Evelyn Stuckey Collection, MS 86-56. Special Collections, UNLV Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Donated by Cheryl Rogers, October 1986.
Gerry Evans, November 1997.
This collection is open for research.
For permission to reproduce or publish from this collection, please contact the Director of Special Collections.
Mary Evelyn Stuckey, born September 10, 1921 in Gordo, Alabama, received her B.S. degree from Florida State Women's College (later Florida State University) in 1946 majoring in Education with a concentration in Physical Education. Following graduation, she worked for two years for the State of Florida's Board of Health prior to joining the faculty at Las Vegas High School in 1949 as a Physical Education Teacher. She remained a teacher at Las Vegas High until she died of cancer on April 10, 1980.
In her first year at Las Vegas High School Stuckey saw a need for girls to experience the same sense of interaction and camaraderie that boys traditionally had when they participated in such "male" activities as sports and other organizations that fostered a sense of self-esteem and leadership. With this goal in mind, Stuckey began the dance team the Rhythmettes in late 1949. After making it through Stuckey's rigorous try-out process that included faculty endorsement and a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.0, sixteen girls ages thirteen to seventeen performed as "Rhythmettes" for the first time in early 1950. Over the course of several years the group became nationally known performing in such places as Denver, CO; Hollywood, CA; Washington D.C.; and New York City as Nevada's representatives for the 1964 New York World's Fair. They were the subject of several articles that appeared in magazines such as Colliers and Parents Magazine as well as making television appearances on shows as "The Ed Sullivan Show," ABC's "Wide World of Sports," and CBS' "Fabulous Las Vegas." The Rhythmettes appeared in such films as Warner Brothers "Howdy Podner" and "The World at Night." They appeared on several local and regional television shows. Due to ill health, Stuckey disbanded the original Rhythmettes in June 1966, but restarted them in 1974 where she remained their Director/Advisor until 1979.
Evelyn Stuckey's constant involvement and dedication to fostering self-esteem in the students at Las Vegas High School earned her several awards and commendations that included Las Vegas Women of the Year (1954), Honorary Queen, Las Vegas Community Fair (1955), and Nevada Outstanding Citizen for 1964. She also served as President of the Las Vegas Classroom Teachers' Association (1958-59). Her positive leadership style, dedication, love of dance and choreography served as the basis of the Rhythmettes' success. She volunteered much of her time and that of the Rhythmettes for community activities that included free dance workshops for children and fund-raising for various charities and youth organizations. To honor Stuckey for her years of dedication and service to Las Vegas High School and the community and to honor the sixteen year tradition of the Rhythmettes organization, the Student Body of Las Vegas High School dedicated a trophy to them in 1969 "to forever preserve their memory."
This collection focuses primarily on the Las Vegas Rhythmettres and the correspondence, news clippings, and operational information collected by Evelyn Stuckey in her capacity as Director, Rhythmettes (1950-66). Some of the possible research areas for which this collection may be beneficial are 1950s youth culture and organization, female mentoring and leadership, and mid-century philosophical and series theoretical ideas and attitudes about Physical Education.
This collection is divided into two series: General and Rhythmettes. The General Series is divided into two sub-series: Personal and Physical Education. The Personal Sub-Series includes college papers on non-physical education subjects, miscellaneous personal documents (non-correspondence), gas credit cards, news clippings, letters and cards from individual Rhythmettes and others to Stuckey as well as a college photo album and miscellaneous loose photos. The Physical Education Sub-Series contains instructional materials for several sports, college research papers on Physical Education, and the Physical Education Alumni/Association Newsletter (1946, 1953, 1957-61).
The Rhythmettes Series is divided into two sub-series: The Correspondence Sub-Series and the General Operations/Performance Sub-Series. The Correspondence/Events Sub-Series is a collection of the official correspondence (1952-1967) from organizations and activities requesting Rhymette participation at their event including 1964 World's Fair materials as well as general organizational correspondence and event brochures. The General Operations/Performance Sub-Series is a collection of documents relating to the Rhythmette organization that includes the Rhythmette Constitution, some try-out information, peer evaluations and documents relating to the presentation and execution of Rhythmette events and activities such as the "Rhythmette Review." This sub-series also includes miscellaneous scripts, sketches, formation diagrams, news clippings, (1950-1966) and performance posters including Stuckey's paper, "A Report on the Position of the Rhythmettes as an Education Medium in the Las Vegas High School" (1956).
The collection is arranged alphabetically within each sub-series and has one box (#4) which has film fragments and miscellaneous personal memorabilia and loose photos. Boxes 15 and 16 contain loose, large scrapbook pages and performance posters.
This collection is organized into 2 series, within which are 4 subseries.
Photographs removed from the collection were placed in UNLV Photo Collection 0284. Please see the Photo Archivist for these materials.
The General Series is divided into two sub-series: Personal and Physical Education.
The Personal Sub-Series includes college papers on non-physical education subjects, miscellaneous personal documents (non-correspondence), gas credit cards, news clippings, letters and cards from individual Rhythmettes and others to Stuckey as well as a college photo album and miscellaneous loose photos.
The Physical Education Sub-Series contains instructional materials for several sports, college research papers on Physical Education, and the Physical Education Alumni/Association Newsletter (1946, 1953, 1957-61).
The Rhythmettes Series is divided into two sub-series: Correspondence and General Operations/Performance.
The Correspondence/Events Sub-Series is a collection of the official correspondence (1952-1967) from organizations and activities requesting Rhythmette participation at their event including 1964 World's Fair materials as well as general organizational correspondence and event brochures.
The General Operations/Performance Sub-Series is a collection of documents relating to the Rhythmette organization that includes the Rhythmette Constitution, some try-out information, peer evaluations and documents relating to the presentation and execution of Rhythmette events and activities such as the "Rhythmette Review." This sub-series also includes miscellaneous scripts, sketches, formation diagrams, news clippings, (1950-1966) and performance posters including Stuckey's paper, "A Report on the Position of the Rhythmettes as an Education Medium in the Las Vegas High School" (1956).