Mary Laub and husband William “Bill” Laub first came to Las Vegas in 1954, eventually establishing permanent residency with their five children four years later. Bill’s work with his family’s business, Southwest Gas Corporation, brought the Laub’s to the city from their lifetime home of California. Unable to find a home adequate for their large family, the Laubs ordered a home, which was shipped to Las Vegas and built on their lot in Rancho Circle. Mary’s “claim to fame” is founding the Las Vegas Assistance League chapter in 1976, serving her community through this organization for decades after. Her concern for the viability of Assistance League led her to start a thrift store to finance organizational operations, as well as solicit donations from entities like the Reynolds Foundation and Andre Agassi Foundation. To this day, the Assistance League continues many of the programs Mary started, including providing clothing to local children and the thrift store. Mary still lives in the family’s Rancho Circle home, in a community to which her and her husband dedicated themselves. In addition to his successful career with Southwest Gas, Bill was appointed by then Governor Laxalt as chairman of the Nevada Equal Rights Commission, and he also served as a Republican National Committeeman for over a decade. Mary’s work with the Assistance League was so meaningful that it established an annual Mary Laub award for other enduring volunteers. She also served on the local library board of trustees, and was involved with the Junior League for many years.
For Leonardo Martinez, the United States was never meant to be a destination—it was merely a short stop along the way as he awaited the day he could safely return to his family in El Salvador. Now a man who embraces the occasional Big Mac from McDonalds but never turns away a Salvadoran pupusa, Leonardo has embraced both places as home with memories that took him from his humble upbringings in Santa Lucía to the bright lights of the city of Las Vegas.
Black and white image of the group of men who witnessed the pouring of the first concrete in Hoover Dam proper. From left to right: H. J. Lawler, Director of Six Companies, Inc.; Walker R. Young, Construction Engineer, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Frank T. Crowe, General Superintendent, Six Companies, Inc.; C. A. Shea, Director of Construction, Six Companies, Inc. W. A. Bechtel, President, Six Companies, Inc.; R. F. Walter, Chief Engineer, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Theodore A. Walters, First Assistant Secretary of the Interior ; Ed Clark & C. P. Squires, members of the original Colorado River Commission. Note: Boulder Dam was officially renamed Hoover Dam in 1947.
Collection consists of the 1974 lease agreement between Circus Circus and William Bennet and William Pennington, and a 1981 Desert Inn Country Club 25th Anniversary scrapbook.
The Howard Booth Papers are comprised of the personal papers of environmental activist Howard Booth from 1964 to 2017. The collection includes information about Booth's efforts to help turn Red Rock Canyon into a National Conservation Area. Booth was a member of multiple conservation organizations and the collection includes meeting minutes and newsletters from the Toiyabe chapter of the Sierra Club. The collection also contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, official reports, newsletters, and meeting minutes collected by Booth from various environmental organizations. The papers also include numerous photographic slides with handwritten captions Booth took of Red Rock and the surrounding area from the early 1980s to 2000s.
The Jack Kent Tillar Papers (approximately 1890-2010) are comprised of magic-related books, periodicals, pamphlets, ephemera, and artifacts from the estate of Jack Kent Tillar who was a composer and music editor for the film and television industry. Materials also include a small amount of Tillar's personal papers. Tillar was an amateur mentalist magician and wrote numerous books and articles on the subject of telepathy and mentalism including The Assumption Swindle, Trio: Three Complete Acts for the Mentalist, and Solo: The Walk-Around Mentalist.
The Sidney R. Whitmore Collection (approximately 1885-1970) contains land deeds and other documents about Mount Diablo, Nevada; documents detailing parts of his family history; and eight framed paintings of landscapes and portraits.