The Maria LaCavera Papers (1947-2017) contain the papers of professional dancer Maria LaCavera. The collection documents the career of LaCavera dancing in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Flamingo Hotel in 1947, and the Last Frontier Hotel in 1949 as one of the Ramona Girls dancing in the Danny O'Neil Varieties Act. Materials include photographs of LaCavera and other Ramona Girls, newspaper clippings, correspondence, LaCavera's American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA) employment contracts, Fabulous Las Vegas magazines, and hotel receipts. Other items of note include photographs of the 1949 Helldorado parade, a Frontier Hotel Ramona Room menu, and Frontier Hotel ephemera. There is also a copy of a self-published biography of LaCavera, written by her daughter-in-law Kristin Meyer entitled From Bon-Air to the Last Frontier. The collection also contains the digital images used to illustrate the book.
Oral history interview with Patricia Lee conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee White on September 19, 2023 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Lee begins the interview by discussing her childhood in Daegu, South Korea, born to a Black American father and a Korean mother. Patricia Lee arrived in the United States with her parents as a young child when the U.S. Air Force transferred her father to Vandenburg Air Force Base in California. Lee was seven when her father left. With her mother speaking no English, Lee was responsible for her family's food stamps and social services even as they endured serial evictions and homelessness that included a stay in a shelter for abused women. In middle school, Upward Bound was Lee's "game-changer." As she had in high school, Lee immersed herself in student life and academics at the University of Southern California, while also working several jobs. After graduation, she worked at the California Science Center Museum before entering law school at George Washington University. She graduated in May 2002, shortly after the legal profession had lost several top law firms that had been headquartered in New York City's Twin Towers. When she accepted an offer from Las Vegas firm Hutchison & Steffen, she became the firm's first woman attorney and first attorney of color; seven years later, she became the firm's first woman partner and first partner of color. Lee was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Nevada in November 2022 by Governor Steve Sisolak.
The Charley Henchis Papers (approximately 1945-1987) document the career of international cabaret show producer Charley Henchis and the shows he produced in Las Vegas, Nevada and Beirut, Lebanon. Materials include Henchis' business files which includes correspondence, files on specialty acts, photographs, and press about Henchis. Shows represented in this collection includes La Parisienne which was performed at the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas in 1960 before moving to Casino du Liban in Beirut. Other shows represented in this collection that were produced for Casino du Liban includes Mais Oui, S'il Vous Plait, Flash!, and Hello!. Additional materials include press and publicity files, music arrangements and scores, recordings of musical numbers used for the productions, and film footage of shows and production reels. Also included is film footage of the Charley Ballet, Henchis' dance troupe who were featured in his shows.
The Felicia Campbell Papers (approximately 1962-2020) contains material documenting the life and work of long-time UNLV English professor, Felicia Campbell. Materials include Campbell's personal and professional papers including correspondence, scholarly journals featuring her published articles, article drafts, newspaper clippings, photographs, personal diaries, and awards. Also included are materials documenting Campbell's discrimination lawsuit against UNLV in the 1970s regarding equal pay for tenured female faculty.
Julia Lynn Morris and James Stanford Papers (approximately 1990-2024) contain materials from Lynn and James's varied careers in Las Vegas, Nevada. The collection includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, videos, photographs, and ephemera from the Las Vegas arts scene, the Contemporary Arts Collective, Arts Factory, and other projects related to the couple.
The Larry Fotine Music Collection (approximately 1940-2017) contains the complete library of composer, jazz band leader, and composer for television Larry Fotine. Materials include manuscript scores, printed sheet music of works by Fotine, ASCAP agreements and contracts, photographs, recordings (both published recordings and archival recordings), correspondence, and books by Fotine, and memorabilia. Fotine directed his own bands beginning in the 1930s, with many million-plus seller recordings. He composed over 300 songs, including collaboration with Duke Ellington (“I Ain’t Got Nothin’ but the Blues”), and arranged music for Sammy Kaye’s band (1940-1945), Blue Barron and Art Mooney (1945-1947), and Lawrence Welk (1958-1960). Fotine composed music for the "Buttons and Rusty" cartoon shows at the end of his career in the 1980s. There is an item-level inventory available upon request.
The Baneberry Nuclear Test Trial Records (1969-1989) contain documents of a federal court case regarding a 1970 Nevada Test Site nuclear test and the resultant radioactive cloud which may have exposed and subsequently injured the test site workers. The consolidated suits, William Nunamaker vs. the United States and Harley Roberts vs. the United States, came to trial January 1979, in Federal District Court, Las Vegas, U.S. District Judge Roger Foley presiding. The materials in the collection consist of court documents, such as transcripts of the trial, briefs, findings and statements, an appeal, orders, defense and plaintiff exhibits, and indices to the exhibits and witnesses as well as a glossary of terms.
The Felix Lenox Photograph Collection (approximately 1910-2000) contains original photographic slides, prints, and contact sheets collected by Lenox in support of his popular "Nevada Armored Transport Inc. (1946-1984)" Facebook page. The collection also includes Lenox's own research on Las Vegas history and armored trucks.
The Southern Nevada Gem and Mineral Society Records (1950-2024) contain the records of the Clark County Gem Collectors, Las Vegas Gem Collectors, and the current Southern Nevada Gem and Mineral Society. The collection contains articles of incorporation, by-laws, membership directories, meeting minutes, correspondence, financial records, show paperwork, and award certificates. Also included are photographs of the organizations since the 1970s and digital scans of Gem Times and The Polished Slab newsletters.
The Las Vegas Ambassadors Collection (1968-1985) primarily consists of a scrapbook, newspaper articles, and photographs documenting the activities of the Las Vegas Ambassadors youth singing group. The materials were compiled by Harry LaFavor, the Ambassadors' business manager, who co-founded the group with Norman Kaye and Richie Astone to promote a positive image of Las Vegas. The collection also includes a songbook, vinyl record and ¼” tape recording, and promotional materials.