Florence McClure Collection, MS 2003-23. Special Collections, UNLV Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Donated by Florence McClure, 2001 and 2003
Kelli Brockschmidt, 2007.
This collection is open for research.
For permission to reproduce or publish from this collection, please contact the Director of Special Collections.
Florence Alberta Schilling was born in Centralia, Illinois on September 26, 1919 and graduated from Jacksonville High School in 1939. She attended MacMurray College for Women before transferring to Hardin Business College where she graduated in October 1941. At the outbreak of World War II, she worked at a series of jobs for the war effort, including a position with the Provost Marshall in the Security and Intelligence Division in Miami, Florida. It was here that she met James E. McClure, an Air Force officer and former prisoner of war; they were married in October 1945. They have two children, James and Carolyn.
McClure worked in hotel administration in Florida (Fontainebleau Hotel) and the International Hotel in Los Angeles before moving to Las Vegas in 1966. She became one of the first female executives in the resort industry in Las Vegas, and as an executive assistant to Burton Cohen, was instrumental in the opening of the new Frontier Hotel. She was later transferred to the Desert Inn Hotel with Cohen to work as manager of the executive office. In 1969, McClure resumed her education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 1971.
Shortly after moving to Las Vegas, McClure began what would become a long and productive career in community service and activism on behalf of women’s issues. From the beginning, she took active leadership roles in a number of political organizations from the League of Women Voters and National Conference of Christians and Jews, to the American Association of University Women and Women’s Democratic Club of Clark County. McClure’s inclinations also led her to work as an active member of the Nevada Women’s Lobby where she advocated for legislation that would benefit women and children. She was also a founding member of the Soroptomists International of Greater Las Vegas in 1968, serving as secretary and later, vice president. For many years she wrote a column called “Herstory” for the Mentor, the local Sorpotomists newsletter.
McClure’s most lasting legacy resulted from her tireless efforts on behalf of the victims of rape. In 1973, she co-founded Community Action Against Rape (CAAR) (later the Rape Crisis Center) with Sandi Petta, serving as its first Director from 1973-84. CAAR worked diligently to increase the sensitivity of law enforcement and medical workers toward victims of assault. Due to CAAR’s efforts, (from police sensitivity training to rape kits in hospitals and increased funding) the treatment of rape victims in Clark County improved dramatically. McClure’s efforts on behalf of rape victims did not go unnoticed and as a result, she became involved in a number of victim’s rights organizations: Families of Murder Victims, National Organization for Victim Assistance, National Advisory Committee on Prevention and Control of Rape and the Task Force on Gender Bias in the Courts.
Although McClure retired from the Rape Crisis Center in 1984 because of arthritis, she continued to remain active in many community organizations and turned her energies toward working as an advocate for incarcerated women. As a member of the Women’s Democratic Club of Clark County, McClure lobbied Nevada’s governor and the state legislature to change the site of the proposed women’s prison from rural Nevada (Pioche) to a site in Clark County so that the inmates could be placed nearer to their families to help them in their rehabilitation. The prison was eventually constructed in North Las Vegas, and opened in September 1997.
“Hurricane Florence” as she was dubbed because of her tremendous energy and efforts on behalf of women’s issues, has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards. These include the UNLV Outstanding Alumni Award, Distinguished Women in Southern Nevada, “Women Helping Women” Award from the Soroptomists (three-time winner), Humanitarian of the Year Award and many, many others. She received an even more lasting tribute in April 2007 when the Nevada state senate passed Senate Bill 330 to rename the Southern Nevada Women's Correctional Facility in North Las Vegas as the Florence McClure Women's Correctional Center.
This collection is comprised of the papers of Florence McClure, prominent community activist for women’s rights in Las Vegas and southern Nevada. It documents some thirty five years of advocacy work that McClure did on behalf of women’s issues in Las Vegas from 1969 – 2003. Comprised of writings, correspondence, memos, newspaper clippings, handwritten notes, and various types of publications from newsletters and magazines to flyers and pamphlets, the collection focuses on her work with women’s organizations, her efforts on behalf of the Southern Nevada Women’s Correctional Facility, and her political advocacy work. It also contains a large number of reference clippings that McClure collected on important women’s issues (local, national, and international in scope).
The papers are arranged in six series: Biographical, Political Advocacy, Women’s Correctional Facility, Women’s Organizations, Women’s Conferences, and Women’s Issues – Subject Files.
The Biographical series (1970-2007) is comprised of materials that focus on Florence McClure’s personal life and provide a broad portrait of her life and work. It includes biographical information in the form of newspaper and magazine articles, interviews, resumes, family documents, and genealogical research information about the McClure family’s Cherokee lineage. Other important personal documents include awards and honors, general correspondence, and a daily appointment book dating from 1989-1991.
The Political Advocacy series (1969-1995) provides documentation of McClure’s work as a political advocate for women’s issues at the local, state and national level. Includes her testimony before the U.S. Senate and her summaries of activities in the Nevada state legislature regarding women’s issues.
The Women’s Correctional Facility series (1989-1999) contains material documenting McClure’s work on behalf of the women’s correctional facility that was constructed in North Las Vegas. It is divided into two subseries. The first series pertains to the Southern Nevada Women’s Correctional Facility (SNWCF) and includes correspondence, bids and proposals, and other site selection documents relating to the construction of the facility. The second series contains more general information on corrections and victim’s rights issues and includes news clippings, correspondence, reports and studies and drafts of Nevada legislation on corrections issues.
The Women’s Organization series (1969-2003) contains documents such as meeting minutes, flyers, notes, brochures, bylaws, event information, and general information that relate to McClure’s extensive involvement with local women’s groups that focused on political, health and social betterment efforts in Las Vegas and Nevada. McClure often took a leadership or executive role in many of these organizations including the Soroptomists International of Greater Las Vegas and the American Association of University Women. McClure was also an active lobbyist for women’s rights concerning sexual, domestic, and physical abuse. There are several folders that reflect this including: Community Action Against Rape (there is a copy of her scrapbook on the founding of CAAR), Community Coalition for Victim’s Rights, Families of Murder Victims, Jean Nidetch Women’s Center, National Association for Victim’s Assistance, Nevada Network Against Domestic Violence, and Safenest.
The Women’s Conferences series (1991-2000) contains information on various women’s conferences McClure attended; the folders are organized alphabetically by conference name. Documents include preparatory materials, conference materials, name tags, food and lodging information, event lists, papers presented, and personal notes. There are a number of folders documenting her work at the Fourth World Conference on Women’s Issues hosted by the UN in Beijing, China in September 1995.
The Women’s Issues series (1971-2003) comprises the largest segment of the collection. It contains numerous news and magazine clippings and ephemera pertaining to women’s issues on a local, national, and international level. The materials are arranged alphabetically, and deal with a wide variety of issues pertaining to women’s health, work, and education as well as topics such as physical and sexual abuse of women. The largest number of clippings within the series focuses on corrections issues. The majority of the news clippings come from the
Materials are arranged alphabetically within the six series.
National and international newsletters from several women’s organizations were removed as they are available in the national archives of those organizations. Also, a small number of photographs were removed to UNLV Photograph Collection 0354
For related topics and further information see the following collections:
American Association of University Women - Las Vegas Branch MS 96-09
League of Women Voters MS 24
Soroptomists International of Greater Las Vegas MS 2002-06
The Biographical series (1970-2007) is comprised of materials that focus on Florence McClure’s personal life and provide a broad portrait of her life and work. It includes biographical information in the form of newspaper and magazine articles, interviews, resumes, family documents, and genealogical research information about the McClure family’s Cherokee lineage. Other important personal documents include awards and honors, general correspondence, and a daily appointment book dating from 1989-1991.
The Political Advocacy series (1969-1995) provides documentation of McClure’s work as a political advocate for women’s issues at the local, state and national level. Includes her testimony before the U.S. Senate and her summaries of activities in the Nevada state legislature regarding women’s issues.
The Women’s Correctional Facility series (1989-1999) contains material documenting McClure’s work on behalf of the women’s correctional facility that was constructed in North Las Vegas. It is divided into two subseries. The first series pertains to the Southern Nevada Women’s Correctional Facility (SNWCF) and includes correspondence, bids and proposals, and other site selection documents relating to the construction of the facility. The second series contains more general information on corrections and victim’s rights issues and includes news clippings, correspondence, reports and studies and drafts of Nevada legislation on corrections issues.
The first subseries pertains to the Southern Nevada Women’s Correctional Facility (SNWCF) and includes correspondence, bids and proposals, and other site selection documents relating to the construction of the facility.
The second subseries contains more general information on corrections and victim’s rights issues and includes news clippings, correspondence, reports and studies and drafts of Nevada legislation on corrections issues.
The Women’s Organization series (1969-2003) contains documents such as meeting minutes, flyers, notes, brochures, bylaws, event information, and general information that relate to McClure’s extensive involvement with local women’s groups that focused on political, health and social betterment efforts in Las Vegas and Nevada. McClure often took a leadership or executive role in many of these organizations including the Soroptomists International of Greater Las Vegas and the American Association of University Women. McClure was also an active lobbyist for women’s rights concerning sexual, domestic, and physical abuse. There are several folders that reflect this including: Community Action Against Rape (there is a copy of her scrapbook on the founding of CAAR), Community Coalition for Victim’s Rights, Families of Murder Victims, Jean Nidetch Women’s Center, National Association for Victim’s Assistance, Nevada Network Against Domestic Violence, and Safenest.
The Women’s Conferences series (1991-2000) contains information on various women’s conferences McClure attended; the folders are organized alphabetically by conference name. Documents include preparatory materials, conference materials, name tags, food and lodging information, event lists, papers presented, and personal notes. There are a number of folders documenting her work at the Fourth World Conference on Women’s Issues hosted by the UN in Beijing, China in September 1995.
The Women’s Issues series (1971-2003) comprises the largest segment of the collection. It contains numerous news and magazine clippings and ephemera pertaining to women’s issues on a local, national, and international level. The materials are arranged alphabetically, and deal with a wide variety of issues pertaining to women’s health, work, and education as well as topics such as physical and sexual abuse of women. The largest number of clippings within the series focuses on corrections issues. The majority of the news clippings come from the