Florence Lee Jones and John Cahlan Papers (MS-00200)

Florence Lee Jones

Florence Lee Jones worked at the Las Vegas Review-Journal and was widely respected for her detailed reporting. In addition to her full-time work at the paper, she volunteered with several community groups in Las Vegas, Nevada. She was born in Missouri in 1910 and graduated with a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 1933. She then moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where her parents had relocated and opened a service station near Hoover Dam.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal hired Florence Lee Jones as the only full-time reporter at the paper. She later married the editor of the paper, John Cahlan, but continued to use her maiden name as her byline. She became involved in building the community of Las Vegas and helped started the Service League for women, now known as the Junior League. She also had an active role in the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees). After some health problems, she retired from the Review-Journal in 1953, but continued to write occasional columns and articles for the paper. She later wrote a regular society column for the paper. Her writings often focused on the history of Las Vegas and she documented the stories of many of the city’s earliest residents.

The Las Vegas Valley Water District commissioned Jones and Cahlan to write a history of Las Vegas and in 1976, they completed Water: A History of Las Vegas. Her commitment to the history of Las Vegas led to her appointment as the first woman on the Nevada State Museum Board of Trustees. She donated the couple’s records to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Special Collections and Archives and to the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society. The Historical Society honored Jones and Cahlan and named the reading room after the couple. She passed away from cancer in 1985.

John Cahlan

John Francis Cahlan, a native Nevadan, worked as the editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He also worked to support education and preserve Nevada history, advocating for the establishment of the Nevada State Archives. He was born in Reno, Nevada in 1902, and attended the University of Nevada, earning a degree in journalism in 1926, and worked for the Nevada State Journal.

He moved to Las Vegas in 1929 to work at the Review-Journal, co-owned by his brother A.E. Cahlan. In addition to his work at the paper, he also served as a Clark County juvenile officer, as a Regent for the Nevada Higher Education System, and was active in community groups. After leaving the Review-Journal, he served as the managing director of the Southern Nevada Industrial Foundation. He worked to preserve Las Vegas and Nevada history and helped push through legislation to create the Nevada Division of Records and Archives. He passed away in 1987.

Sources:

Glass, Mary Ellen. John F. Cahlan: Reminiscences of a Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada, Newspaperman, University Regent, and Public-Spirited Citizen. UNOHP Catalog #035. 1970. https://contentdm.library.unr.edu/cdm/ref/collection/unohp/id/446.

Green, Michael. Online Nevada Encyclopedia. “Florence Lee Jones Cahlan.” 04 February 2009. http://www.onlinenevada.org/articles/florence-lee-jones-cahlan.

Green, Michael. Online Nevada Encyclopedia. “John Cahlan.” 15 January 2007. http://www.onlinenevada.org/articles/john-cahlan.

Hopkins, A.D. “Florence Lee Jones,” Las Vegas Review-Journal. 07 February 1999. https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/florence-lee-jones/.