Bertha Miranda
Nancy Allf Thomas
Thalia Dondero
Sarann Knight Preddy
Daveen Nave
Punam Mathur
Lavoli Miller
Jan Jones Blackhurst
Geoconda Arguello-Kline
Barbara Buckley
Janice Haupt Allen
Anita LaRuy
Lily Fong
Edythe Katz Yachever
Welcome
Watch the video of our Premier Panel for “The Women Who Saved History”!
Our current project is producing “The Women Who Saved History” – A Podcast Celebrating the Nevada Women Who Preserved Our State’s History, which premiered in March, 2024. The project was the idea of one of our Board members, Su Kim Chung, who is our scholar on the project.
“The Women Who Saved History” is a monthly 30-60 minute podcast focused on telling the stories of the many women who have dedicated their lives to preserving the history of the Silver State. Currently, there have been 20 women throughout the state that we have identified and including eight deceased women. Many of our historical institutions are the outcome of their work. Acknowledging these women has long been overdue. We are excited to celebrate them and their accomplishments with our first podcast series.
Their work of preserving history varies and includes originating traditional archives (documents and photographs), museum artifacts, oral histories, writing histories of the state, preservation of historic sites and landscapes, serving as an advocate for history and the teaching of history in the state.
FURTHERING OUR MISSION IN THE 21ST CENTURY
The mission of Women of Diversity Productions is to enhance the lives of women and, therefore, of society. Our focus is upon empowering women and giving visibility to achievements of women through production of documentaries. With that in mind we will concentrate on utilizing the new technology of the internet and virtual space. We will expand our ability to reach the public and provide access to the rich contributions women have made to history.
Our mission is to give visibility to women & create a woman-appreciated future.
The Women We Will Be Celebrating for Their Significant Contributions to Nevada History
Marlene Adrian: founder of Women of Diversity Productions, Inc. which developed documentaries, videos, books and events on the history of notable women in Nevada and videotaped 598 women’s events, speeches by women and other notable women-focused events
Alicia Barber: oral histories, historic preservation in Reno and northern Nevada
Sue Fawn Chung: wrote numerous articles/books on the history of Chinese-Americans in Nevada, collected documentation on the history of Asian-Americans in Nevada
Jean Ford: established Women’s Studies program at UNR, and the Nevada Women’s Archives at UNR and UNLV to tell the story of women’s history in Nevada as well as founded the Nevada Women’s History Project
Mary Gibson: NUMU archivist, preserved and archived the Dann Sister’s materials
Joanne Goodwin: collaborated to found Nevada Women’s Archives UNLV, Women’s Research Institute of Nevada, conducted oral histories of notable Las Vegas women
Anna Dean Kepper: curator of UNLV Special Collections who worked to save much of Las Vegas early history by collecting photographs and documents
Ellen Knowlton: Retired head of FBI in Las Vegas who worked with Oscar Goodman to found the Mob Museum
Dr. Effie Mona Mack: wrote first Nevada history textbook
Mary Palevsky Granados: directed The Nevada Test Site Oral History Project at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Documented the oral histories of those impacted or affiliated with the Nevada Test Site during the Cold War era from September 2003 through January 2008. Interviews with more than 150 people totaling 335 hours, related transcripts, documents and photographs.
Anna Parks: collected the historical artifacts that formed the nucleus of the Clark County Museum
Sherry Rupert: former Nevada Indian Commission Executive Director, instrumental in establishing the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center and Museum
Lynnette Sawyer: Executive Director of Hispanic Museum of Nevada which was founded in 1991. Dedicated to promoting awareness, education and resources of diverse Hispanic cultures and traditions to enhance intercultural understanding.
Heidi Swank: founder of Nevada Preservation Foundation in Las Vegas which works to preserve historic sites and encourages appreciate of historic buildings and architecture in Las Vegas
Gwendolyn Walker: founder of The Walker African-American Museum and Research Center in Las Vegas. She has collected a significant amount of materials regarding local Black community members and other Black individuals who have a Las Vegas connection.
Liz Warren: historic preservation of notable Las Vegas sites such as the Mormon Fort, Las Vegas Springs, collected material for Nevada Women’s Archives UNLV
Claytee White: inaugural director of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV which has documented the lives of thousands of Las Vegans through oral history
Jeanne Wier: Long-time secretary of the Nevada Historical Society (1904-1950) in Reno who collected thousands of documents, photos, maps, newspapers documenting the history of Nevada from its earliest days, taught first class on the history of women in Nevada. The NHS was the first cultural heritage repository in the state of Nevada.
Dorothy Wright: instrumental in nominating the Las Vegas sign for National Historic Register status, early work with Neon boneyard, wrote numerous articles on regional history
Lynn Zook: Conducted over 100 oral histories, created the documentary The Story of Classic Las Vegas and wrote the book Gambling on a Dream about Las Vegas’ early years.
This program is funded in part with support from Nevada Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In addition, we thank Caesar’s Entertainment for their sponsorship of this podcast series. Without these sponsor’s support, this podcast would not be possible.
