The Perry Kaufman Papers (1930-1974) are comprised of research material gathered by Kaufman for his doctoral dissertation, "The Best City of Them All: A History of Las Vegas, 1930-1960." Kaufman's research focused on the Las Vegas, Nevada Chamber of Commerce's role in promoting Las Vegas as a tourist destination. The collection primarily consists of newspaper clippings from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Las Vegas Sun. It also includes Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce minutes and publications, research on the history of Las Vegas, and Kaufman's notes and writings.
The collection, 1949 to 2006, was compiled by Clifford Olsen, a containment physicist at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). It consists of research notes and working papers written by Olsen and other scientists, publications, epoxy aggregate samples, work-related correspondence, nuclear-test-event data, and interviews conducted by Olsen with work colleagues involved with the NTS.
The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada Records (1992-2023) and include news articles, institutional records such as bylaws, agendas, and meeting minutes, ephemera, and programs for the Center’s annual Honorarium fundraiser. Additional materials include materials relating the the wellness clinic.
The Desert Fishes Council Records (1969-1988) consist of resolutions, meeting minutes, symposium programs, agendas, and press releases of the Desert Fishes Council (DFC). The organization is devoted to the study and preservation of Southwestern desert fishes, notably the desert pupfish. The DFC records reflect efforts to bring the plight of desert fishes to the attention of academics and the public as well as highlight the worth of desert lands within the American environmental movement.
The Julian Taber Collection on Gambling Addiction (1977-1988) includes papers, proposals, internal reports, memoranda, and newspaper articles chronicling the work of Julian Taber, an early specialist in the field of gambling addiction. The majority of the collection relates to Taber’s work and pilot programs at the Brecksville Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital in Brecksville, Ohio, with select materials pertaining to an alcohol dependency treatment program he coordinated at the VA hospital in Reno, Nevada.
The Las Vegas High School Class of 1929 Collection (1921-1979) contains materials relating to the Las Vegas High School graduating class of 1929. Materials include a scrapbook with photographs, pamphlets, fliers, and newspaper clippings from the thirtieth, fortieth, forty-fifth, and fiftieth reunions, as well as poster boards and oversized photographs from the 1920s.
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.
Anna Peltier, owner and founder of ARIA Landscape Architecture in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a transplanted farm girl and a musician. She was born in 1978 on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in Escanaba, Michigan, where she and two brothers were the second generation to grow up on their parents’ (and formerly their grandparents’) farm. She studied music performance at Michigan State University but after discovering her love of landscape architecture early in her college career, she changed majors and earned her degree in landscape architecture. Moving to Las Vegas in 2007, she first worked for JW Zunino Landscape Architects. While with Zunino she did design work for Lorenzi Park and designed the award-winning Cactus Avenue Interchange. As ARIA’s principal designer, Anna designed Discovery Park in Pahrump, Nevada, and the USA Parkway between Lake Tahoe, California, and Reno, Nevada. In 2013, when Anna opened ARIA, she carefully chose the name of her business. First, for practical reasons she want
Minnesotan Don Laughlin landed far from the land of (more than) 10,000 lakes. His office 90 miles south of Las Vegas in the eponymous town of Laughlin commands an unimpeded view of a very different landscape from that of his youth. Here, where the Colorado River flows south through one of its narrowest channels, Laughlin arrived in about 1966 and purchased what would become the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino. The endeavor was so successful that the then-settlement of 10 to 15 people at that tiny spot on the river grew to be an unincorporated town housing more than 7,000 people in 2010. Today, Laughlin the man continues to promote and support Laughlin the town via flood control projects and infrastructure development. In this interview, Laughlin sits amid the antique slot machines in his office and enjoys the view as he recalls his childhood on the family farm in southern Minnesota, and talks about leaving the farm in the late 1940s for nearby Owatonna to do watchmaking and watch repairing while simultaneously running a slot machine and pinball parlor. After visiting Las Vegas on vacation, he arrived permanently in 1952 and bartended at the Thunderbird Hotel until he bought his own bar and restaurant in Downtown Las Vegas, which he named Laughlin’s Made Right Café. After selling the café, he bought the 101 Club in North Las Vegas. He began searching for a casino for a casino to buy, seeking only those located on the border of a state that did not allow gambling. When he found the small hotel/casino on the Colorado River he purchased it. He talks of building an airstrip across the street and making daily trips to Las Vegas to buy groceries, beer, and toilet paper-essentially, everything one would need to run a hotel, restaurant, and casino-sometimes making three trips in one day. He continues to own and manage his hotel/casino at the age of 85, and he is in his office every day, all day, seven days a week. He gave up flying last year because he claims he’s too old to pilot his own aircraft. So is especially advantageous that the town that bears his name can now supply almost everything that he and the Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino need.