The Fanny’s Dress Shop Photographs (1930-1982) show one of Las Vegas’ premier women’s clothing stores. The collection includes images of Fanny Soss’ shop on Fremont Street, her store in the Flamingo Hotel, and Helldorado parades. Images include shop window displays.
Oral history interview with Joan Olson Griffith conducted by Sharee Schrader on April 12, 2005 for the History of Blue Diamond Village in Nevada Oral History Project. Griffith begins by discussing why she moved to Blue Diamond, Nevada with her family due to job opportunities at the Blue Diamond Plant, where they manufactured wallboard, in 1956. She describes life in Blue Diamond and rural Nevada, the education available in the village, and Blue Diamond's proximity to Bonnie Springs Ranch and structures made for the filming of Western themed media. Griffith concludes by discussing how Blue Diamond has changed since the 1950s and being a Sunday school teacher for eighteen years.
The Ned V. Bearden Sr. Photograph Collection contains black-and-white photographic prints and negatives of early Las Vegas, Nevada Fremont Street hotels, casinos, as well as Las Vegas businesses and residences between approximately 1940 to 1960. These photographs detail air conditioning units installations by Bearden throughout Las Vegas.
Oral history interview with Richard D. Chase conducted by Helen Rondthaler on October 17, 1972 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Chase discusses the history of Las Vegas, Nevada from 1945, touching on topics such as the housing shortage during the 1940s, The Red Rooster swingers’ club, Billy Moore, Sam Larson, Ira Goldring, atomic bomb testing, and the Nevada environment. Chase discusses the importance of construction-based labor to the development of Southern Nevada. Chase also explains at length the impact of the Nevada Test Site on his construction company.
Oral history interview with John West conducted by Claytee D. White on August 10, 2000 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, West discusses his family background and arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1954. West describes his educational experiences in Las Vegas and his career as a clinical psychologist. He recalls his father’s career in medicine and becoming the first African American licensed medical doctor in Las Vegas. West then talks about attending entertainment events before race integration was introduced, and the voting patterns in West Las Vegas. Lastly, West discusses his father’s decision to remain living in West Las Vegas and operating his medical office there after integration.
The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad Records (1905-1977) contain correspondence, purchase requisitions, bills of lading, freight reports, and waybills. Also included are a ledger book, a rubber stamp, and a booklet, "Diagrams of Locomotives and Tenders." Incorporated in 1904, the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad operated for 35 years, connecting Ludlow, California with Beatty, Nevada by way of Death Valley on the Santa Fe Railroad main line. The records are concentrated on the later years of the railroad from 1930 to 1940.
The UNLV University Libraries Photographs of the Development of the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada (2016-2020) are comprised of digital photographs captured as part of the Special Collections and Archives Building Las Vegas project. Digital photographs shot in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, include color images of street scenes, neighborhoods, developments, land use, housing, flood control, parks, traffic patterns, and parts of the tourism corridor including casinos and hotels.
Oral history interview with Delon Potter conducted by Eleanor Christoffersen on February 3, 1972 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this brief interview, Potter, a Mesquite, Nevada native, talks about his birth in 1909 and his move to Las Vegas in 1933. He describes the early town and some of the more notable inhabitants including "Pop" Squires, working at the Winterwood Ranch at the base of Sunrise Mountain, as a sheep herder near Kaolin, Nevada, and later as a construction worker at the Hoover Dam. After the war, Potter explains that he tried running his own ranch in Utah before moving back to Henderson, Nevada, working for U. S. Lime and trading horses throughout Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.
Paulette R. Nelson's life in Las Vegas is a contrast of images. She recalls riding her horse across the wide-open desert, as well as embracing the technological changes that rapidly impacted the UNLV library. Paulette honed her life skills as farm girl growing up just south of Mandan, North Dakota. She attended North Dakota State University. A post-graduation summer as a volunteer in Kenya, sparked an interest in adventure and travel and she enlisted for four years in the U.S. Air Force. Rather than enter as an officer, she opted to be enlisted personnel so that she could receive technical training. In 1981, Paulette migrated to Las Vegas, where she had friends at Nellis Air Force Base. She worked at the Nevada Test Site for the next two years. Then, while looking for a new job so that she could pursue an engineering degree, she was offered a position in the UNLV library cataloging department. It was a career path change that she never regretted. She eventually became the Supervisor of the Architecture Studies Library; a position she held for nine years until her retirement Among the highlights of her career was being involved in the change to an electronic catalog system and being on the planning committee for Lied Library.