Scene at Mormon Fort (Las Vegas Ranch) underneath the trees. Inscription with image reads: "A shady spot at Las Vegas, NV. (early 1900s) postcard. (1924?)"
William Hillman Shockley was born on September 18, 1855 in New Bedford, Massachusetts to William, a whaling captain, and Sarah Shockley. He had two younger brothers, George and Walter. Shockley graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1875. He worked for a time in Florida and California before moving to Nevada.
Notable film composer Victor Young was born on August 8, 1900 in Chicago, Illinois. Young studied under Ididor Lotto in Warsaw, Poland at the age of 10. After returning to the United States, he began performing as concertmaster in the LA Theatre and the Central Park Theater. He then joined Ted Fiorito becoming a violinist and arranger. Young directed radio programs until he moved to Los Angeles, California to create his own orchestra.
The memories and recollections of Alice Thiriot Ballard Waite provide a most interesting look at both at the Junior League of Las Vegas in the 1970s and the early days of Las Vegas. Alice recalls her childhood and young adult years after she arrived in Las Vegas at the age of five, giving the reader a rare picture of Las Vegas in the 1950s and 1960s. She was most active in the volunteer community of Las Vegas and served as Junior League President in 1964-5. Her reminiscences about the events and activities during the years while she was a Junior League member are an invaluable insight into its history. The exhibits she is sharing are an important documentation of those years after the Service League became the Junior League. She herself was a forerunner of today's Active members because she was a single, working mother while serving as the first "professional" President of the League.