What's New in Special Collections

Staff Highlight: Claytee White & Black History Month 2015

Claytee White, Director of the Center for Oral History Research Center in Special Collections, will be speaking and moderating at a number of events in February in celebration of Black History Month. All of these events are free and open to the public.

In addition to her work as Director of the OHRC, Claytee frequently lectures on the history of African-Americans in Las Vegas. She is the author of several articles including “Eight Dollars a Day and Working in the Shade: An Oral History of African American Migrant Women in the Las Vegas Gaming Industry” in African American Women Confront The West, 1600-2000; “The March That Never Happened: Desegregating the Las Vegas Strip,” Nevada Law Journal 5 (2004): 71-83; and “Marking the Unique Moulin Rouge Era,” Casino & Gaming International, 2006 Issue1, 15-21.

Staff Highlight: Visiting Special Collections Librarian Emily Lapworth

We are pleased to welcome Emily Lapworth who has been appointed Visiting Special Collections Librarian and will serve as an archivist for the Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project. Emily will focus on acquiring and processing archival records as well as preparing biographical entries, organizational histories, and finding aids for the project. Emily's first day on campus for her 18-month appointment was January 5, 2015.

Emily has an in-depth knowledge of archival theory and digitization practices, experience working with donors, and skills developed while working with a wide variety of archival collections, including collections that focus on the Jewish experience in America. She earned her bachelor's degree from Brandeis University and her Masters of Library Science from Simmons College.

Eadington Gaming Fellow Catherine Borg | In Residence Jan 5-21

Catherine Borg, Eadington Gaming Fellow

Special Collections and the Center for Gaming Research welcome Eadington Gaming Fellow, Catherine Borg.

Borg (MFA Rutgers 2004, BA SFSU 1995) is a visual artist and educator in Baltimore, MD where she teaches at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and Stevenson University. Her photo and video based art works have been included in exhibitions and screenings throughout the US, Europe and Canada, including at SF MOMA and Mass MOCA, and realized as public art projects for the Southern Nevada Regional Transportation Commission, the City of Las Vegas and Scottsdale Public Art. Awards include residency fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the Jentel Foundation and an Artist Fellowship from the Nevada Arts Council.

Christmas with the Von Tobel Family, 1923 ~by Hana Gutierrez

Von Tobel Family Papers, 19051997. MS-00589. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. (Box 09 folder 02).

Von Tobel Family Papers, 19051997. MS-00589. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. (Box 09 folder 02)

Many of the Christmas presents children receive today would have looked very strange under the Christmas tree of Von Tobel family in the 1920s. A small metal rectangle with wires that connect to the ears, an animal made of metal, a box filled with plastics bricks that you assemble yourself—MP3 players, robotic pets, and LEGOs are just some of the gifts that today's children desire during the holiday season that children of the 1920s would never have dreamed of. While many of the presents children desire fade and change with the times, there is one present that children of all times have wished for … a new bicycle!

Eadington Fellows in Special Collections: 2014-15

The Center for Gaming Research in Special Collections has announced its 2014-15 class of Eadington Fellows. A description of each Fellow, with a summary of their intended research and the date and title of their talk, follows. (pdf version here) They will be in residence in Special Collections beginning in January and continuing through June. Their talks are free and open to the public.

Catherine Borg
Borg (MFA Rutgers 2004, BA SFSU 1995) is a visual artist and educator in Baltimore, MD where she teaches at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and Stevenson University. Her photo and video based art works have been included in exhibitions and screenings throughout the US, Europe and Canada, including at SF MOMA and Mass MOCA, and realized as public art projects for the Southern Nevada Regional Transportation Commission, the City of Las Vegas and Scottsdale Public Art. Awards include residency fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the Jentel Foundation and an Artist Fellowship from the Nevada Arts Council.

Staff Highlight: Special Collections Director, Michelle Light

Special Collections Director, Michelle Light is a Las Vegas native, and was recently named a fellow of the Society of American Archivists and a Distinguished Alumni of the University of Michigan's School of Information. Read more about her in this Staff Spotlight article in UNLV Libraries eConnections newsletter!

Digitizing Nevada Newspapers

Special Collections faculty members Peter Michel, Head of Exhibits, and Cory Lampert, Head of Digital Collections, were part of the successful grant writing team effort that received some $311, 000 in NEH funding for the digitization of over 100,000 pages of historic Nevada newspapers as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program. Read more about this important project in this eConnections article: UNLV Libraries Leads The Way On Preserving Nevada's History With NEH Grant.

Graduate Student Fellows in Special Collections

Graduate student fellow Lindsay Oden with Robert Beckmann Photographs.

The Libraries Between the Lines publication has done a great article on the work of the UNLV history graduate fellows who spent the summer in Special Collection processing and describing many archival collections in order to make them more accessible to researchers. Read the full article here!

Honoring Atomic Veterans: Alice P. Broudy Papers

November 11 is a day to honor the veterans who have served our nation. UNLV archivist Joyce Moore has just completed the description of material focused on veteran Major Charles A. Broudy, USMC, who served in World War II, the Korean War, and at the Nevada Test Site. Major Broudy died of cancer in 1977 and, as a result, his wife, Alice Patricia “Pat” Broudy, has dedicated much of her life to the cause of “atomic veterans,” a term used to describe United States veterans who were exposed to ionizing radiation during their military service.

Documenting Our Region's Jewish Community

In August Special Collections launched the Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project. With assistance from a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the UNLV Libraries will collect historical primary sources (e.g., photographs, documents, newspapers, and more) about the Southern Nevada Jewish community, conduct oral histories to capture first hand testimony about Jewish life in Las Vegas, and create a digital collection to provide online access to these historical resources.

Edythe and Lloyd Katz, and their families on their wedding day, 1948. — Edythe and Lloyd Katz on their wedding day, 1948. Edythe is kissing her father, and Lloyd is hugging his father. Edythe and Lloyd Katz Photograph Collection. UNLV Libraries Special Collections.