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The Thunderbird Hotel Records (MS-00180) are comprised of material that documents the work of this Las Vegas, Nevada hotel's entertainment department from 1964 to 1973. The records consist of photographs, memos, newspaper clippings, and publicity materials. The hotel hosted many entertainment acts that included showgirls, whose costumes exposed various amounts of skin. As I went through the nine boxes of records, I found many interesting images related to showgirls.
The Thunderbird Hotel records include material from the 1960s and…Read More
Over the summer I’ve been lucky enough to work on the Robert Beckmann Photographs (PH-00381), which consist of photographs and slides of artist Robert Beckmann’s paintings, murals, and art installations. Mr. Beckmann, who has won numerous awards for his art, including the Governor’s Arts Award for Excellence in the Arts from the state of Nevada as well as fellowships from the Western States Arts Foundation and the Nevada State Council on the Arts, donated thousands of slides and photographs of his work to Special Collections this month. I was assigned to organize, inventory, and write the finding aid for his donation. During my work, I discovered both the complexity and diversity of projects Mr. Beckmann has accomplished over a career that has spanned more than four decades. For example, I saw images of the…Read More
Growing up in eastern Washington, frighteningly faraway from any “good” delis, I always looked forward to visits from my Grandpop (and his carry-on insulated lunchbox full of delicious salty belly lox). Every time I visited my Grandpop in his row house in Bensalem on the outskirts of Philadelphia, he would trick me into trying what he described as the sweetest and most delicious dessert, halvah, an experience I liken to taking a bite out of a stick of chalk. Since my visits with my Grandpop were few and far between, he successfully pulled this practical joke two to three times before I got wise to him. Conversations I had with my Grandpop and other members of my Mom’s family while eating Jewish food like belly lox and poppy seed bagels, matzah ball soup, kasha with onions, pot…Read More
(Photos of Renee Lee come from the Renee Lee papers, MS-00587)
While working in Special Collections I have come across many collections with interesting pieces, but one collection that has remained in my mind is the Renee Lee Collection. The collection documents the later years of Renee Lee’s career as an actress and singer in Las Vegas. My favorite items in the collection are two images of Ms. Lee. The first image is a picture of her posing in a showgirl outfit in the 1960s. The second image is of her again posing in a showgirl’s outfit, but about 40 years later. As soon as I saw the two photos juxtaposed, I was reminded of the popular “Throwback Thursday” internet trend in which a person recreates a photo from her past to show how she has changed or stayed the same. I admire the pride Lee took…Read More
Front Row: L to R: Dallas Reiber, Christina Molina, Ian Baldwin,Kayla McDuffie. Second Row: L to R: Karla Irwin, Hana Guiterrez, Lindsay Oden, and Hannah Robinson.Not pictured: Jocelyn Ascensio
Special Collections is excited to be in the early phases of implementing ArchivesSpace, a new collection management application that provides us with the ability to manage and store all our collection guides, also known as finding aids, in one place. Our implementation of ArchivesSpace will result in increased public access to our collection guides. In preparation for launching the user interface of the application, Special Collections is busy populating ArchivesSpace with existing finding aids, as well as some brand new ones.…Read More
Photograph of Howard Hughes with the H-1 Racer, circa 1935-1937
Check out the latest UNLV News story by Head of Exhibits, Peter Michel, writing about the enigmatic Howard Hughes and the Hughes-related material in Special Collections.
Nevada Gay Rodeo Association entry in Gay Pride celebration, 1998. From the Dennis McBride Collection
Interesting in researching LGBT history in Las Vegas in honor of LGBT Pride Month? UNLV Special Collections holds a number of significant manuscript and photograph collections that document the history of the LGBT community in Las Vegas. We also collect a number of local LGBT publications such as the Las Vegas Bugle, Q Vegas and Night Beat. Our manuscript collections…Read More
Special Collections conservator Michael Don Fraser received the Conference of Inter-Mountain Archivists Service Award at the organization's annual meeting in Carson City, NV on May 15-16, 2014. The award is bestowed annually to individuals who have demonstrated considerable service and leadership in the intermountain west region, and who have made significant contributions to the CIMA organization and/or the archival profession.
Special Collections and the Center for Gaming Research welcome Eadington Gaming Fellow, Richard Williams
A cultural historian with a background in Classics and Art History, Richard has held teaching and research posts at universities including Newcastle and Glasgow, and has published on Greek drama and French revolutionary art. He has also co-curated exhibitions in both of these fields.
Currently Richard is working on genetic criticism of Erle Stanley Gardner’s A.A. Fair novels, arising from study of the manuscripts at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, as a visiting Research Fellow in 2011-12, and has given presentations on this work at a…Read More
