Online Nevada Encyclopedia

Grant Sawyer

Charles Springer

Charles Springer was at the center of many important political developments in Nevada. Born in Reno on February 20, 1928, and educated in Reno schools and at the University of Nevada, he served in the Army’s 11th Airborne and earned his law degree at Georgetown University.

African Americans in Las Vegas

Over the course of the twentieth century, economic opportunities encouraged Black migration to the Las Vegas area, but racial discrimination curtailed aspirations for decent employment. Partnership in a ranch attracted John Howell, the first Black man known to own property in Southern Nevada; however the railroad, gaming, and federal projects drew most African Americans to Las Vegas. By 1910, out of the 945 residents of Las Vegas, forty were Black.

Charles Russell

Many Nevada governors have faced challenging times. Few have faced such sustained challenges over their entire term of office as those of Charles Russell.

Born on December 27, 1903 in Lovelock and schooled at Deeth and Elko, Russell graduated from the University of Nevada. He taught school in Ruby Valley in 1927, and then moved to Ely, eventually becoming editor of the Ely Record. In 1934, he won the first of three assembly terms before moving to the state senate in 1940.

Charles I. West

Nothing better describes Dr. Charles I. West's influence on Nevada and myriad accomplishments than the first line of Hank Greenspun's Where I Stand column in the Las Vegas Sun on October 10, 1984. Greenspun, in devoting his column to Dr. West upon his death, began the tribute by saying, "The freedom fighter has lost a true champion."

Bob Bailey

Dr. William H. "Bob" Bailey came to Las Vegas as an entertainer at a historic hotel-casino, and stayed to make history as a civil rights pioneer and contributor to Las Vegas' transformation from a small, segregated gambling town to an integrated metropolis.

Yolande Jacobson Sheppard

Yolande Jacobson Sheppard (1921-1998) often worked in the shadow of husband/painter and University of Nevada, Reno, art professor, Craig Sheppard (1913-1978). Born in 1921, she received a degree in art from the University of Oklahoma at Norman. She arrived in Nevada in 1947, and over the next fifty years, created an impressive number of ceramic and bronze portraits of notable Nevadans, including a statue of Nevada U.S. Senator Pat McCarran.

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