The Bob Coffin Political Papers (approximately 1861-2021) document the political career of independent Democrat Bob Coffin who served in the Nevada Assembly, State Senate, and Las Vegas City Council from 1983 to 2019. Collection materials primarily consist of legislative research files associated with Coffin's committee assignments. City Council records in this collection include budget files, constituent concerns, and city project files. The collection also includes election materials used for Coffin's political campaigns and include posters, mailers, as well as newspaper clippings and information on Coffin's opponents.
The Byrd Wall Sawyer Collection primarily consists of Byrd's research files on Nevada from 1930 to 1970. The materials concentrate on her monograph, "Nevada Nomads," as well as her co-authored textbook, "Here is Nevada." The collection also includes speeches, journal articles, memos, research note cards and papers, correspondence, informational booklets and pamphlets, maps, photographs, audiovisual materials, and newspaper articles and clippings.
The Richard B. Taylor Papers (1920-1993) document Richard Taylor's career and interests as a longtime Las Vegas, Nevada businessman and local historian, including his work as an executive at the Hacienda Hotel and Casino. The materials also include maps, development plans, and local publications for the Nevada communities of Laughlin and Mount Charleston, as well as publicity and promotional materials for these projects. As an amateur historian, Taylor also collected information on Las Vegas, Laughlin, and Mount Charleston.
The Maurine and Fred Wilson and Dr. William S. Park Photograph Albums (1900-1930s) consist of twelve albums containing black-and-white photographic prints and three black-and-white photographic negatives. The photographs are primarily related to the families of William S. Park, John S. Park, and Fred and Maurine Hubbard Wilson. Included are images of the Park homes in Las Vegas, Nevada; Park and Wilson family members; scenes of early Las Vegas, Nevada; outdoor activities, and vacation trips to California, Colorado, and Mexico.
Dr. Catherine Bellver is a woman with tenacity. How else could one describe her drive to create the Women's Studies Program spanning fifteen years? As a faculty member in the Department of Foreign Languages, Dr. Bellver first joined the Women's Studies steering committee in 1979. In the following decade, the committee oversaw the formation of the Women's Studies Program, including: procuring administrative and faculty support, creating bylaws and course criteria, critiquing proposed cross-listed courses, and selecting course offerings. During that period she also worked with a volunteer group to create and staff the first Women's Center on campus. In the early Nineties, she played an instrumental role in the presentation of four public colloquia that addressed key issues pertaining to women. Dr. Bellver acted as interim director of the Women's Studies Program while overseeing the search for a permanent director. She continued to remain involved with the Women's Studies program, serving as faculty member on several committees. She has also worked in the Women's Caucus on the regional and national levels of the Modem Languages Association Dr. Bellver is currently Distinguished Professor of Spanish in the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her work has appeared in journals such as Anales de la Literature Espanola Contemporanea, Hispanic Review, Hispanofila, Insula, Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Monographic Review/Revista Monografica, Revista de Estudios Modernos, Revista Hispanica Moderna, Romance Notes and Romanic Review. Dr. Bellver's participation in the creation of the Women's Studies Program illustrates how critical institutional and social progress can result from the commitment of a determined group of individuals. Her decades of involvement in creating an academic arena for the study of women and gender issues underscores the significance of women's contributions to the history of Las Vegas. In addition to the history of the Women's Studies Program at the University of Nevada Las Vegas this interview contains information regarding the creation of the first Women's Center on campus.