Fred and Maurine Wilson Collection, MS 12. Special Collections, UNLV Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Donated by Mr. and Mrs. James Spivey, 1990.
Staff
This collection is open for research.
For permission to reproduce or publish from this collection, please contact the Director of Special Collections.
Maurine Hubbard Wilson (1898-1990) and Fred Holmes Wilson (1896-1958) came to Las Vegas in 1925 soon after their marriage. They both played important roles in the cultural life of the city, she as a musician and music teacher, and he as a historian. Their papers consist primarily of correspondence, research materials, and church records and history.
Maurine Hubbard was born in Missouri, but moved to Colorado with her parents where she finished her early schooling. It was in Colorado that she met and later married Fred Wilson. They moved to Las Vegas in 1925 where Fred worked for the Post Office. A trained and talented musician, Maurine was organist for the First Methodist Church for 29 years and taught piano and violin to the young people of the city. Both Fred and Maurine had a deep interest in the history, geology, and archaeology of southern Nevada. With his friend Dr. William Park, Fred documented the life of the Las Vegas area in 1929-1930 on film. Fred's health was failing so he retired and devoted his time to his hobbies. He collected material on local history, hoping to write a history of Clark County. In addition he collected materials and wrote a history of the First Methodist Church in Las Vegas that was published to coincide with the fifty year anniversary of that church.
The Wilson Papers document the lives of the Wilsons from birth to death. Boxes 1-4 consist of correspondence and personal papers, including diaries. Boxes 4-7 are Fred's research materials while boxes eight and nine contain records and history of the First Methodist Church. Boxes ten and eleven and a large folder include miscellaneous materials: tape recordings, home movies, scrapbooks, certificates and plaques honoring Maurine, and a set of house plans.
The collection is organized into four groups. The first group is correspondence and personal papers (boxes 1 - 4). The second group is Fred Wilson's research material (boxes 4 - 7). The third group contains records and history of the First Methodist Church (boxes 8 and 9). The fourth group contains miscellaneous material (boxes 10 and 11). There are films on life in Las Vegas from 1929 to 1930. Some of these films have been compiled and reformatted on ½ in. videocassette; cataloged and placed in the Media Resources area of the library.
Photographs received with the collection have been transferred to the Maurine and Fred Wilson Photo Collection (0014). The films in this collection are housed separately from the boxes in the Special Collections' vault area.
(Also misc. materials concerning the Longwell family)
(Portions of these films have been transferred to videotape and catalogued into Special Collections, call #F849.L35 V54x -- videocassette.)
(Miscellaneous programs, invitations, transcript, yearbook, etc.)
(Two pages, typescript)
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
#1 Fred Wilson giving the introduction to his series of tapes of pioneers who came to Las Vegas in 1905. After the introduction the rest of the tape is blank.
#2 Blank except for unidentified girl singing at the beginning.
#3 Unidentified church choir singing. Tape then switches to a man speaking in a foreign language. Later the tape contains a portion of General MacArthur's retirement speech before Congress from the ABC Radio Network.
#4 Mrs. R.E. Lake and her son Tom talking about the early history of Las Vegas. Recorded by Fred Wilson, Feb. 18, 1951.
#5 Title on box reads, "Dickie, Cleo, violinist, 15 July 75." (Cleo was Maurine's cat, Dickie may have been her bird.)
#6 Title on box reads, "Heifitz, Music 15 July 1975." (Violin music)
#7 "Music 15 July 75." Children singing "Silent Night" to violin accompaniment, also some classical music from unidentified source.
#1 Maurine and Fred Wilson and family and/or friends at home, 1956.
#2 More of the Wilsons and family and/or friends at home. Some scenes of them at Boulder Dam and at a pool at a hotel, probably in Las Vegas, 1948.
Unidentified, except for the word "Nevada" printed on the label.
music scrapbook, c. 1930
scrapbook from Maurine's students, c. 1942
miscellaneous scrapbook, c. 1939-1940
(1) Five sets of blueprints of the new Fred Wilson home, n.d. (See Box 2, ff.13)
(2) High school diploma , Fred Wilson, Florence Public High School, May 25, 1916.
(3) Certificate in recognition of Maurine's 55 year membership in the First United Methodist Church, Las Vegas, Nevada. (June 18, 1980)
(4) Certificate in recognition of dedicated service to the Community Concert Association, Maurine Hubbard Wilson, November 6, 1986.
(5) Certificate from the Governor of Nevada proclaiming Maurine Hubbard Wilson Day, March 12, 1988.
Original 16mm film housed in Special Collections vault - video transfers can be found in Media and Computer Services section of the UNLV Libraries. It is cataloged under the following titles: