The Virginia Logan Photograph Collection contains photographic prints, negatives, and slides primarily depicting Nevada between approximately 1900 and 1940 with a focus on Las Vegas and its local landscapes. These photographs were taken by Glenn Davis.
Archival Collection
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Oral history interview with Jesma and Carlyle Wilcox conducted by Sally Griffis on February 19, 1976 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Jesma Wilcox begins by describing her family ranch, how her father leased the property to tenants, and what it was like living without air conditioning and refrigeration. She describes using a nearby stream as a water source, recreational activities, and the Mormon settlers and missionaries who first settled on the ranch. Wilcox talks about her religious involvement with the Mormon Church and life in Las Vegas, Nevada during the mid-twentieth century, as well as how Las Vegas has changed. Wilcox, with her husband Carlyle, also discusses the history of the nuclear weapons tests. Carlyle then describes the construction of the Basic Magnesium Plant in Henderson, Nevada.
Archival Collection
"N.E. Johnson, photographer and publisher." Booklet consists primarily of photographs of the Colorado River in Black Canyon, prior to the construction of Hoover (Boulder) Dam, and photographs of people and businesses in early 20th-century Las Vegas.
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The Ralph Roske Photographs (approximately 1917-1989) depict life in rural Southern Nevada and newspaper clippings from the Goodsprings Gazette. The collection consists of thirty-five images dated from 1917 to 1989. The images consist of unidentified Nevadans, Las Vegas landmarks, and members of the McAllister family in Carraca, Nevada.
Archival Collection
The Peg and George E. Crockett Family Photographs (approximately 1940-2008) are comprised of aerial photographs of Alamo Airport (later McCarran International Airport) and the surrounding Las Vegas Valley in the 1940s and 1950s. Photographs of the interior, exterior, and airfield at Alamo Airport document the early stages of what is now one of the busiest international airports in the United States. The collection also contains audiovisual material, which depict events including the Miss Rodeo America pageant and the Sahara Cup boat races on Lake Mead, and locations including Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada and Hoover Dam. A significant portion of the collection consists of photographs of the Crockett family at various events, on family vacations, and their home in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Leonard Polk Jr. was born in 1948 in Monroe, Louisiana. He and his mother moved to Las Vegas in 1949 when he was just two months old. His father worked on the Hoover Dam. Polk grew up in West Las Vegas and remembers the movement to integrate the schools in the city. As a young adult, he joined the Marines and served a tour of duty in Vietnam. Polk began to work for shows in Las Vegas after he finished his military career. He worked for the Aladdin Baghdad Theater and for the MGM Grand Hotel.
Person
Ward Lindquist was born June 7, 1921 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Lindquist family moved to South Dakota in approximately 1925 and to San Bernardino, California in approximately 1938. Lindquist moved to Las Vegas, Nevada between 1942 and 1945 and he began working at the Lake Mead Lodge as a bartender. He later became a captain for the Lake Mead Boat Company that operated recreational boat tours of Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. Lindquist later became a sheet metal worker at the Nevada Test Site. He died in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 12, 1982.
Person
Two views of the assembled guests present for the dedicatory prayer of the Hoover Dam construction site.
Transcribed Notes: Transcribed from the back of Photo 1: "Dedicatiary (sic) site of Boulder Dam, 1-r, 4- Mrs. Thomas, 5- Art Ham Sr., 6- Bess Pembroke (white hat), 7- Ata Ham (lt. tweed coat), 8- Nana Lightfoot, 9- Mrs. Minetti, 10- Mrs. Martin, 1st row- far right Harley Harmon." Transcribed from facsimile accompanying Photo 2: "Prayer; dedication of damsite (sic), r-1, 6- Nellie Martin, 7- Bess Pembroke, 8- "Nana" Lightfoot, 9- Roy Martin, 10- Art Ham, Sr."
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