The Nevada Southern Campus Fund Collection (1955) consists of the Nevada Southern University Book of Donors. This oversized scrapbook contains the names of local businesses, politicians, and Las Vegans who donated over $50 to the Nevada Southern Campus Fund in 1955. Nevada Southern University later became the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Some names include Elks Lodge, Rotary Club of Las Vegas, and Junior League of Las Vegas.
The Nevada Southern Campus Fund Collection (1955) consists of the Nevada Southern University Book of Donors. This oversized scrapbook contains the names of local businesses, politicians, and Las Vegans who donated over $50 to the Nevada Southern Campus Fund in 1955. Nevada Southern University later became the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Some names include Elks Lodge, Rotary Club of Las Vegas, and Junior League of Las Vegas.
Collection is open for research.
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Material remains as it was received.
In spring of 1955, local business and political leaders established the Campus Fund Committee to help raise $135,000 for the Nevada Southern, later the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) campus. The goal was to collect far and above the $35,000 required by the state to fund additional supplies and equipment. The committee announced the plans and promised to include the names of anyone who contributed $50 or more in a special donor book. Some of the earliest names that appear in the book include the Elks Lodge, Soroptomists, Rotary Club of Las Vegas, Las Vegas Service League, and others.
The committee also tried other ways of fundraising, including a telecast on KLRJ-TV and KLAS-TV on May 24, 1955, door-to-door campaigns, and all-night radio broadcasts, but the committee still fell short of the $135,000 goal. Eventually, they raised $50,000 which allowed the purchase of 20 additional acres and guaranteed state funding for the school’s first building.
Source:
Moehring, Eugene P. (2007). The University of Nevada, Las Vegas: a history. University of Nevada Press.
Nevada Southern Campus Fund Collection, 1955. UA-00144. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/f1br2j
Material was donated in 1982 by R. Guild Gray; accession number 2023-081.
In 2023, Sarah Jones rehoused the collection and described the collection, entered the data into ArchivesSpace, and wrote the front matter description. Preservation Lab staff created a custom box for the scrapbook.