Abstract
The Gene Hertzog Professional Papers (approximately 1930-2015) are comprised of photographs, slides, transparencies, publications, video cassettes, correspondence, and digital files spanning Gene Hertzog's working years with the United States Army, the Bureau of Reclamation, and as a freelance photographer and videographer based in Southern Nevada, New Mexico, and Washington state. The collection documents the complicated infrastructure required to supply water to the Las Vegas Valley and includes still and moving images of the Springs Preserve, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, the Colorado River, and the Columbia Basin. The majority of the collection comes from Hertzog's time as a regional photographer for the Bureau of Reclamation and offers a unique glimpse into the Bureau's work in Southern Nevada, the southwest, and the Pacific Northwest from the 1950s to the mid-1990s.
Finding Aid PDF
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Scope and Contents Note
The Gene Hertzog Professional Papers (approximately 1930-2015) are comprised of photographs, slides, transparencies, publications, video cassettes, correspondence, and digital files spanning Gene Hertzog's working years with the United States Army, the Bureau of Reclamation, and as a freelance photographer and videographer based in Southern Nevada. The collection documents the complicated infrastructure required to supply water to the Las Vegas Valley and includes still and moving images of the Springs Preserve, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and the Colorado River. The majority of the collection comes from Hertzog's time as a regional photographer for the Bureau of Reclamation and offers a unique glimpse into the Bureau's work in the Pacific Northwest, Southern Nevada, and the southwest from the 1950s to the mid-1990s. Hertzog documented the Columbia Basin Project (CBP) in Washington state. CBP constructed the Grand Coulee Dam from 1933 to 1942 and is the largest water reclamation project in the United States. Hertzog also meticulously documented the Central Arizona Project (CAP), a diversion canal system that delivers water into Central and Southern Arizona. CAP was authorized by the government in 1968, began in 1973, and concluded in 1993. This collection also includes digital photographs and videos that document the construction of the Las Vegas Springs Preserve and Nevada State Museum, as well as various other Southern Nevada Water Authority projects around the Las Vegas Valley.
Access Note
Collection is open for research. Arrangements must be made in advance to access digital files; please
contact UNLV Special Collections and Archives for additional information.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See
xlink:actuate="onRequest" xlink:href="http://www.library.unlv.edu/speccol/research_and_services/reproductions" xlink:show="new"
xlink:title="Reproductions and Use"> Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and
Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials are arranged by format and topic.
Biographical / Historical Note
Eugene "Gene" Edward Hertzog was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1932 when his father was assigned there as Commissioner of the Civil Service Administration for the mid-Atlantic states. He spent his childhood in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. At the age of seventeen, Hertzog contracted polio and was unable to complete high school together with his classmates from West Philadelphia Catholic High School. While recuperating from the disease, Hertzog completed his secondary diploma (GED) ahead of the other seniors. Bored, he joined the United States Army in 1949. For nine years, he served as a military photographer across Japan where, during the Korean War, he
also engaged in espionage activities. Finally, he was stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he met his first wife, Magdalene "Madeleine" Tafoya, who later passed away from complications of diabetes in October 1997. In 1956, the couple had a son, Wayne Alan.
After three years in Albuquerque, Hertzog took a job with the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation in Washington State and relocated there. The couple moved to Nevada in 1963 when Gene was promoted to the regional photographer position at the regional office in Boulder City, Nevada. Hertzog would spend the next four decades visually documenting Southern Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Southern California and parts of Colorado and New Mexico for the Bureau. The most enjoyable assignments were for the United States Tourism Office where he spent weeks in Guam and the Mariana Islands.
Hertzog retired from the Bureau of Reclamation in 1994 and became an active freelance photographer and videographer for clients such as the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Las Vegas Valley Water District, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Springs Preserve's various construction companies, Nevada Magazine, and the Clark County Department of Family Services Parenting Project.
Four years after Gene became a widower, he married his current wife, Maiqui Loyola Hertzog, who retired from the City of Henderson Economic Development Division in January 2001. The couple lived in Henderson, Nevada near Lake Las Vegas and in the Phillipines. Gene passed away March 11, 2024.
In 1976, Hertzog graduated from the Winona School of Professional Photography in Winona Lake, Indiana. Over his career, Hertzog was a member of the numerous organizations, including Professional Photographers of America; International Television Association, where he won the 1987 Merit Award; Lake Mead Boat Owners Association, where he served as president; Colorado River Water Users Association; and as the Las Vegas Junior Chamber of Commerce's newspaper editor from 1964 to 1970.
Sources:
Gene Hertzog Professional Papers, approximately 1930-2015. MS-01015. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
"Eugene Edward Hertzog," Prabook.com. Accessed April 5, 2022. https://prabook.com/web/eugene_edward.hertzog/573466
"Gene Hertzog" LinkedIn profile. Accessed April 5, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gene-hertzog-a6975126
“Wayne Alan Hertzog” PPLSCANNER. Accessed April 5, 2022. https://pplscanner.com/wayne-hertzog
Preferred Citation
Gene Hertzog Professional Papers, approximately 1930-2015. MS-01015. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 2020 and 2022 by Gene Hertzog; accession numbers 2020-014 and 2022-008.
Processing Note
In 2020, Sarah Jones processed the collection and entered the information into ArchivesSpace. In 2022, Ryan Browar rehoused the 2022 accession and revised the finding aid in ArchivesSpace.