Collection

McBride, Dennis Collection on LGBTQ Las Vegas, Nevada

Span Dates: 1980-2021
Bulk Dates:
Volume: 1 box

Description

This collection is comprised of research files about the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities and LGBTQ issues that were created by Dennis McBride in support of his book Out of the Neon Closet: A History of Gay Las Vegas. Of interest is a box of subject files of LGBTQ religious organizations in Buddhist, Jewish, major Protestant and Catholic denominations, and Mormon traditions, as well as MCC, meditation groups, and Radical Faeries. The majority of the collection consists of biographical sketches of notable personalities (political, religious, celebrity, and activist) in Las Vegas, information on LGBTQ organizations (political, social, and civic), and material documenting significant events primarily in the Las Vegas LGBTQ community, but also including Northern Nevada. Additional files focus on associations and initiatives that have been important to the greater LGBTQ community from the 1980s to 2017 such as AIDS/HIV, gay marriage rights, and discrimination. The collection represents McBride's overall efforts to document and preserve the history of the LGBTQ community in Nevada.

Hist/Bio Note

Dennis McBride was born on January 13, 1955, and grew up in Boulder City, Nevada. He received both his BA and MA in English literature from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). He is well-known as an expert on the history of Hoover Dam and has published several histories of Boulder City. His books include, In the Beginning: A History of Boulder City, Nevada , Building Hoover Dam, An Oral History of the Great Depression (with Andrew Dunbar), and Midnight on Arizona Street: The Secret Life of the Boulder Dam Hotel . McBride is also an authority on Nevada's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) history. He has chronicled and collected the history of the LGBTQ community in Las Vegas since the late 1970s. McBride has worked as a curator of historical collections at the Boulder City Museum & Historical Society, UNLV Libraries Special Collections, and the Nevada State Museum. He was appointed director of the Nevada State Museum in 2012

Finding Aid

An online finding aid is available.
https://special.library.unlv.edu/sites/default/files/finding-aids/MS-00802.pdf

Location

This collection is held at Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada
https://www.library.unlv.edu/speccol

Tags

Buddhist | Catholic (Roman) | Episcopal Church | Gay Spirituality | Jewish (ethnic, Reform, Reconstructionist, Orthodox) | MCC | Presbyterian Church (USA) | Radical Faeries | Unitarian Universalist | United Church of Christ/Congregational Church