The Rich Rizzo Professional Papers (approximately 1960-2022) are comprised largely of photographs documenting the life of Las Vegas, Nevada dancer and choreographer Rich Rizzo in shows such as Jubilee! and Lido de Paris in Las Vegas and in Paris, France. The photographs show rehearsal and performances, Rizzo with his partner and fellow choreographer Winston Helmsley, dancers and showgirls, Donn Arden, and Miss Bluebell. Other types of material include business and personal correspondence, contracts, production prospectives and set designs, show programs, and costume design photographs.
Archival Collection
The Maria LaCavera Papers (1947-2017) contain the papers of professional dancer Maria LaCavera. The collection documents the career of LaCavera dancing in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Flamingo Hotel in 1947, and the Last Frontier Hotel in 1949 as one of the Ramona Girls dancing in the Danny O'Neil Varieties Act. Materials include photographs of LaCavera and other Ramona Girls, newspaper clippings, correspondence, LaCavera's American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA) employment contracts, Fabulous Las Vegas magazines, and hotel receipts. Other items of note include photographs of the 1949 Helldorado parade, a Frontier Hotel Ramona Room menu, and Frontier Hotel ephemera. There is also a copy of a self-published biography of LaCavera, written by her daughter-in-law Kristin Meyer entitled From Bon-Air to the Last Frontier. The collection also contains the digital images used to illustrate the book.
Archival Collection
The Nancy Wier Papers on Rock Art in Southern Nevada (approximately 1930-2003) contain photographs, notes, research, and publications focused on rock art (rock writing) found in the Southern Nevada Region. Wier founded the Southern Nevada Rock Art Enthusiasts (SNRAE) in 1992, and the photograph albums document trips across Nevada, Southern California, Utah, and Arizona. The photograph albums are grouped by site location, and the description was taken directly from Wier's albums. The majority of the collection documents rock writings in Southern Nevada.
Archival Collection
Archival Collection
The Amy Ayoub Papers (1906-2022) document the life and career of Amy Ayoub, a long-time resident of Las Vegas, Nevada. The collection consists of correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, research, and other material that document the numerous facets of Ayoub's life. The collection covers many areas: Ayoub's early childhood; her family, including father Bobby Ayoub and stepfather Raymond Sutton; her financial consulting career and political work; her experience working as a prostitute in Nevada and subsequent documentary about being sex trafficked and working in brothels; time spent as the first female Nevada Athletic Commissioner; and more. Digital files include audio and video files of Mike Tyson's 2002 licensure hearing, and video of Ayoub's testimony before the Nevada State Assembly Judiciary Committee for Assembly Bill 67 in 2013. There are also digitized photographs that Ayoub used for the documentary The Zen Speaker: Breaking the Silence.
Archival Collection
The Robert Lang Professional Papers (1976-2020) mainly contain urban planning research and reports from former University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) professor and public policy expert Robert Lang. Materials represent different public policy related projects and issues Lang worked on when he was employed with the Fannie Mae Foundation in Washington, D.C., and Brookings Mountain West and the Lincy Institute at UNLV. Materials also include Lang's teaching files which include course syllabi, class presentation slides, and course readers. Research, notes, and drafts of Lang's books including
Archival Collection
The Cultural Focus Tours Research Notes (1989-1990) contain background information about historical locations and topics in Las Vegas's history used by Cultural Focus Tours, a division of the Allied Arts Council of Nevada. Cultural Focus Tours, developed by historic preservationist Elizabeth von til Warren, provided tours of historic landmarks around Las Vegas, Nevada including the Hoover Dam, Nevada Test Site, Valley of Fire, Old Spanish Trail, and the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort. Materials also include the 40th anniversary issue of the
Archival Collection
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life Records (approximately 2000-2022) primarily contains memorabilia, photographs, and records documenting activities of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Gene Kilroy conducted by Claytee White on October 18, 2021 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Kilroy begins by discussing being born in a mining camp and his grandmother being an important figure in his life. Throughout the interview, Kilroy discusses working at various places on the Las Vegas Strip, including the Dunes Hotel and MGM Grand and meeting many famous people. He discusses the military being an important part of his life, as well as his time playing professional football for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Patricia Lee conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee White on September 19, 2023 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Lee begins the interview by discussing her childhood in Daegu, South Korea, born to a Black American father and a Korean mother. Patricia Lee arrived in the United States with her parents as a young child when the U.S. Air Force transferred her father to Vandenburg Air Force Base in California. Lee was seven when her father left. With her mother speaking no English, Lee was responsible for her family's food stamps and social services even as they endured serial evictions and homelessness that included a stay in a shelter for abused women. In middle school, Upward Bound was Lee's "game-changer." As she had in high school, Lee immersed herself in student life and academics at the University of Southern California, while also working several jobs. After graduation, she worked at the California Science Center Museum before entering law school at George Washington University. She graduated in May 2002, shortly after the legal profession had lost several top law firms that had been headquartered in New York City's Twin Towers. When she accepted an offer from Las Vegas firm Hutchison & Steffen, she became the firm's first woman attorney and first attorney of color; seven years later, she became the firm's first woman partner and first partner of color. Lee was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Nevada in November 2022 by Governor Steve Sisolak.
Archival Collection