The Valda and Esper Esau Collection on Lido de Paris (1954-2014) mainly consists of newspaper clippings, ephemera, and programs documenting the career of entertainer Valda Esau, who danced in the Lido de Paris show at the Stardust Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada in the late 1950s. Other materials in this collection include show programs for other shows held in France featuring the Bluebell Girls dance troupe such as the original Lido de Paris. The collection also includes invitation and photographs featuring Esper Esau from Pzazz! '70, a show that was produced by Donn Arden at the Desert Inn Hotel.
The Bill Campbell Costume Designs (1954-1978) are comprised of original costume design sketches created by designer Bill Campbell for a number of Donn Arden's stage productions, including Pzazz!, Hello America, and Hello Hollywood Hello that were staged in the Crystal Room at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1960s and 1970s. The collection also contains some sketches for other revues held in Los Angeles, California and Reno, Nevada. The majority of items in the collection are original drawings with attached fabric swatches; a number of items are xeroxed reproductions.
The Hank Castro Music Business Records document Hank Castro's career in the music industry in Las Vegas, Nevada from 1969 to 1990. The bulk of the collection consists of original audio recordings from the Las Vegas Recording Studio. The collection also contains legal documents, personal correspondence, and promotional material related to the Las Vegas Recording Studio (1971-1985), songwriter agreements, and sheet music (the majority of the lyrics written by Hank Castro) from artists represented by the Las Vegas Recording Studio and Castro's other companies.
The Clarabelle Decker Papers (1926-1980) reflect the varied career of Clarabelle Decker as a teacher, librarian, and writer who worked in Nevada, Northern Arizona, and Southern California. Materials include Decker's writings and other published works, including books, booklets, poetry, as well as teaching aids, a grammar guide, posters, and fliers. Teaching materials primarily date from 1926 to 1952, while her library and writing materials date from 1954 to 1980.
The Maury Stevens Papers are mainly comprised of advertising and publicity materials related to the Las Vegas, Nevada hospitality and entertainment industry from 1953 to 1981. The collection includes both published and unpublished materials collected and created by Maury Stevens as a result of his work in advertising in Las Vegas. Formats include magazines, newspaper clippings, show programs, photographs, and brochures.
The Thomas Clark Professional Papers (1950-1998) contain materials from his tenure as a Professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), which are divided into two series. The gaming research series includes newspaper clippings, correspondence, brochures, bulletins and articles. Also included are book chapters, a glossary of terms used in the casino industry, and gambling guides. In the linguistics and teaching series there are research files, articles, speeches, correspondence, interviews, multimedia, workshops, and conference materials. Also included are files on graffiti, symbolism, ethnic and regional speech differences, language usage, and National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) material. Additional materials include colleague publications and cassette tapes of interviews from students in courses Clark taught at UNLV.
The Elmer R. Rusco Collection on Ethnicity and Race in Nevada (1964-1972) contains correspondence, court cases, employment information, and research materials compiled by Rusco for a book he was writing on race relations in Nevada.
The Jane Ham Legislative Papers (1980-1981) document the legislative activities of Nevada Republican Assemblywoman Jane Ham during the 1981 legislative session. The collection consists of Legislative Bureau correspondence, memos, pamphlets, and draft legislative bills. Also included are reports, studies, and informal polls from private individuals and lobby groups expressing response to pending legislation.