The Florence Lee Jones Cahlan Photographs depict locations and events in Las Vegas, Nevada from 1909 to 1980. The photographs primarily depict historical locations, including the Las Vegas Mormon Fort, the Kiel Ranch, and plaques commemorating Las Vegas’s 75th anniversary. The photographs also depict celebrations, including the Diamond Jubilee festivities held to celebrate Las Vegas’s 75th anniversary, plaque dedications, building dedications, and the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the first mail planes in Las Vegas. The photographs include the Kennecott Copper Corporation’s facilities in McGill, Nevada, Western Airlines planes and pilots, and Union Pacific Railroad locomotives.
Archival Collection
The Tonopah Mining Company Records derive from the office of the company’s general manager in Tonopah, Nevada and consist of documents directly generated by its mining and milling operations from 1901 through 1941. The collection includes daily work reports, assay reports and certificates, employee time cards, invoices and receipts for mining equipment and supplies, monthly stores reports, and the company’s numerous insurance policies. Several of the company’s annual reports, including an original typescript copy of the 1907 annual report, are included in the collection. Additionally, select records from the company's subsidiary, Desert Power and Mill Company, as well as the Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad, which include overcharge claims, freight and repair bills, and delivery receipts are included in the collection.
Archival Collection
The Art Wolf Professional Papers (1988-2018) document the career of museum professional and consultant Art Wolf who specialized in supporting cultural heritage of indigenous communities, particularly in the Southwest and Las Vegas, Nevada. Materials document Wolf's work with the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) as a board member, in conference planning, and as a Study Leader for Smithsonian Associates Study Tours. Also included are materials that represent Wolf's involvement as an alumni of the Leadership Las Vegas program and director of the Nevada State Museum. The collection includes some ephemera and invitations to different events held in Las Vegas, Nevada that Wolf was invited to. The collection also includes examples of unsuccessful bids for consultancy jobs through WOLF Consulting and his files as a master's thesis adviser for the Museum Studies program at Harvard Extension School.
Archival Collection
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Oral history interview with Luceanne "Lucy" Taufa conducted by Jerwin Tiu, Cecilia Winchell, and Stefani Evans on December 16, 2022 for Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Taufa describes growing up on the Tongan island of Vava'u in a large family and later immigrating to the United States. She recalls her father first immigrating to Hawaii, and after obtaining a green card, her and her siblings following shortly after. While Kaufa's older siblings continued to pursue higher education and her younger siblings were too young to work, she took on a bulk of the responsibility to provide income and navigate life in Hawaii for her family. Eventually, Lucy moved to Dallas, Texas, met her husband, and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada for her husband's job. Later in the interview, she discusses joining the Culinary Union after experiencing racial discrimination at her workplace and her pride in her identity as a Tongan woman.
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Joan Massagli spent her childhood in the Tacoma, Washington area, singing three-part harmony—a member of a musically talented family that included five children and an aunt and uncle who raised all the kids to enjoy music. By high school in the early 1950s, she and her two older sisters were regulars on a local TV show. In 1956, the Sawyer Sisters act was formed and they were soon obtaining regular gigs in Las Vegas. Their popularity continued form 1957 to 1964 and they played many of the major hotels, usually as a warm up act for headliners that includes a list of names such as Roy Clark, Louis Prima, Shecky Greene, and Delia Reece. At first the Sawyer Sisters included older sister Nanette Susan and Joan. When Nanette quit to raise her family, youngest sister Kate stepped into what was called a "lively and lovely" trio. Joan met her future husband and musician Mark Tully Massagli, while performing in the early 1960s. Caring for ailing parents while working mostly in Las Vegas, the couple made Vegas home. Even after the Sawyer Sisters name faded from the Strip's marquees, Las Vegas remained home to the Massagli's, who raised their children here. Today they live in the Blue Diamond Village area and recall the changes that have occurred on the Las Vegas Strip—especially from an entertainer's point of view.
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