unlv.1996.07 Guide to the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Records Finding aid written by Peter Michel Special Collections, UNLV Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.April 1996 Finding aid encoded by Dana MillerJune 2007 Descriptive Summary Records of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce1911-1988 (inclusive) MS 96-07 Chamber of Commerce (Las Vegas, Nev.) 2 record storage boxes (approx. 2 linear feet) University of Nevada, Las Vegas. UNLV Libraries. Special Collections. Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-7010. The collection is comprised of the organizational records of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. Materials include Board of Directors' meetings - minutes (incomplete), financial records, news clippings, photographs, correspondence, reports, publications and scrapbooks. There is a series of files on the history of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and Las Vegas News Bureau. Included are a number of Chamber of Commerce publications.English Preferred Citation:

Records of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. MS 96-07. Special Collections, UNLV Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

 Acquisition Information:

Acquired through the office of Mark Smith, President of the Chamber of Commerce.

Processed by:

Peter Michel, April 1996.

 Access:

This collection is open for research.

Publication Rights:

For permission to reproduce or publish from this collection, please contact the Director of Special Collections.

 Organizational History

Founded in 1911, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce is an organization of business leaders who work to improve their community and the area’s business climate. A volunteer board of trustees governs the Chamber and a professional staff of more than 60 runs the day-to-day operations. A private, member-funded organization, the LVCC is the largest, most influential business organization in the state of Nevada and the third-largest local Chamber of Commerce in the United States. Of its over 6,700 members, 85 percent are small businesses with 25 or fewer employees.

Scope and Content

The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Collection contains an incomplete series of minutes of meetings of the Board of Directors as well as general meetings of the membership from the Chamber’s founding in 1911 through 1913, from 1924-29, and from 1944-48. Financial records include a dues ledger from 1911 ( in which minutes of meetings were penciled) and two cash books covering the years 1929-41. A series of scrapbooks of activities of the merchant’s Bureau of the Chamber from 1963 complied by the Bureau’s manager, Ken O’Connell, includes memoranda, correspondence and press clippings and photographs. There are a series of files on the history of the Chamber of Commerce, gathered for the Diamond Anniversary in 1986 including the Calendar produced by the Chamber as well as narrative histories of the Chamber and the Las Vegas News Bureau, photographs, clippings, and miscellaneous brochures and information. The collection also contains a number of Chamber of Commerce publications from 1948 to 1988. Some items duplicate library holdings.

Arrangement of the Records

The collection was retained in a single series and is divided by material type as listed in the inventory.

N/A

Related Collections:

For related topics and further information see the following resource:

Early History of Las Vegas Nevada Chamber of Commerce, by Charles P. Squires, F 849.L35 S678 1940.

 Subject Headings Organizations:Chamber of Commerce (Las Vegas, Nev.) – Records and correspondence Subjects:Businesspeople – Nevada – Las Vegas United States. Small Business Administration Business enterprises – Nevada – Las Vegas Places:Las Vegas (Nev.) -- Economic conditions Inventory Box List BoxFolderContents11Minutes: 1911, January 11- May 18 (Loose pages from binders); and 1912, Aug. 10 (typescript pages corrected in pencil); and 1912, Sept. 21 (mimeograph pages)2Minutes: 1911, Oct. – Jan. 20, 1913 handwritten in pencil in front of Dues Ledger with loose sheets inserted3Minutes: 1924, Jan. 15 – July 30, 1929 Ledger-bound volume, typescript with corrections, paginated, pp.239-500 4Minutes: 1944, Jan. 4 – April 12, 1948 ledger- bound volume with 1944 articles of incorporated and by-laws, typescript, some mimeographed, loose pages of resolutions inserted, incompletely paginated, pp. 500-674 5Minutes: 1947, April – June 15, 1948 (draft) loose typed pages, some mimeographed, includes some correspondence and resolution 6Cash Book: April 1929 – June 1936 (receipts and expenditures)7Cash Book: July 1936 – June 1941(General receipts and expenditures); July 1936 -Dec. 1937 – Noted as transferred to new book 12/25/37- miscellaneous accounts through 1941 8 Documents relating to Chamber of Commerce building insurance, remodeling loan, Escrow papers 9Weekly News Letter January 2, 1948- Dec. 1949 (Vol. IV., no. 25- Vol., no.51)10Merchant’s Bureau 1963 and Check – Shoplifting legislation 11Merchant’s Bureau 1963 Bad Check – Shoplifting legislation photos and newsclippings 12Merchant’s Bureau 1963 Military Appreciation Ball, clippings13Merchant’s Bureau 1963 Christmas Decorations, photos & clippings14Merchant’s Bureau 1963 “Classroom Caravan to Carson”, photos & clippings21Official Opening of Port of Entry (first International Flight) July 1971 (photos & clippings) 2Diamond Anniversary Calendar, 1986(proofs) 3History file(photocopies of early minutes and photos)4History file (captions for photos in Diamond Anniversary Calendar)5History file (draft, clippings, misc.)6History file (Photos- UNLV Special Collection, LV News Bureau) (2)N/APublications:

Story of Southern Nevada, 1948Your Host in Las Vegas Nevada 1950 (Las Vegas Motel Association)Howdy Podner! May 1958 (Vol. 1, no.1), July 1958 single issues Miscellaneous Promotional brochuresVery Important Persons 1967; 1974 – 1984Contacts 1986; 1987; 1989Organizations 1966; 1984Women’s Council Directory 1987Professional Directory n.d. (1987/1988?)Statistical Data June 1955 Las Vegas Report, 1956; 1959; 1973News and Views 1973-74 (annual edition vol. 9 no. 1, vol. 10, no.1)"Where is Las Vegas Going?” 1976Greater Las Vegas, 1981; 1983; 1984Lifestyle ‘85Las Vegas Perspective 1985“Planning for Success,” n.d. (1987/1988?)Las Vegas Marketing Bulletin, 1988 Annual Summary

END OF INVENTORY