Mark you calendars now to attend our Premiere panel discussion event on Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 3:00 pm at West Charleston Library, 6301 W Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89146. 

Our next project is producing “The Women Who Saved History” – A Podcast Celebrating the Nevada Women Who Preserved Our State’s History, which will premiere 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” will be a monthly 30-45 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 19 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. 

List of women to be recognized:

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

Lynette 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: African-American History 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