The Wilson Family Papers (1875-1918) document the personal and professional lives of James B. Wilson Sr., James B. Wilson Jr., and George Twison "Tweed" Wilson, early pioneers in Southern Nevada. The collection is comprised of personal correspondence, invoices and advertisements from the Wilson family business, the Sandstone Ranch, and photographs of the extended Wilson family.
The Basic Magnesium Inc. (BMI) Records and Photographs (1933-1965) document the planning, construction, and management of the BMI magnesium manufacturing plants near present-day Henderson in Clark County, Nevada and a magnesium mining operation in Gabbs, Nye County, Nevada. Materials include chronological reports, press releases, telegrams, budgets, building diagrams, maps, and black-and-white photographic prints. The records document employee housing and infrastructure projects, magnesium production statistics, and employee data. The photographic prints, which include many aerial images, provide a visual record of the construction of the plant, the mining operation, and the associated support facilities and employee housing.
The collection consists of three bound volumes and a small leather folder, documenting Masonic Lodge activity in Gold Hill, Nevada between 1866 and 1917. The volumes contain lodge meeting minutes from 1866 to 1872; lodge membership records from 1866 to 1872; and lodge financial records from 1866 to 1917.
The Liberty Engine Company No. 1 Records (1876-1927) consist of two accounting ledgers belonging to the Liberty Engine Company No. 1, the fifth volunteer fire company formed in Gold Hill, Nevada in 1868. One ledger is signed by a the wife of J. H. (John H.) Witte, who was listed in an 1880 edition of the Gold Hill Daily News as a member of the Liberty Engine Company No. 1. The collection also contains banking transactions dating from 1926 to 1927 and a handwritten account of various payments made to the heirs of a Mrs. S. K. Witte in 1906. Some items in this collection are digital surrogates.
The George E. Franklin Sr. Papers consist primarily of two original manuscripts by George E. Franklin (1890-1971), an English-born writer and former Las Vegas resident. Franklin published From Cotswolds to High Sierras (Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers, 1966) and The Fallacy of Appeasment (New York: Carlton Press, 1968). The collection also includes an undated newspaper article announcing Franklin's donation of the manuscripts to Nevada Southern University (now the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.)
The Don Ashbaugh Papers (1950-1960) document Las Vegas history, Nevada history, and ghost towns. The collection is comprised of the working manuscript of Don Ashbaugh's book, Nevada's Turbulent Yesterday: A Study in Ghost Towns. The collection also contains typescript drafts, newspaper clippings, and a geographical index of Nevada ghost towns.
The Norman Kaye Papers span the years of 1952 to 1969 and are comprised of material from the career of Norman Kaye, a Las Vegas lounge entertainer and longtime poet laureate of Nevada. The materials contain correspondence, newspaper clippings, music manuscripts and poetry, and audio recordings from the Mary Kaye Trio.
The Ellen B. Jensen papers comprise the research notes, drafts with edits, carbons, and articles written by the Las Vegas, Nevada journalist Ellen Jensen who was the editor of and writer for the monthly Las Vegas Review Journal Jr. and writer for the Las Vegas Sun ("Sunday Scene") and Las Vegas Review Journal ("The Nevadan") from 1966 to 1969. Jensen wrote about many topics of interest to Las Vegans, including travel and recreation in southern Nevada, hotel and casino administration and construction, and local nightlife and entertainment.
The Harry Hayden Whiteley Architectural Records are comprised of architectural records (1931-1970) created and/or maintained by the American architect Harry Hayden Whiteley and/or his architectural firm, known as Harry Hayden Whiteley and Associates. This collection includes 30.21 linear feet of materials including 45 items from over 30 projects. The collection focuses on his work in the Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada areas. The materials feature both architectural drawings and project files. Architectural drawings include pencil and ink on tracing paper preliminary sketches and mounted artist’s renderings used for presentations and promotional materials. Project files include project correspondence, photographs, and structural calculations. The drawings also contain work from the architect Paul Revere Williams. The collection includes architectural drawings for hotels, shopping plazas, residential developments, and office buildings.