Jerry Morlan Papers, MS 2004-11, Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Donated by Kathy Morlan, 2004.
Dana Miller, December 2006.
This collection is open for research.
For permission to reproduce or publish from this collection, please contact the Director of Special Collections.
Jerry Duane Morlan was born in 1938 and attended high school in Victorville, California. He worked as a letter carrier for the U.S. Post Office from 1960 to 1965 before his eight year tenure as an industrial photographer at Teledyne Semiconductor in Hawthorne, CA. After Teledyne, Morlan was a successful general supervisor of the graphic arts department of leading toy manufacturing company Mattel, still dabbling in the field of photography and sometimes acting as a consultant for the Yankee Photo Products company. In 1974, Morlan became operations manager for a security camera service company. The following year Morlan embarked on what was to become his most recognized professional contribution by enrolling in college to become an educator; he received an Associate of Arts degree from El Camino College and graduated from California State University Long Beach with a Bachelor of Arts; years later he would go on to complete his Master of Science through Nova University. Interestingly, he had gained prior teaching experience from his time as an auxiliary instructor in the U.S. Coast Guard in the early 1970’s.
After a year of teaching Industrial Arts in Lancaster, California, Morlan relocated to Las Vegas, NV, where he took a similar position at Garside Junior High School in August of 1978. There Morlan taught Industrial Arts, Life Science, Physical Science, Health, Photography, and Service Art for more than fourteen years. He created a pilot program for technology education in the early 1990s that was very well-received by the Clark County School District. During this time he also published articles in trade journals and newspapers, and was an advocate for vocational education in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. This involvement led to his position as Administrative Specialist for Technology and Technical Education Curriculum and Instruction from 1992 to 1997, an important role in the growing city’s school district. Jerry Morlan passed away in 2000 and is survived by his wife.
This collection comprises elements that document the career of technology educator Jerry Morlan, primarily in Las Vegas, Nevada, spanning the 1970’s to 1990’s. The bulk of the materials refer to Morlan’s role in the Clark County School District in integrating technology into the classroom, primarily supported by numerous letters of thanks and recommendation from schools all over the county. Morlan’s professional writings and news clippings demonstrate his advocacy of vocational learning by way of industrial arts. Also included in the collection is a group of photographs that visually document projects Morlan engaged students in during the 1980’s, as well as a videocassette program from 1991 that seeks to act as an introduction to technology. The collection is housed in one document box and one flat oversize box.
The collection is divided into a single series and it's two boxes are arranged mostly by format which includes letters and photographs.
There is a flat oversize box of photographs that have been seperated from the document box of this collection. The flat oversize box is located in the oversize section of Special Collections' closed stacks. It can be located with the same collection number (i.e., MS 2004-11).
For related topics and further information see the following collections:
Elbert Edwards Collection, MS 90-32
KLVX TV Project Innovate, MS 89-20
Includes certificates of professional achievement and honor, letters of thanks and congratulation, as well as high school and college diplomas.
Includes friendly inter-professional and international correspondence.
Includes letters recommending Morlan from various workplaces, including Mattel, Microcheck, Yankee Photo Products, Archer-Finch Properties, and California State University Long Beach Vocational Education Department, El Camino College, us dept transpo us coast guard, & Stanford electronics lab & principal marlin neilsen.
Topical clippings file covering technology and technical education.
Includes Certified Employee Appraisal Reports 1978 through 1992, and Performance Evaluation Reports for 1996 & 1997, and yearly work contracts 1992 through 1998; all issued by Clark County School District.
Includes practicum studies and final papers in fulfillment of degree programs; articles published in trade journals and newspapers; titles include “Nevada Schools Develop Prototype of ‘Introduction to Technology’ Program”; “Technology Education in the 1990’s”; “A Time for Change”; “A Success in Technology Education”; “Vocational Education Important”; and Center for Applied Technology: Introduction to Technology (a Desert Research Institute Pilot Project).
Contains professional resume and educational philosophy statement.
Contains 2 copies of instructional video Introduction to Technology Program, Produced by Triad Group, January 1991, Las Vegas, NV; 10 minutes long.
Contains 25 loose oversize color photographs mounted on poster board depicting middle-school-age students interacting with technology and vocational education; several photographs show Jerry Morlan in the process of teaching students and explaining or demonstrating complex technical models and machines.
End of Inventory