The Evelyn Stuckey Papers date from 1940 to 1972 and document Stuckey's experience as a physical education teacher at Las Vegas High School (LVHS) in Las Vegas, Nevada and founder of the LVHS Rhythmettes dance group. The collection contains personal and educational materials from Stuckey’s college years, personal correspondence, and photographs. It also contains materials documenting the Rhythmettes' activities including travel plans, posters and fliers, news clippings, and group rosters.
The Evelyn Stuckey Papers date from 1940 to 1972 and document her experience as a physical education teacher at Las Vegas High School (LVHS) in Las Vegas, Nevada and founder of the LVHS Rhythmettes dance group. The collection contains personal and educational materials from Stuckey’s college years, personal correspondence, and photographs. It also contains materials documenting the Rhythmettes' activities including travel plans, posters and fliers, news clippings, and group rosters.
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.
These papers are organized into two series:
Series I. Personal and Educational Papers, 1940-1972;
Series II. Las Vegas High School Rhythmettes, 1950-1969.
Las Vegas High School (LVHS) teacher Evelyn Stuckey founded a dance troupe for girls at LVHS in 1949 and named them the Rhythmettes. The group went on to great success, appearing widely in Las Vegas and performing across the United States. Born (Mary) Evelyn Stuckey September 10, 1921 in Gordo, Alabama, she earned her B.S. degree from Florida State Women's College now Florida State University in 1946 majoring in Education with a concentration in Physical Education. Following graduation, she worked for two years for the Board of Health in Florida. She joined the faculty at Las Vegas High School in 1949 as the Physical Education instructor for female students. She remained a teacher at LVHS until she died of cancer on April 10, 1980.
At Las Vegas High School, she organized the Rhythmettes dance group for girls in 1949. The group became popular and made many public appearances promoting Las Vegas. The Rhythmettes appeared on the
Evelyn Stuckey Papers, 1940-1972. MS-00265. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Materials were donated in October 1986 by Cheryl Rogers; accession number 1986-056.
Materials were processed by Gerry Evans in 1997. In 2017, Angela Moor revised and enhanced the collection description to bring it into compliance with current professional standards.
Administrative Information
Some of the photographs in this acquisition were removed from the collection and placed in Evelyn Stuckey Photograph Collection, 1935-1964. PH-00284. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.