Las+Vegas+Side+Trips

** Las Vegas Side Trips ** **Places In and Around Vegas to Visit During Your Free Time at ALA Annual 2014**  toc Compiled by Harper Curry and Katie Stuck

=Women United of Nevada=
 * Drink a toast to Women United of Nevada at Bronze Cafe at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, 401 South Maryland PKWY, Las Vegas, (702) 733-9800**

Women United of Nevada (WUN) was a lesbian-identified organization created for women of the Las Vegas community founded in February 1987. However, the group’s lesbian affiliation was kept hidden for nearly its entire existence. The by-laws of the organization were “cleansed of the L-word” to protect members. WUN pushed to improve the quality of life not only for women, but also for all people regardless of ethnicity, religious affiliation, gender, or sexual orientation. WUN also introduced women’s music and culture to the Las Vegas community. WUN created a strong connection and communication for the Las Vegas lesbian community. WUN found its social home at the Gipsy Nightclub, then owned by WUN member Sue Melfi and her husband. WUN held meetings in a coffee shop across from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, above a beauty shop called Z’s Head of Tangles on Las Vegas Boulevard, and in the Metropolitan Community Church. Members of WUN either wanted the organization to be more socially oriented or more politically affiliated. This split in members’ ideals began the eventual downfall of WUN. The organization continued to fracture, and as new women’s organizations formed in Las Vegas, WUN slowly declined. Women United of Nevada came to an end on February 12, 1994. With enough money for one more Valentine’s Day Dance, WUN gave its membership list to the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada as a last gesture to the community. Women United of Nevada (WUN) was a lesbian-identified organization created for women of the Las Vegas community founded in February 1987. However, the group’s lesbian affiliation was kept hidden for nearly its entire existence. The by-laws of the organization were “cleansed of the L-word” to protect members. WUN pushed to improve the quality of life not only for women, but also for all people regardless of ethnicity, religious affiliation, gender, or sexual orientation. WUN also introduced women’s music and culture to the Las Vegas community. WUN created a strong connection and communication for the Las Vegas lesbian community. WUN found its social home at the Gipsy Nightclub, then owned by WUN member Sue Melfi and her husband. WUN held meetings in a coffee shop across from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, above a beauty shop called Z’s Head of Tangles on Las Vegas Boulevard, and in the Metropolitan Community Church. Members of WUN either wanted the organization to be more socially oriented or more politically affiliated. This split in members’ ideals began the eventual downfall of WUN. The organization continued to fracture, and as new women’s organizations formed in Las Vegas, WUN slowly declined. Women United of Nevada came to an end on February 12, 1994. With enough money for one more Valentine’s Day Dance, WUN gave its membership list to the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada as a last gesture to the community. //More info at Gay History in Nevada and Las Vegas//

=Betty Willis=
 * Snap a photo at the iconic Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign, in the median at 5100 Las Vegas Boulevard South**

Betty Willis is most well known as the designer of the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign. Willis was born in 1924 in Las Vegas. Her parents arrived in Las Vegas in 1905 by horse-drawn-wagon as some of the original inhabitants of Nevada. Willis attended art school in Los Angeles before returning to Las Vegas to work. In the beginning of her career, Willis drew showgirls for newspaper advertisements for various acts, eventually making the transition from newspaper advertisements to sign designing. Willis was a woman in a man’s world in the 1940s and 1950s when she began sign design. Sign design was a field dominated by men because of the engineering aspects of the design process. In order to design neon signs, one had to understand the “how-to” of neon, electricity, weight, pressure points of signs, wattage of lamps, etc. in order to design a safe and sturdy sign. Willis’ most well known sign is the ‘Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas’ sign that still exists at the end of the strip today. It has become an icon for Las Vegans and tourists alike. Willis designed the sign in 1952 when Ted Rogic, a local salesman, approached her and suggested she design the welcome sign. Willis and Rogic decided the sign needed to be unique in shape, style, and content. The two eventually sold the sign to Clark County officials for $4,000. Willis never copyrighted her sign design in hopes that it would be used freely. Another of Willis’ famous Las Vegan signs is the Moulin Rouge Hotel sign. Willis continued to design signs until she retired at the age of 77.

=Delphine Anderson Squires=
 * Go to the public library. Locations include the Las Vegas Library, which houses specialized collections include gaming and local history and amenities such as free wi-fi and three outdoor patios. ****833 Las Vegas BLVD North, (702) 507-3500**

Delphine Anderson Squires is generally noted as being one of the major players in the women’s suffrage movements in Nevada, and for building the community of Las Vegas with her husband. Squires was born in 1868, in Portage City, Wisconsin. Her family soon moved to Austin, Minnesota where Squires met her childhood friend and future husband, Charles Pember “Pop” Squires. Delphine Squires earned a teaching degree in music from the state Normal School in Winona, Minnesota. In 1889, Charles and Delphine married and moved to Redlands, California. The couple later moved to Los Angeles where they started a family, having four children. Charles Squires moved to Las Vegas in 1905. A year later in 1906, Delphine and their four children followed Charles to Las Vegas. Charles and Delphine published and edited the local newspaper, the //Las Vegas Age//. Delphine Squires soon became involved in the women’s suffrage movement in Nevada, working as a local contact in organizing suffrage speakers and events. Squires helped found a chapter of the Mesquite Club, a women’s service club, in Las Vegas. She was also involved in the Nevada Federation of Women’s Club (NFWC) working with other suffragists to give women the right to vote in Nevada. Squires was also instrumental in bringing the first church to Las Vegas, the Christ Church Episcopal. She aided in laying the first cornerstone for the church foundation. Squires also aided in founding the Las Vegas Library, serving on the board for many years. Delphine Squires lived out her life with Charles in their Las Vegas home until her death in 1961. // More info at the UNLV University Libraries //

=Neon Museum=
 * 770 Las Vegas Boulevard North, Las Vegas, (702) 387-6366 **

The Neon Museum of Las Vegas presents the history of the beautiful neon light signs that line the strip. In March 2014, the Neon Museum highlighted the most influential and interesting women of Las Vegan history in honor of Women’s History Month, highlighting women such as Betty Willis, the designer of the famous "Welcome to the Fabulous Las Vegas" sign that begins the strip, and early businesswoman Anna Roberts Parks, and h Mayme Stocker, the first person to hold a Nevada gaming license. While this special tour has ended, the regular “Neon Boneyard” collection tour includes Willis’s Moulin Rouge sign and the sign for Mattie Jones’s Green Shack restaurant.

=Ffolliott (Fluff) LeCoque= **Attend Jubliee at Bally’s Las Vegas, 3645 Las Vegas Boulevard South, (877) 603-4390**

Ffolliott (Fluff) LeCoque is a veteran of the Las Vegas entertainment community. Born in Butte, Montana in 1923, LeCoque began taking dance lessons at the age of seven. She taught dance to pay her way through college at the University of Washington, earning a degree in theater. LeCoque began her dance career touring during WWII, it was not until 1947 that she came to Las Vegas. Even then, Las Vegas was not her main job. LeCoque traveled the world as an entertainer, spending some time in Paris, Hollywood, and Cincinnati. In 1958, LeCoque arrived back in Las Vegas to perform at the Thunderbird Hotel under the direction of Donn Arden, earning the title of Miss Thunderbird. LeCoque danced with Arden for 40 years as a principal dancer, ballet mistress, choreographer, and company manger. Arden helped LeCoque make the transition from on-stage to behind the scenes work. LeCoque retired from dancing in 1970 and went to work as stage manager at Bally’s Jubilee! The Jubilee! remains a popular show to this day, with LeCoque still as stage manager.

=The Kim Sisters=
 * Visit the Lied Library at UNLV, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, (702) 895-2234. Special Collections include** ** the [|Nevada Women's Archives] and **** the [|Oral History Research Center], with an interview with **
 * Sook-ja Kim**

The Kim Sisters were one of the most famous sister acts of the 1950s and 1960s. Their act was exciting and unique because not only were The Kim Sisters Korean, but they had a beautifully unique sound and played various instruments. This type of act had not been seen. The sisters were pioneers without even knowing so. The Kim Sisters broke racial barriers with their professionalism and poise, becoming the first Asian group to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. The three sisters were Sook-ja, Ai-ja, and Min-ja Kim. The sisters’ parents were both well-known musicians of Korea. Their father, Hai Song Kim, was a famous Korean composer, and their mother, Ran Yong Lee, was a famous Korean singer. Born in Seoul, Korea in 1941, Sook-ja became the caretaker of her seven siblings after the North invaded and killed her father and kidnapped her mother. The Kim Sisters began performing for American GIs in return for rations, chocolate bars, and empty whiskey bottles as payment. Sook-ja sold the bottles on the black market for money to care for her siblings. Eventually the sister act was approached by a GI-turned-talent-agent and moved to Las Vegas in 1959. The Kim Sisters’ first job was performing at the Thunderbird Hotel for four weeks as a part of the China Doll Revue. Within a few weeks of performing, The Kim Sisters had a permanent contract. The Kim Sisters soon became one of the most famous acts of the day. The Kim Sisters hold the record for most appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show—22—which is more than The Beatles. Sook-ja married New York Italian, John Bonifazio. Bonifazio became one of the longest serving casino bosses in the country. After nearly fifty years of performing, Sook-ja finally retired. She became a real estate agent, helping to build the Korean community of Las Vegas. Sook-ja Kim, husband John, their children, and grandchildren still reside in Las Vegas today.

=Helen J. Stewart= Helen J. Stewart was born April 16th, 1854 in Springfield, Illinois. She went to college in Galt, California where she became a teacher. Just before her 19th birthday, she married Archibald Stewart, who took her to the “land of the wonderful future”, the Nevada desert. Here, she sold over 1,800 acres of her land to the railroad in 1902 and the land sale in 1905 boosted the pioneer town into the modern city of Las Vegas. Therefore, she is considered the First Lady of Las Vegas. She was also the first woman to serve on a jury, the first woman elected to the school board, a founding member of Christ Episcopal Church, the first post master of Las Vegas, and the first president of the Nevada Historical Society. Though the move with her husband was meant to be temporary, Las Vegas became her home. Following the murder of her husband, Helen quickly took control of her husband’s enterprises, despite her lack of experience in business. She also raised her five children in Las Vegas, became a successful rancher and landowner, invested in mining, and became active in politics. She was often described as a china doll – soft-spoken, modest, and petite. Viewed as delicate, but still determined, she fought for women’s rights and worked for the protection of Native Americans. Her large influence on Las Vegas is still being felt today. //More info at the Nevada Women's History Project//
 * Visit her former home, the Ranch House at Nevada's Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Park, 500 E. Washington AVE, Las Vegas, (702) 486-3511**

=Mayme Stocker=
 * Play the slots at La Bayou, formerly Mayme Stocker’s Northern Club, 15 Fremont ST, Las Vegas, (702) 385-7474**

Mayme Stocker was born September 5th, 1875 in Reading, Pennsylvania. Although she didn’t arrive in Las Vegas until 1911 at the age of 36, she made quite the impact. She renamed the Las Vegas Coffee House as the Northern House in 1920, offering a site for alcohol and gambling while they were illegal. The Northern Club then received its gaming license in 1931, once gambling was re-legalized, also making it the first casino license issued to a woman. Although Stocker had reluctantly moved to Las Vegas, stating, "Anybody who lives here is out of his mind”, and even greatly disliked the city at first, she spent the rest of her life in Las Vegas following her success with the Northern Club, dying at the age of 97. //More at the Las Vegas Review-Journal//