Abstract
The Ham Family Photograph Collection contains five photographic albums primarily featuring images of the Ham family's travels throughout the western United States and Artemus W. Ham Jr. and Betty Ham Dokter during their childhood between approximately 1900-1949. Also included is one photograph used as a Christmas greeting for the Ham family from 1981. The photographs feature locations including Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah; Grand Canyon, Arizona; and Yosemite National Park, California. The collection also contains photographs of the Ham family at Mormon sites throughout Utah. Lastly, there are postcards and photographs of locations throughout the United States, Germany, and Japan.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
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Scope and Contents Note
The Ham Family Photograph Collection contains five photographic albums primarily featuring images of the Ham family's travels throughout the western United States and Artemus W. Ham Jr. and Betty Ham Dokter during their childhood between approximately 1900-1949. Also included is one photograph used as a Christmas greeting for the Ham family from 1981. The photographs feature locations including Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah; Grand Canyon, Arizona; and Yosemite National Park, California. The collection also contains photographs of the Ham family at Mormon sites throughout Utah. Lastly, there are postcards and photographs of locations throughout the United States, Germany, and Japan.
Access Note
Collection is open for research. Where use copies do not exist, production of use copies is required before access will be granted; this may delay research requests. Advanced notice is required.
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. Some transcripts do not exist in final form, therefore any editing marks in a transcript (deletions, additions, corrections) are to be quoted as marked.
Arrangement
Materials remain as they were received.
Biographical / Historical Note
Artemus W. Ham, Sr. (1892-1970) and Alta Mereness Ham (1896-1974) married in 1915 in Los Angeles, California. The couple moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1916. Artemus W. Ham worked as an attorney and specialized in mining law when they first moved to Southern Nevada. They had three children in Las Vegas; Artemus W. Ham, Jr. in 1920, Betty Katherine Ham in 1922, and Robert Ham in 1927. The Ham family lived at 1000 Sixth Street in Las Vegas.
From 1924 to 1928, Ham served as the Las Vegas City Attorney. In the 1930s and 1940s, he became well-known as a divorce attorney for Hollywood celebrities seeking Nevada divorces. He and his wife, Alta, were very active in the Las Vegas community. Artemus W. Ham, Sr. was one of the founding members of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. They were also strong supporters of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Artemus W. Ham Sr. passed away on May 25, 1970 and Alta Ham passed away on April 23, 1974.
Artemus W. Ham, Jr. (1920-1991) joined his father's law practice and later went into real estate. He continued the family tradition of philanthropy. Betty Katherine Ham (1922-1990) married Derald Dokter on February 23, 1942. She lived her entire life in Las Vegas. She passed away on May 11, 1990. Robert C. Ham (1927-1987) lived in Las Vegas, and passed away in 1987.
Source:
Ainlay, Thomas, Jr. and Gabaldon, Judy Dixon.
Preferred Citation
Ham Family Photograph Collection, approximately 1900-1949, 1981. PH-00387. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated by Georgie Makeever and Gary Dokter in 2012; accession number 2012-36.
Processing Note
In 2020, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Jimmy Chang rehoused the material, wrote the finding aid, and entered the data into ArchivesSpace.