What's New In Special Collections

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.

So far, we've been contacting individuals and groups in the community to get them involved in the project and start thinking about how we can find and collect evidence about Jewish life and the contributions of Jewish individuals in Southern Nevada. We've also started digitizing many photographs and manuscripts from our…Read More

Halloween Happenings in Las Vegas, by Ian M. Baldwin

Halloween Ball Invitation, October 1919. UNLV Special Collections, Wengert Family Papers (MS-00192); box 1, folder 5

Boo! Sometimes Las Vegas can be downright scary. At UNLV Special Collections, archival materials document the city’s rich history of celebrating Halloween. During my 2014 summer internship here, I was delighted to stumble upon several ghoulish finds from Sin City’s Halloweens past.

Take for instance an invitation for a Halloween ball in 1919. Found as I processed the Wengert Family Papers (MS-00192), this invite was sent to a young Las Vegas pioneer shortly after her arrival in Las Vegas. The October 31 ball featured dancing, apple-bobbing, and a costume contest at a local lodge. The artwork of the invitation itself remains in…Read More