Nevada Women's Archives
Collection Guide

Historical Overview

On April 29, 1964, two members of the Nevada League of Women Voters visited Las Vegas to help create a local League chapter. Interested women of the Las Vegas Valley attended a meeting at the home of Mrs. John Wright, President of the Faculty Wives Club of Nevada Southern University. The two Nevada League members, Mrs. Earl Nicholson and Mrs. Richard Miller, explained the purposes, policies, and programs of the League of Women Voters. Mrs. Nicholson recommended that the interested women form a Temporary Committee. On May 1, 1964, Mrs. Geoffrey Stormson was appointed the Temporary Chairman and fifteen other women joined her in forming the new League chapter.

The first meeting took place on May 7 and a preliminary discussion was held concerning the by-laws of the Las Vegas Valley chapter. On May 16, 1964, Mrs. Robert Zurbach, a Board member of the League of Women Voters of the United States, held a meeting in Las Vegas. She oriented the new League members. It was decided that the League could not exist as a city League because of the proximity of North Las Vegas and the high population in the surrounding unincorporated areas. The focus of the new League would therefore be valley wide.

The Temporary Committee contacted five hundred women in the Las Vegas Valley and invited them to attend the May 25, 1964 Organization Meeting. Forty-one women attended and twenty-eight paid their $5 dues. Bylaws were created, officers elected, a budget adopted, and the program established at this meeting. The new Provisional League of Women Voters elected a Board of Directors with Mrs. Kathleen Richards as President. By November, 1964 there were seventy-one members listed on the membership roll, including Margaret Quinn, the donor of portions of this collection. Other notable Las Vegas women on this earliest membership list included Flora Dungan and Jean Ford.

The League immediately became involved in political organizing and social interaction. In May, 1965, the League of Women Voters of the Las Vegas Valley (LWVLVV) attained formal recognition from the League of Women Voters of the United States. By 1969 there were approximately 200 members of the LWVLVV, and though these numbers have dwindled somewhat, the League remains a vital force in the Las Vegas community.

The LWVLVV concerned itself with social and political issues and played an important political role in Nevada. It held meetings, formed political pressure groups, and funded non-partisan studies of issues such as school integration, open housing, environmental conservation, and education. It was, and continues to be, a forum for non-partisan political research and lobbying.

Scope and Content

The League of Women Voters of Las Vegas Valley Collection contains the records and publications of the League from 1964 until the 1990's. The majority of the material covers the 1960's and 1970's, and consists of administrative records and information on specific issues. Portions of the collection were donated by Margaret Quinn (accession numbers 85-36, 85-87, 94-43). Quinn became a member of the League in 1964, was Director of Membership for the LWVLVV from 1979-1981, and President from 1981-1985. She continues to be an active member of the League. Other accession numbers for this collection are 87-43 and T-98.

The documents in this collection trace the activities of one of the most important political groups in Nevada. From its formation in 1964 the LWVLVV was active in the social and political issues confronting Las Vegans, Nevadans, and Americans in general. The material in the collection provides a clue to the relative importance of various issues at specific times. This collection reveals the importance of issues such as integration, environmental quality, and education to Las Vegans in the 1960's and 1970's. It also outlines the basic administrative workings of a chapter of the League of Women Voters.

The collection is arranged in four series that reflect a coherent organizational approach to the sizable amounts of material. The Administrative Series contains annual reports, bylaws, membership lists, and Treasurer's Reports. These reports trace the administrative development of the League. Chronological gaps in the material are frequent in all areas except the Treasurer's Reports, which are present for the years 1967 to 1981. Despite these gaps, a clear picture of the members and workings of the League in these years can be painted, particularly if this material is viewed in conjunction with the Issues Series.

The Issues Series is the most extensive in the collection, with material ranging from abortion to environmental pollution. The issue that occupied the greatest amount of the LWVLVV's time was that of school integration, and material on this issue covers three boxes. The issues collection has been arranged in alphabetical order by issue. Within each issue the material has been separated into coherent topics, so that many issues have more than one folder. The issues covered in this series predominantly concern the 1960's and 1970's, though a small amount of information can be found on the Yucca Mountain controversy in the 1980's and 1990's.

The third series is the Questionnaires Series. This consists of political campaign questionnaires created by the LWVLVV. The questionnaires were filled out by each person running for a state or national office in Nevada. It provides a brief biographical sketch of the candidate and his/her position on relevant issues. The questionnaires series covers only 1966, 1970, and 1974, but within these years this series provides valuable information on political and social issues in Nevada.

Publications make up the last series, and provide information on many things -- from how to run a League and how to be an officer, to League positions on important issues of these years. Some of these publications were published by the National League, while others were created by the local League to address issues important to the Las Vegas Valley. This series is incomplete in the material that it covers, and in several instances there are only a few issues of the publication.

The last two boxes of the collection contain multimedia information produced by the League. It includes informational films and audio tapes, as well as scrapbooks commemorating the League. Several plaques are contained in the last box that reveal the community support and appreciation given to the League over the years.

One folder was added to the collection in January, 1996. The folder came from UNR's League Collection via Jean Ford and contained correspondence on the formation of the LWVLVV from 1957-1964. Another folder was added to the collection in April, 1996. The folder came from League member Annette Goldstein and contained news clippings.

Many publications located in the collection had duplicates in various sections of the material. These duplicates have been removed, with one copy remaining in the section to which it was most relevant. Three publications, "A Future Look to Downtown Las Vegas," "Clark County School District Master Plan," and "Proposed General Plan," have been removed and given to the library acquisitions office.

This collection is large and contains many important documents that enable a researcher to conceive of life in the Las Vegas Valley during these years. The collection does not, however, provide a complete set of the records of the LWVLVV. Several other collections are awaiting processing that deal with the League of Women Voters in Nevada, and will complement this collection.

Additional information about the League can be found in the President's Files of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas University Archives in the Special Collections Department.

Physical Description: 9 linear ft. (18 boxes, including 3 scrapbooks, films, audio tapes, and plaques).

Restrictions: None

Location of collection: Lied Library Special Collections Department, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV

Processed by: Dona Gearhart and Cathleen Loucks

Date Completed: 5/4/95

Inventory and Container List
League of Women Voters of Las Vegas Valley
MS-24