Every month, Special Collections and Archives highlights some of our newly processed collections. This month, Technical Services staff share some of their favorite collections that they worked on in 2025.
Barbara G. Brents Professional Papers (UA-00149)
The Barbara G. Brents Professional Papers is one of my favorite collections processed this year because it wonderfully represents and encapsulates Dr. Brents’s research and activities as a sociologist, activist, and faculty member at UNLV. The materials on the topic of sexual commerce and sex work are particularly insightful and this collection is rich with her research including field notes, photographs taken on brothel research trips to northern Nevada, and ephemera. The materials representing Brents’s activities as a faculty member at UNLV are equally as fascinating and include drafts of her early research and documentation of her involvement with the UNLV community including advocacy for the Jean Nidetch CARE Center and KUNV radio station.
-Tammi Kim, Digital Archivist
Explore the Barbara G. Brents Professional Papers finding aid to learn more about the collection.
Oakes Las Vegas Studio Photographs (PH-00462)
What makes the Oakes Las Vegas Studio Photographs especially unique, and my favorite of 2025, is that the album containing the photographs was originally used at the Overland Hotel on Fremont Street in the 1930s. Tourists could select postcards from the album to purchase as mementos of their trip, or to mail to friends and family. The photographs depict various scenes of Las Vegas, construction of the Hoover Dam, and the surrounding desert, many of which have flowery captions written by the studio as a way to enhance the visual content of the postcards. The album is an interesting piece of material culture that contrasts the modern experience of souvenir shopping with how a visitor to Las Vegas would have done so nearly one hundred years ago. The photographs themselves add to the wide variety of visual materials held by UNLV Special Collections and Archives, offering different photographic viewpoints of the subjects listed above.
-Landon Paljusaj, Accessioning & Processing Archivist
Explore the Oakes Las Vegas Studio Photographs (PH-00462) finding aid to learn more about the collection.
Josephine A. Johnson Diaries (MS-01208)
The Josephine A. Johnson Diaries is one of my (many!) favorite collections from 2025. The collection offers valuable insight into the historical record by documenting everyday life from the perspective of a Las Vegas, Nevada resident in the 1950s and 1960s. Through daily handwritten entries, Johnson recorded prices of goods and services, information about local shops and businesses, and even observations about weather. Together, these observations provide evidence of changing economic conditions, consumer habits, and even environmental patterns. Documenting a period of rapid growth and transformation in southern Nevada, these diaries allow researchers to trace how national trends intersected with local experience. The inclusion of receipts, notes, ephemera, and Johnson’s phonebook deepens the collection’s value by preserving material culture alongside personal effects. This collection is a wonderful window into mid-20th century domestic, social, and economic life in Las Vegas.
-Sarah Jones, Head of Technical Services
Explore the Josephine A. Johnson Diaries finding aid to learn more about the collection.
