Elbert Edwards and his family at the Las Vegas Day train ride in Las Vegas, Nevada. The women are standing behind a sign providing historical information about the city Calville, which has since been covered by the waters of Lake Mead.
Ten members of the Mesquite Club of Las Vegas, Nevada pose while preparing food in the club's remodeled kitchen. Blanche Zucker is seen third from the left. Site Name: Mesquite Clubhouse Street Address: 702 E Street Louis Avenue
Black and white image of Martha Kramer and Helen Bunker sitting on a fence, most likely in Las Vegas, Nevada. Note: Image is from a family photo album that was loaned to UNLV Libraries Special Collections and returned to the family on July 17, 1984.
Born in the coal fields of Strunk, Kentucky, Audrey Aline Messer Wickman first visited the West at twelve years of age. She moved to western Colorado to help in her grandparents’ home for a couple of years. The stay made a lasting impression because she only returned to her birthplace for a short time after that. In Colorado, she graduated from high school, met her future husband, and married in 1925. They came to southern Nevada in 1932 so that Robert Wickman could find work on Hoover Dam. Audrey Wickman joined the Mesquite Club in 1936 and has remained a member to date. She started the Literary Committee as a forum to share book reviews and hear speakers. She served as President of the club for 1947-48 and chose the year’s theme “Know your Neighbor.” In the post-war society, women’s involvement in civic affairs was particularly needed, she told the membership at the opening fall meeting. “The troubles which unsettle the world today are primarily ones which lie within the sphere of women’s business. They are matters of housekeeping, teaching and health. . . . The time has come when we as a nation cannot stay in our own backyards. . . . If we are to be good world citizens, local, state and national, we must first be good home citizens. These responsibilities call for knowledge, an appreciation of other points of view, and attitudes of good will and cooperation.” (Las Vegas Review Journal, 6 October 1947, Mesquite Club microfilm collection.) The duties of the president varied during those years. She recalled that “I was janitor, gardener and President.” During the wintertime, she remembered, “you had to have heat [for Friday’s meeting] and I’d go up on Thursday afternoon and light that old oil burning stove and then pray that it didn’t catch the place on fire all night.” She continued her commitment to club work by serving as state secretary for the Nevada Federation of Women’s Clubs. The friendships and cultural events which came from Mesquite Club and Federation membership proved to be of lasting value for this community builder. This interview has been produced with the assistance of the Mesquite Club and the History Department of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It is part of a series on women community builders in Las Vegas. The transcript has been edited only slightly for clarity while the syntax and style of the narrator were retained.
Nevada Women's Conference leaders conferring with Pat Little over election results. Left to right: Pat Little: Ida Crockett, Election Chairman; Jean Ford, Conference Chair; Gerridee Wheeler, International Women's Year Representative; and Frances Test, Parliamentarian. June 19, 1977.
A portrait of Judy Bayley, the location is unknown, but was most likely taken in Las Vegas, Nevada. Judith “Judy” Bayley, namesake of the Judy Bayley Theatre at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was once known as “The First Lady of Gambling.” Judy and her husband Warren “Doc” Bayley opened the Hacienda Hotel and Casino on October 17, 1956. After Warren’s unexpected death from a heart attack on December, 26, 1964, Judy Bayley took over the ownership and operations of the Hacienda. By doing so, she became the first woman in Nevada history to be the sole owner and operator of a hotel-casino. After Judy’s death from cancer on December 31, 1971, the Hacienda was sold in 1972. The Hacienda’s doors closed to the public on December 10, 1996. The hotel was imploded on December 31, 1996 on the 25th anniversary of Judy Bayley’s death, and was broadcast on the Fox news network as part of their New Year’s Eve 1996 telecast. In March 1999, it was replaced with the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino.
The Sarno family around a banquet table for September's 9th birthday. L-R: Heidi Sarno, Joyce Sarno, Jay Sarno, Jr., Freddie Sarno, September ("Temmy") Sarno, Jay Sarno, Bertha Cooper (Joyce's mother). They are probably in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ceremonies for opening of Hoover Dam Snackateria. Someone pins a ribbon and flowers onto a woman's shirt. Behind them stands a blind man, seen in previous photos (0131 0034 & 0035). Photograph by Bureau of Reclamation, Boulder City, Nevada. Site Name: Snackateria
Mayme Stocker at Lester Stocker's grave probably located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The inscription on the back of the image reads, "Lester's birthday, we always take flowers to the cemetery on that day. O's ashes are in Lester's grave. He is gone nearly 16 years and O's 9 this September."
Seven showgirls from the Dunes Hotel posing by the hotel's swimming pool soon after its opening in Las Vegas, Nevada. From left to right, the women are Penny Davidson, Billie Nelson, Sherry Klarke, Pat Gautier, Gloria Curtis, Pat O'Conner, and Irene Rainwater.