Jane Ham was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1919. She received her B.A. in Fine Arts from Ohio State University. She later did post-graduate work in aeronautical engineering at the University of Minnesota. She married Charles W. Ham and the couple resided in Ohio until 1955. Ham worked as a draftsman and design engineer in Columbus, Ohio. She held the position of club director for the Red Cross in Japan and the U.S. Army Special Services in Germany.
Ham and her husband moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1955. Charles worked as a dealer at the Desert Inn. The Hams settled into their home in Paradise Valley, and during the next few years, Jane Ham continued her education at the Dana McKay Business School, gave birth to two daughers and a son, and served as a volunteer in numerous organizations. Ham's political activities included membership in the Clark County Republican Central Committee, precint captain, 2nd Vice Chairman of the Clak County GOP Central Committee, Deputy Registrar of Voters, Columnist and Cartoonist for the GOPaper, and other positions with the national, state, and county Republican Women.
Alarmed when her property tax bill increased over 60% in 1978, Ham researched the tax issues and the record of her Assemblyman and decided to seek the District 16 Assembly seat. Defeated in her first attempt, she ran again -- this time successfully -- in 1980. Ham served three terms in the Nevada assembly -- 1981, 1983, and 1985. She considered the 1985 session the most productive when Republicans gained a majority in the Assembly. According to Ham, her crowning achievement was a bipartisan organization of women's legislators. Ham continued to reside in Las Vegas in 1995.
The Jane Ham Collection contains material from the 1981 legislative session only. Ham's papers came directly from her legislative file. The collection does not contain Ham's personal papers.
The collection consists of Legislative Bureau correspondence, memos, and booklets. Bills and amendments that did not contain handwritten notations were removed from the collection. Also included are reports, studies, and correspondence concerning issues addressed by the legislature. Contents included letters, telegrams, and informal polls from private individuals and lobby groups expressing response to pending legislation.
The original bulk of material exhibited little organization; therefore the collection order reflects the processor's choice of organization. All material covers only one legislative session and represents the years 1980 and 1981, and no attempt was made to impose a chronological order. Thus the collection reflects an orientation based on issues that confronted the 1981 sessions.
Physical Description: 6 boxes (2.5 linear feet)
Restrictions: None
Location of Collection: Lied Library Special Collections Department,
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV
Processed by: Dona Gearhart
Date Completed: 3/1/96
Inventory and Container List
Jane Ham
T-168
| BOX # | FLDR# | CONTENTS |
| 1 | 1 | Administration -- Invitations received by Ham to civic, political and social functions. |
| 2 | Administration -- Legislative Council Bureau Correspondence and memoranda on miscellaneous subjects: orientation and housekeeping. | |
| 3 | Administration -- Messages: telephone and wires. | |
| 4 | Administration -- Miscellaneous correspondence. | |
| 5 | Administration -- Notices, Memos, and Invitations re: social functions, and seminars. | |
| 6 | Books and Pamphlets -- "A Legislative Guide" published by National Conference of State Legislatures re: Conservation, Hazardous Waste Management, Hydroelectric Development, Oversight of Federal Funds. | |
| 7 | Books and Pamphlets -- Bureau of Land Management publications re: Federal Funding, Land Use, Nevada Progress Report, BLM in Nevada, Nevada Wilderness Bulletin Wilderness Management. | |
| 8 | Books and Pamphlets -- Crime Prevention Package. | |
| 9 | Books and Pamphlets -- Miscellaneous: Lake Tahoe, Nevada Water Supply, Geothermal Resources Development. | |
| 2 | 1 | Commerce -- Background information, response to, and lobby material regarding Commerce Committee activity. |
| 2 | Courts -- Background and response to legislation | |
| 3 | Courts -- Legislation | |
| 4 | Courts -- Court Reporters - Study regarding Asembly Bill 4 | |
| 5 | Crime -- Child kidnapping legislation. Legislative proposal by Clark County Juvenile Court Services. | |
| 6 | Crime -- Death Penalty Method. Manner of administering death penalty regarding AB 86. | |
| 7 | Crime -- Drugs. Background information on Bills AB 148 and AB 247. | |
| 8 | Crime -- Miscellaneous background and response to legislation | |
| 9 | Crime -- Miscellaneous legislation | |
| 10 | Crime -- Victim Compensation | |
| 11 | Daily File -- File contains representative items taken from file marked "Daily File." File includes pages of handwritten notes for speeches, Legislative Council Bureau forms, memoranda, conference committee reports, Amendment forms, and "Requested after Deadline" forms. | |
| 12 | DUI -- (Driving under the Influence). Background and response legislation: SB 83 | |
| 13 | DUI -- Legislation SB 83 | |
| 3 | 1 | Education -- Background information: PTA Resolutions, student housing, California legal action on segregation, student loan program, licensing private colleges (AB573), Residency Training Program, questionnaire on public schools, UNR Medical School Budget, Clark County enrollment, and the Basketball Pavillion. |
| 2 | Education -- Public response #1: education funding. Medical school budget, special education, and sex education. | |
| 3 | Education -- Public response #2: Post-secondary Education Commission, Alumni Association, vocational education. | |
| 4 | Education -- Studies, proposals, and pamphlets: "How High School Seniors Use Their Time", "Sex Education: Operational Guide K-12," Legislative proposals and briefings. | |
| 5 | Elections -- Elections Committee: Agendas, amendments, choosing Regents, memos and handwritten notes. | |
| 6 | Elections -- Reapportionment: population distribution, term definitions, govt. affairs presentation. | |
| 7 | Elections -- State of Nevada General Election 1980 | |
| 8 | Environment -- Natural resources and wildlife, Lake Tahoe, burial of radioactive waste, Beatty site, predator research, hunting, "Nevada BLM Outlook," livestock grazing, multiple use, and mining. | |
| 4 | 1 | Gaming -- Background and response to legislation: gross revenues, lotteries, trusts, investigative powers, Gaming Industry Assn. |
| 2 | Gaming -- Legislation: lotteries, licensing, greyhound racing gross revenue taxation, enforcement of gaming laws. | |
| 3 | Health and Welfare -- Abortion legislation and background material | |
| 4 | Health and Welfare -- Public response to abortion legislation | |
| 5 | Health and Welfare -- Background material on pending legislation: patient rights, prescription drugs, health department inspections, licensing standards, physical therapists, community health services, rural health care, mental health system, dental hygiene. | |
| 6 | Health and Welfare -- Child custody: supporting information on SB188 | |
| 7 | Health and Welfare -- Committee: Agendas, memos, proposed amendments, bills | |
| 8 | Health and Welfare -- Physical Therapy AB231: Public response and lobby material. | |
| 9 | Health and Welfare -- Response to pending legislation #1: pharmacy, food-donor liability, services to the blind, de-tox funding, spinal injury, naturo-pathetic medicine, bio-ethics, Medicare, displaced homemaker funding, guide-dogs, child abuse | |
| 10 | Health and Welfare -- Response to pending legislation #2: pensions for disabled, food-bank funding, foster care, domestic violence | |
| 5 | 1 | Judiciary Committee -- Information on action before the committee: rural grand juries, pre-parole classes, district judges, admissability of evidence, Dept. of Prisons, public defender |
| 2 | Judiciary Committee -- Legislation and agendas: court fees, investigation, child support collection, fitness of judges | |
| 3 | Judiciary Committee -- Hand written notes | |
| 4 | Judiciary Committee -- Response to action before committee | |
| 5 | Labor -- Miscellaneous correspondence and public response | |
| 6 | Labor -- Legislative Manual Draft | |
| 7 | Labor -- Miscellaneous Legislation | |
| 8 | Miscellaneous Legislation background material: research on state legislatures, confidentiality of library records, housing loans, centralized hearings, state motor pool, league of cities, budget | |
| 9 | Miscellaneous Legislation -- Public Response | |
| 6 | 1 | Mobile Home Legislation: AB 432 - mobile home rent and relocation expense. |
| 2 | Mobile Home Legislation -- background material | |
| 3 | Mobile Home Legislation -- public response | |
| 4 | MX in Nevada -- material relating to the MX missile project in Nevada: state newsletter, MX project field office, recommendation from advisory committee, wildlife and agriculture and MX, community impact study, "MX in Nevada: A Humanistic Perspective," local ovesight committee | |
| 5 | Publications regarding state legislature | |
| 6 | Public Service and utilities -- Correspondence and background material on utility regulation, White Pine Power Project, Eldorado Development Fund, Clean Air Act | |
| 7 | Sagebrush Rebellion -- Background material | |
| 8 | Taxation -- Public Response to legislative activity on taxation | |
| 9 | Transportation -- Motor vehicle tax, service and safety regulation of motor carriers, correspondence Regional Transportation Commission, Department of Transportation, road construction, mass transportion | |
| END OF INVENTORY | ||