Abstract
The Harmon Family Photograph Collection contains black-and-white and color photographic prints, negatives, postcards, and slides of the Harmon family in Las Vegas and Boulder City, Nevada between approximately 1900 and 1983. Las Vegas photographs depict the Harmon family in their home, at a ranch, and at Las Vegas High School. Boulder City photographs include a wedding and a view of Black Canyon, Nevada. Lastly, the collection also includes photographs of the Harmon family with various people, including the Wengert family and Howard Cannon, at receptions, ceremonies, and posing in front of Las Vegas buildings.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The Harmon Family Photograph Collection contains black-and-white and color photographic prints, negatives, postcards, and slides of the Harmon family in Las Vegas and Boulder City, Nevada between approximately 1900 and 1983. Las Vegas photographs depict the Harmon family in their home, at a ranch, and at Las Vegas High School. Boulder City photographs include a wedding and a view of Black Canyon, Nevada. Lastly, the collection also includes photographs of the Harmon family with various people, including the Wengert family and Howard Cannon, at receptions, ceremonies, and posing in front of Las Vegas buildings.
Access Note
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 as they were received.
Biographical / Historical Note
Harley A. Harmon was born in 1882 in Wier City, Kansas. His father, Elmer Harmon, was an attorney who moved the family to Los Angeles, California when Harmon was nine years old. In 1903, Harley A. Harmon unsuccessfully ran for Los Angeles City Clerk. In 1905, Harley A. Harmon joined the Union Pacific Railroad as an engineer and drove one of the first construction trains to Las Vegas, Nevada, where Harley A. Harmon was stationed in 1908.
That same year, Harley A. Harmon attended the Democratic State Convention and advocated for the establishment of Clark County in Las Vegas, which passed in the next session and became effective on July 1, 1909. When Las Vegas was incorporated in 1911, Harley A. Harmon became Clark County's first City Clerk. Harmon took his bar examination and passed in 1919, and in 1921 he was elected District Attorney. Harmon held the office until 1934, when he ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for governor. After the election, the newly elected Democratic Governor Richard Kirman appointed Harmon the chairman of the State Public Service Commission. Harmon ran again for the gubernatorial nomination in 1938 and lost a second time. He was a member of the Colorado River Commission which negotiated rights for the water and power emanating from the Colorado River and the Boulder Dam.
Harley A. Harmon married Leona McGovern in 1911 and had two children, Charles E. Harmon and Harley E. Harmon. Harley A. Harmon died October 10, 1947.
Harley Emmett Harmon was born November 21, 1918 to Harley A. Harmon and Leona Gates Harmon in Las Vegas, Nevada. He attended school in Las Vegas, Nevada and graduated in 1937. Harley E. Harmon graduated the from the University of Nevada, Reno. In 1947, Harley E. Harmon married Cleo L. Katsaros, and the couple had two sons, Harley L. Harmon and Jeffrey E. Harmon. Harley E. Harmon was elected to the Nevada State Assembly for one term in 1948 and to the Board of Clark County Commissioners in 1950, where he served for twelve years and was a chairman for eight years. He established and was president of the Harley E. Harmon Insurance Agency, Frontier Fidelity Savings and Loan Association, and in 1961 organized the purchase of Nevada State Bank and became president. In 1976, he moved from the Nevada State Bank and joined Valley Bank as Vice President for Marketing. He resigned from that position in 1979 and later began Harley E. Harmon Insurance with his wife. Harley E. Harmon died on September 24, 2001.
Sources:
Hopkins, A.D. "Harley Harmon."
Preferred Citation
Harmon Family Photograph Collection, approximately 1900-1983. PH-00182. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 1983 by Harley E. Harmon; accession number 1983-061.
Processing Note
In 2020, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Jimmy Chang wrote the finding aid and entered the data into ArchivesSpace.