Abstract
The Spencer and Georgia Hanna Butterfield Photograph Collection (approximately 1900-1978) consists of black-and-white photographic prints and negatives of the Hanna and Butterfield families. It also contains images of early and prominent residents of Las Vegas, Nevada such as James Cashman Sr., Las Vegas Chamber of Congress members, Union Pacific Railroad president George Ashby, and many other notable persons from early Las Vegas. The collection also includes photographs taken in Elko County, Nevada, the Hoover Dam, and other Las Vegas area images.
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Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The Spencer and Georgia Hanna Butterfield Photograph Collection (approximately 1900-1978) consists of black-and-white photographic prints and negatives of the Hanna and Butterfield families. It also contains images of early and prominent residents of Las Vegas, Nevada such as James Cashman Sr., Las Vegas Chamber of Congress members, Union Pacific Railroad president George Ashby, and many other notable persons from early Las Vegas. The collection also includes photographs taken in Elko County, Nevada, the Hoover Dam, and other Las Vegas area images.
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
Spencer and Georgia Butterfield were a prominent Las Vegas, Nevada couple involved in local business and civic activities. Spencer was born February 11, 1904, in Marseille, Illinois and came to Nevada in 1917. Later, he worked as the branch manager for the First National Bank in Carson City, and in 1941, he transferred to the bank's branch in Las Vegas, Nevada to work as an assistant cashier. In 1943, he worked as a cashier at the Bank of Nevada, eventually becoming its president, as well as president of the Nevada Bankers Association. Spencer participated in community activities through involvement with the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, and the Las Vegas Press Club. In 1947, he was named Las Vegas' "Man of the Year." Spencer Butterfield died on August 17, 1960.
Georgia Hanna Butterfield was born on November 26, 1911 in Elko, Nevada. The Hanna family was an early settler family in Elko, Nevada. Georgia attended Wabash Business College in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1931, she married Reese Turner. The couple came to Las Vegas in 1937, and Georgia accepted a secretarial position at First National Bank, where she met Spencer Butterfield. Reese Turner and Georgia divorced, and Georgia married Spencer Butterfield on May 6, 1944. Georgia was active in the Mesquite Club, Daughters of the Nile, and the Republican Club, as well as other organizations. She became the first female postmaster for Las Vegas on August 1, 1960, holding that position until February of 1961. In later years, she was an executive with International Hosts, first opening the gift shop at the Hilton Hotel and later supervising the gift shop at Caesar's Palace. In 1978, after a brief illness, Georgia Butterfield died at the age of sixty-six.
Source:
Lyle, Michael. "Banker Spencer Butterfield is believed to be the namesake of Spencer Street."
Preferred Citation
Spencer and Georgia Hanna Butterfield Photograph Collection, approximately 1900-1978. PH-00077. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 1978 by the Butterfield family; accession number 78-107A.
Processing Note
In 2020, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Nicole Batten wrote the finding aid and entered the data into ArchivesSpace.