Black and white photo taken by C. P. Squires on the occasion of planting the first tree in the courthouse park, Las Vegas, Nevada. Date, March 1911, as near as can be fixed. The building shown at left is the first Clark County Court House (now used for Las Vegas City Library) which had been constructed by popular subscription by Las Vegas Business men as promised by them during the county division campaign in 1908-1909. This building provided sufficient quarters for the county offices for five years, following which, the present court house was built. Persons shown, so far as their identity can be remembered are: holding the tree- Ed W. Clark and using the shovel is Judge E. J. L Taber. Others, left to right: Charlie Ronnow, Judge W. R. Thomas, unidentified, unidentified, Bob Dillon, Frank A. Stevens, Harley A. Harmon, and Dr. Roy W. Martin.

Dr. Thomas Holder grew up in San Diego, completed graduate work at the University of Washington, and then spent a year in Europe painting. Upon returning to the States, he checked out job opportunities in Las Vegas and San Diego. The chance to build a program from scratch appealed to him and he settled at UNLV in 1971. Tom has seen many changes in the university, the art program, and the city itself. He has encouraged students to show their work in various venues around Las Vegas and is always searching out new places to exhibit. In addition to staying current with his own work, Tom supports First Friday and a visiting artist program. To ensure quality education for Nevada students and to encourage enrollment at UNLV, he oversees a new project called "August in the Schools". Faculty members go out into the area high schools to speak about the art program and invite the students to attend Today, Dr. Holder is chairing the art department, works on a self-study of the department for the purpose of accreditation with the Nat'l Association of Schools of Art and Design, and continues with his own artistic endeavors. He plans to travel with his family as well.