Special Collections collects personal papers from Nevada politicians, organizational records from Southern Nevada political groups, and numerous published materials from state, county, and city governments. Special Collections does not collect public government records. 

Featured Holdings

Published Materials

Special Collections and the UNLV Libraries are a repository of state, county, and city government publications and maps, which are accessible through the library catalog:

• Browse City of Las Vegas titles
• Browse Clark County titles

Manuscript Collections

Special Collections holds the papers and manuscripts of Nevadans who served in U.S. Congress.

• Howard Cannon (Democrat, 1959-1982)
• Chic Hecht (Republican, 1983-1988)
• Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (Democrat, 1999-2013)

We also have collections from a number of state legislators from both the senate and assembly.

County records include:

• Clark County Economic Opportunity Board
• County Commissioner Thalia Dondero papers
• William Ferron papers
• C.D. Baker papers
• Ron Lurie papers
• Oran Gragson papers
• Las Vegas City Commission Minute and Ordinance
• Books and the records of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce

Browse other collections of city and county records in Special Collections.

We also hold collections from state and local Democratic and Republican organizations, as well as a number of political and social action groups such as the Las Vegas chapter records of the League of Women Voters and the National Organization for Women.

Oral Histories

In addition to oral histories of the Oral History Research Center, Special Collections has oral histories from a number of prominent city, county, and state politicians who have worked on behalf of the people of Las Vegas and Southern Nevada.