Nancy Master grew up in a little town called Greenville in Western Michigan. Her dad was in middle management at a refrigerator company and her mother was a librarian and a teacher. Nancy and her two sisters experienced an idyllic childhood, climbing trees, riding bikes, and swimming in Baldwin Lake. School and church were important activities in Nancy's life. When she first went to college, she was sent to Michigan Girls' State, but switched to the Michigan State campus and found that she liked that much better. During the summer of 1967, Nancy and some friends got involved in the Civil Rights Movement. They went to Mississippi to teach and ended up experiencing an intimidating visit from the KKK. Nancy taught school in Jackson, Michigan, and also continued with her own schooling. She took time off to work on her dissertation and was eventually hired to teach history at University of Wisconsin. Since there were so few openings for history teachers, she decided to take a library degree. She and her husband Larry and their daughter came to Las Vegas in 1980 at the suggestion of Nancy's uncle, a doctor who had established a practice here. Larry was hired at Roy Martin Junior High, and in February of 1981, Nancy was hired to teach library skills classes at UNLV. When Nancy first came to UNLV, she worked the reference desk. She became interested in faculty politics and was soon on the senate. She served on the executive committee under Bill Marchant, Sheryl Bowles, and others. Eventually she took over the chair position herself. These days Nancy works with the history and political science colleges. She does some teaching and proctors for students taking UNR classes on the UNLV campus. Her outreach community work includes Habitat for Humanity and mentoring projects for children-in-poverty. Nancy considers UNLV the great love of her life, after her family.

A view of some of the abandonded buildings on a hillside in Delamar, Nevada. One of the structures has a covered porch Delamar, Nevada, nicknamed The Widowmaker, is a ghost town in central eastern Nevada, USA along the east side of the Delamar Valley. During its heyday, primarily between 1895 and 1900, it produced $13.5 million in gold. In 1889, prospectors John Ferguson and Joseph Sharp discovered gold around Monkeywrench Wash. A mining camp was then born west of the Monkeywrench Mine. It was called Ferguson. In April 1894, Captain Joseph Raphael De Lamar bought most of the important mines in the area and renamed the Ferguson camp as Delamar. In the same year, a newspaper called the Delamar Lode began publication and a post office was opened. Soon, the new settlement boasted more than 1,500 residents, a hospital, an opera house, churches, a school, several businesses and saloons. Most buildings were made of native rock. By 1896, the Delamar mill was handling up to 260 tons of ore daily. Water for the camp was pumped from a well in Meadow Valley Wash, some twelve miles away. Supplies and materials traveled even further, by mule team over mountainous terrain from the railroad head at Milford, Utah, which was 150 miles from Delamar. Silicosis The gold in the Delamar mines was embedded in quartzite which when crushed created a fine dust. Miners breathing the dust often developed silicosis and the town became known as a "widow-maker." Many ruins now stand semi-intact in the Delamar ghost town region. Foundations can easily be seen from adjacent hills. There are two graveyards, which have been vandalized. The area is honeycombed with mines and mineshafts, but in recent years the main shaft has been blasted closed. Wild horses roam the area. The nearby dry lake is known to pilots as Texas Lake because its outline resembles the state of Texas.

Some of the abandonded buildings in Delamar, Nevada. A tailing pile from one of the mines is visible in the center of the photograph. A stone structure is visible on the right side of the photograph. Delamar, Nevada, nicknamed The Widowmaker, is a ghost town in central eastern Nevada, USA along the east side of the Delamar Valley. During its heyday, primarily between 1895 and 1900, it produced $13.5 million in gold. In 1889, prospectors John Ferguson and Joseph Sharp discovered gold around Monkeywrench Wash. A mining camp was then born west of the Monkeywrench Mine. It was called Ferguson. In April 1894, Captain Joseph Raphael De Lamar bought most of the important mines in the area and renamed the Ferguson camp as Delamar. In the same year, a newspaper called the Delamar Lode began publication and a post office was opened. Soon, the new settlement boasted more than 1,500 residents, a hospital, an opera house, churches, a school, several businesses and saloons. Most buildings were made of native rock. By 1896, the Delamar mill was handling up to 260 tons of ore daily. Water for the camp was pumped from a well in Meadow Valley Wash, some twelve miles away. Supplies and materials traveled even further, by mule team over mountainous terrain from the railroad head at Milford, Utah, which was 150 miles from Delamar. Silicosis The gold in the Delamar mines was embedded in quartzite which when crushed created a fine dust. Miners breathing the dust often developed silicosis and the town became known as a "widow-maker." Many ruins now stand semi-intact in the Delamar ghost town region. Foundations can easily be seen from adjacent hills. There are two graveyards, which have been vandalized. The area is honeycombed with mines and mineshafts, but in recent years the main shaft has been blasted closed. Wild horses roam the area. The nearby dry lake is known to pilots as Texas Lake because its outline resembles the state of Texas.