The Beda Cornwall Collection on the Citizen's Library Association of Las Vegas consists of material gathered by Beda Brennecke Cornwall that documents the activities of the Citizen's Library Association of Las Vegas during the years 1941 to 1973. Most of the materials document the efforts by the citizens group to raise money in the community to build and sustain a new public library in Las Vegas, Nevada. The remaining part of the collection relates to local and statewide libraries and biographical materials on Beda Cornwall and her husband through various documents and scrapbooks of newspaper clippings.
Sara Denton loves life, laughter, and wonderful adventures. She is the mother of four children, a Distinguished Nevadan, lover of books and art, political campaign organizer, community activist, and friend. Sara is one of the founders of Boulder City’s most successful philanthropic fundraisers, Art in the Park. Denton was born in Paducah, Kentucky, into a family of readers and thinkers. Therefore, when the opportunity arose, at 18 years of age, to move the Washington, DC to work in the Signal Corps, she seized the opportunity. From the vantage point of her apartment, she could see the Secret Service assisting Franklin D. Roosevelt into his limousine at the back door of the White House. His polio was hidden from the public but this diversion allowed Sara and her friends to greet and be greeted by their hero. While in DC, Sara worked for General Hayes and one day struck up a conversation with a young soldier, Ralph Denton. Soon they married and moved to his home state, Nevada. After several years in Elko, NV, the Dentons moved to Las Vegas where Sara worked in the campaigns of Grant Sawyer, Howard Cannon, and Alan Bible. Moving the family to Boulder City though, was the wisest relocation by the family because the children grew up in a caring community with good schools. And the city provided the opportunity for Sara’s creativity to flow in many directions including travel, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and community building efforts. This interview is filled with laughter. I enjoyed the conversation.