U-Wah-Un Study Club Collection, T-126. Special Collections, UNLV Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Donated by Bertha E. Franklin, 1978.
Carol A. Corbett, November 6, 1996.
This collection is open for research.
For permission to reproduce or publish from this collection, please contact the Director of Special Collections.
The U-Wah-Un Study Club was founded in 1919 in Las Vegas, Nevada as a women's literary club. The original membership meeting in August 1919 was limited to twelve women; the limit was raised to eighteen at the first regular meeting in September 1919.
The first officers were Mrs. John S. Park, President; Mrs. Hal Hewetson, Vice-President; and Mrs. Charles L. Connelly, Secretary-Treasurer. The name of the club was suggested by Mrs. Helen J. Stewart and is Paiute for "Circle of Friends."
Meetings were held on the first and third Mondays of each month. Members took turns preparing the programs and hosting the meetings at their homes. At times an evening social meeting was held for members and their guests. Later the meetings were held in local hotels or restaurants.
The club existed for many years and later took on community projects such as collecting books for the children of the Paiute Tribal Center in Las Vegas.
This collection is comprised of material covering the activities and functions of the U-Wah-Un Study Club from its founding in 1919 to 1987.
The most comprehensive material in the collection is the complete set of club yearbooks from 1919-20 to 1976-77. The yearbooks note the topic of each meeting, the name of the person presenting the program, and the hostess of the meeting. The books also list officers and club members. They provide a complete summary of the activities of the club over a 58-year period and are replete with the names of influential women of Las Vegas.
In addition, the collection contains the club scrapbook, covering the years 1953-1977, and comprised of member biographies, news clippings, histories of the club written by members, and meeting minutes.
The club's minute book for the period 1973-1979 and financial records for the period 1955-1984 also form part of the collection.
The collection is organized alphabetically by type of material and then chronologically.