The Ray Cutright Collection of Winthrop A. Davis Photographs (approximately 1929-1939) consists of black-and-white photographic prints with some corresponding negatives and slides of the construction of Hoover Dam and the geographic terrain of southern Nevada during the early 1930s. Included are photographs of the geographic area around the dam site, Black Canyon, and Boulder City, Nevada. Photographs depict the construction of facilities and roads needed for the project.
Archival Collection
Two unidentified people stand next to Stuart Mason in the middle of the MGM construction site.
Chemist, mathematician, and health physicist Billy Paul Smith donates time to tutor young people in hopes of attracting more youth into the fields of math and science. Born in 1942 and schooled in segregated black schools in Shreveport, Louisiana, and Texarkana, Texas, he graduated from high school at age fifteen and enrolled at Prairie View A&M University, where he trained with the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and earned his Bachelor’s degree in chemistry and in 1964 his Master’s degrees in chemistry and math. Most young U.S. Army officers in 1964 went to Vietnam, but Billy’s math and science background steered him to the Army Chemical Corps, where he was quickly selected to join a new team. The team was to develop responses to nuclear weapon accidents and worked under the Defense Atomic Support Agency (DASA) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At the same time, Billy completed the Weapons Ordinance Army course on classified information relating to the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. In this interview, Billy talks about his service with DASA and his subsequent twenty-seven years working at the Nevada Test Site in a variety of positions with Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Company, Inc. (REECo), a company that had “percentagewise more blacks in management positions than any other [Las Vegas] company.” He experienced the quiet racism of Las Vegas residential segregation when he tried to purchase a house in a neighborhood he liked and the unexpected kindness of the REECo general manager, Ron Keen, who made sure the Smith family could live where they wanted to live. He talks about Area 51 and explains underground testing activity and offers the scientific and ecological reasons why scientists deemed Yucca Mountain safe to store nuclear waste. After retiring at fifty-two, Billy and a colleague formed an independent instrumentation company, which, from 1995–2005 provided and calibrated radiological measurement and detection instruments for the decommissioning and closure of the Rocky Flats nuclear plant in Golden, Colorado. During that time, Billy rented an apartment in Boulder, but he and Jackie maintained their Las Vegas home, where they still reside. Billy shares memories of places he and his wife used to enjoy on the Westside and tells of their longtime friends in the black community. He also talks about developing his philosophy of philanthropy through Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and discusses becoming a member of the Knowledge Fund Advisory Council for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) and the advisory council for the Nevada System of Higher Education.
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This set includes: index sheet, roof plans, lighting plans, electrical plans, electrical schedules, preliminary sketches, finish schedules, floor plans, exterior elevations, building sections, interior elevations, construction details, framing plans, foundation plans, site plans, sewer schematics, wall sections, HVAC plans and grading plans.
This set includes drawings for WOMAC Incorporated (client) by Babayan and Pappas (engineer) and Meridian Engineering (engineer).
Archival Component