Abstract
The Archie C. Grant Photograph Collection (1914-1968) contains black-and-white photographs of Nevada politician Archie C. Grant. The materials include photographs of Grant with the Las Vegas Housing Authority at groundbreaking ceremonies, the University of Nevada Board of Regents, and with other Nevada politicians. Materials also contain early photographs of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus, including the dedication of Maude Frazier Hall.
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Scope and Contents Note
The Archie C. Grant Photograph Collection (1914-1968) contains black-and-white photographs of Nevada politician Archie C. Grant. The materials include photographs of Grant with the Las Vegas Housing Authority at groundbreaking ceremonies, the University of Nevada Board of Regents, and with other Nevada politicians. The regents featured in the collection include Juanita Greer White and Helen Thompson, and politicians featured in the collection include U.S. Senator Pat McCarran and Nevada Lieutenant Governor Clifford A. Jones. The photographs also depict the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus, then known as Nevada Southern University, including the dedication of Maude Frazier Hall.
Access Note
The collection is open for research.
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
Materials remain in original order.
Biographical / Historical Note
Archie C. "A. C." Grant was born in 1894 in Ely, Minnesota and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1928, where he opened a Ford dealership. He became a member of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce in the early 1930s and eventually became its president. He was also part of the group that started the annual Helldorado Days parade. In 1947, he became chairman of the newly-formed Las Vegas Housing Authority, a position that he held for 20 years. Under his leadership, manufacturing plants used during World War II were transferred to private ownership, and he created the Las Vegas Valley Water District after having the water lines from Lake Mead routed to Las Vegas.
Grant was also active in Nevada politics. Before the legalization of gambling in 1931, Grant helped shape the legislation that would eventually legalize gaming. Grant was also a member of the State Repeal Convention that voted in favor of ending Prohibition in 1933. He ran unsuccessfully for governor of Nevada twice, but he served as a state assemblyman and state senator for one term each. He also served as a delegate from Nevada to the Democratic National Convention.
In 1952, Grant was elected to the office of University of Nevada Regent, and he was the first regent from Southern Nevada. While in office, Grant pushed for the establishment of a University of Nevada campus in Las Vegas, and in 1954 Nevada Southern University, which would later be renamed the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was founded. Archie C. Grant Hall, completed in 1959, was the second building constructed on the UNLV campus and is now UNLV's oldest original building.
Sources:
Eugene P. Moehring, The University of Nevada, Las Vegas: A History (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2007), 6-15.
F. Andrew Taylor, "Grant Hall namesake had crucial role in creation of UNLV," Las Vegas Review-Journal. July 3, 2014. http://www.reviewjournal.com/life/las-vegas-history/grant-hall-namesake-had-crucial-role-creation-unlv
Preferred Citation
Archie C. Grant Photograph Collection, 1914-1968. PH-00016. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 1976 by Helen Grant; accession number 1976-120.
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. In 2020, Jimmy Chang added materials to the collection and enhanced the collection description.