The Verna Mortensen Photograph Collection (approximately 1960-1679) is comprised of eight photographic prints that depict Fremont Street in Las Vegas, Nevada and ferries on the Colorado River in Nevada.
The Verna Mortensen Photograph Collection (approximately 1960-1679) is comprised of eight photographic prints that depict Fremont Street in Las Vegas, Nevada and ferries on the Colorado River in Nevada. The aerial photographs were taken by Jay Florian Mitchell.
Mitchell, Jay Florian
Collection is open for research.
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See
xlink:actuate="onRequest"
xlink:href="http://www.library.unlv.edu/speccol/research_and_services/reproductions" xlink:show="new"
xlink:title="Reproductions and Use"> Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and
Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Materials remain as they were received.
Verna Mortensen was born in 1904 to Frank and Elthera Cox in Bunkerville, Nevada. The family relocated to St. George, Utah in 1910. Verna Mortensen went on to graduate from Dixie State Junior College in St. George. She served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Eastern United States. In 1929, she married James Mortensen and the couple moved to a ranch in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. The couple had four children. Verna Mortensen moved back to St. George, Utah in 1949 and worked as a teacher at the local elementary school. She moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1960 and taught at Mountain View Elementary School and Crestwood Elementary School before retiring in 1969. Following her retirement, Verna Mortensen became active in the Clark County chapter of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (DUP). In 1971, members elected her president of the Clark County DUP, and went on to reelect her four times. With the DUP, she led efforts to preserve and restore the Las Vegas Mormon Fort. She served on the board of the Preservation Association of Clark County and received commendations for her work with the Las Vegas Mormon Fort.
Mortensen passed away on April 26, 1979.
Verna Mortensen Photograph Collection, approximately 1960-1979. PH-00089. Special Collections and
Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Materials were donated in 1979 by LaRue Mortensen; accession number 1979-203B.
In 2020, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Sarah Jones wrote the finding aid and entered the data into ArchivesSpace.