repeal of the Nevada sodomy statute, funding for social workers, mental health care, and education. Brown lost her reelection campaign to Kathy Augustine. Following the loss, Brown succesfully sued Augustine for defamation over Augustine's claims that Brown refused to pray or say the Pledge of Allegiance on the floor of the State Senate.
Following her service in the State Senate, Brown supported progressive causes in Nevada. She worked with Equal Rights Nevada to oppose Question 2 which defined marriage as only a union between a man and woman in 2000. Brown ran unsuccessfully for the Nevada Supreme Court in 2004. She served as the first director of the congressional lobby group the Secular Coalition for Americans from 2005 to 2009. She represented nonreligious Americans and lobbied on issues of religion and civil law.
Source:
“Lori Lipman Brown, Founding Director Emeritus (2005-2009).” Secular Coalition for America. Accessed July 21, 2014. http://secular.org/bios/Lori_Lipman_Brown.html
Preferred Citation
Lori Lipman Brown Papers, 1975-2009. MS-00346. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/f1d60w
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 1995, 2001, 2006, and 2008 by Lori Lipman Brown via Dennis McBride; accession numbers 1995-10, 2001-029, 2006-016, and an accretion in 2008. Additional materials were donated by Lori Lipman Brown in 2023; accession number 2023-051.
Processing Note
Material was partially processed by Special Collections staff. In 2014, as part of a legacy finding aid conversion project, Hannah Robinson wrote the collection description and entered the data into ArchivesSpace. In 2017, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Angela Moor revised the collection description to bring it into compliance with current professional standards. In 2023, Sarah Jones processed the materials donated in 2023 by Lori Lipman Brown, and updated the finding aid in ArchivesSpace.