Southern Nevada Historical Society Records (MS-00205)

Maryellen Vallier Sadovich, a Nevada historian educated at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and Celesta Lowe, the first director of the UNLV Special Collections, founded the Southern Nevada Historical Society (SNHS) in the 1950s. SNHS operated unofficially until July 28, 1959 when the society was officially incorporated and recognized by the state of Nevada. Former Nevadan governor Vail Pittman served as the first Chairman of the Board of Directors. The society's initial goals outlined in the bylaws were to conduct historical research about southern Nevada, produce public lecture programs, sponsor field trips to historical and archaeological sites, develop historical libraries, assist in the building and operation of local museums, submit publications to history journals, and fund history scholarships.

In the early years of the SNHS, members formed a collection committee that gathered artifacts documenting the early settlement of the area and visited archaeological sites in southern Nevada. The society also was integral to the campaign to have the Old Las Vegas Fort declared as a state historic site and the formation of the group the Friends of the Fort in the 1980s. The SNHS held annual banquets with guest speakers from various academic fields, published the Backtrails newsletter that documented the society's activities, and organized many historical field trips. The SNHS ended in the mid-1980s.