The collection is comprised of architectural records (1947-2001) of American architect, Homer Rissman and the architectural firm, Rissman and Rissman Associates Ltd, a partnership of Homer Rissman and his brother Marshall. The collection includes 825 items from over 40 major projects and over 110 minor projects. The Rissmans' work represented in the collection focused on Las Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe, Nevada, Los Angeles, Southern California, and Arizona, with Homer's early career design work in Chicago, Illinois. The materials feature hand-drawn architectural drawings, ranging from pencil and ink on tracing paper preliminary sketches to ink on Mylar (TM) construction documents, and a number of artist’s renderings, used for presentations and promotional materials. The drawings also contain work from a number of consultants, engineers, and other architects who collaborated on the development of the various projects. The collection includes architectural drawings for: hotels, casinos, integrated casino resorts, office towers, multi-family residential developments, and custom single-family homes.
On March 25, 1978, Kim Geary interviewed Joan Johnson (born 1911 in Oklahoma) in her home in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two discuss Joan Johnson’s personal history and her reasons for originally moving to Las Vegas. Johnson recalls early Las Vegas entertainment, as well as the development of businesses and their unions.
From the Roosevelt Fitzgerald Professional Papers (MS-01082) -- Unpublished manuscripts file. "Injustice Blacks Have Suffered…" ending with Naomi Long Madgett's poem "Midway."
The Florence Lee Jones and John Cahlan Papers (1929-1983) contain material created by the couple related to their work at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, their interest in the history of Las Vegas, Nevada, and the promotion of Southern Nevada for business and industry. The collection includes the Cahlan's correspondence as well as newspaper clippings about Las Vegas. It also contains drafts and manuscripts for their book, Water: a History of Las Vegas, commissioned by the Las Vegas Valley Water District.