2018 Hoover Dam and the Shaping of the American West Schedule
Please note that this schedule is subject to changes.
Sunday July 8 – Day 1: Introduction and Host Welcome
Host event:
- Reception and meet and greet at Boulder Dam Hotel. Introduction to topic and overview of the week. Discuss the conceptions of the program. Keynote address.
Scholars/Lecturers:
- Anthony F. Arrigo, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
- Michael Green, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Sunday Schedule:
| 6:30 pm | Registration
Registration at the Boulder Dam Hotel. |
| 7:00 – | Welcome Address and Meet and Greet
Participants will be invited across the street to the Boulder Dam Brewing Co. where we can introduce ourselves, discuss teaching and research interests, and expectations for the institute. |
| Dr. Anthony Arrigo and Dr. Michael Green will provide some opening remarks, an overview of the week, the intellectual rationale for the workshop, and expectations of the participants. |
Monday July 9 – Day 2: Historical Context
Scholars/Lecturers:
- Michael Green, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
- Sally Denton, Independent Scholar/Author
Monday Schedule:
| 9:00 a.m. | Introduction of the theme/overview of the day
Dr. Anthony Arrigo |
| 9:15 – 11:45 | Hoover Dam and Las Vegas: An Overview At: Lower Colorado Region Training and Conference Center (LCTC), 500 Date Street, Building 100, Room 106 Dr. Michael Green, Associate Professor of History at UNLV, will provide an introduction to the dam’s construction in relation to Nevada history, and to the history of the surrounding area. |
| 11:45 – 1:30 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:30 – 3:45 | Lecture/Discussion
Independent scholar Sally Denton will discuss the impact of Hoover Dam on Boulder City and on the world through the prism of Bechtel, one of the Six Companies that became a worldwide force. |
Tuesday July 10 – Day 3: Dam Construction, Hoover Dam Tour
Scholars/Lecturers:
- Richard Guy Wilson, University of Virginia
- Bureau of Reclamation personnel
Tuesday Schedule:
| 8:30 a.m. | Introduction of the theme/overview of the day
Anthony F. Arrigo |
| 8:45 – 11:15 | Lecture/Discussion At: LCTC Room 100 Dr. Richard Guy Wilson will lead a workshop on the design, engineering, and architectural features of the dam. |
| 11:15 – 12:15 | Lunch |
| 12:15 – 12:45 p.m. | Travel to Hoover Dam |
| 12:45 – 4:00 | Hoover Dam guided tours, explore site on your own
Guided tour by the Bureau of Reclamation accompanied by Professors Arrigo, Green, and Wilson, including access to the visitor’s center, and a tour of the power plant, generators, penstocks, inspection galleries, spillways, and observation decks. |
| 4:00- 4:30 | Travel back to Boulder City |
Wednesday July 11 – Day 4: Environment, Lake Mead, Valley of Fire
Scholars/Lecturers:
- Andy Kirk, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
- Karen Harry, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Wednesday Schedule:
| 7:00 a.m. | Introduction of the theme/overview of the day
Dr. Anthony Arrigo |
| 7:15 – 9:00 | Travel to Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Valley of Fire State Park |
| 9:00 – 3:45 p.m. | Lecture/Discussion
Dr. Andy Kirk and Dr. Karen Harry will lead participants to Lake Mead (the man-made lake created by Hoover Dam) and Valley of Fire for a discussion of the environmental history of the Colorado River, topography of Black Canyon and surrounding areas, and important anthropological and archeological aspects of the area. |
| 3:45 – 5:00
|
Travel back to Boulder City
|
Thursday July 12 – Day 5: Springs Preserve, Nevada State Museum
Scholars/Lecturers:
- Andy Kirk, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
- Crystal Van Dee, Curator of Manuscripts, Nevada State Museum Las Vegas
Thursday Schedule:
| 8:00 a.m. | Introduction of the theme/overview of the day
Dr. Anthony Arrigo |
| 8:15 – 9:15 | Travel to Springs Preserve |
| 9:15 – 12:00
|
Springs Preserve
Dr. Andy Kirk historian of the environment of the Southwest, will lead a tour, explaining water and the local environment. |
| 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:00 – 4:00 pm | Nevada State Museum Las Vegas
Ms. Crystal Van Dee, manuscript curator, will provide an introduction to the museum’s archives. Participants also will tour the museum and have free time to work on their projects. |
| 4:00 – 5:00 | Return to Boulder City |
Friday July 13 – Day 6: Downtown Las Vegas, Special Collections
Scholars/Lecturers:
- Brian Paco Alvarez, Curator, Zappos
- Su Kim Chung, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Friday Schedule:
| 7:00 a.m. | Introduction of the theme/overview of the day
Anthony F. Arrigo |
| 7:15 – 8:15 | Travel to Las Vegas |
| 8:15 – 10:00 | Tour of Downtown Las Vegas
Brian Paco Alvarez of Fabulous Story Tours, former curator for Zappos and former curator of the Las Vegas News Bureau, will guide a tour of old and new Las Vegas, showing how the dam impacted the area during construction and continues to do so. |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Travel to UNLV |
| 10:30 – 12:00 | UNLV Special Collections/Curriculum Development Workshop
Using UNLV’s archives, Dr. Su Kim Chung will lead participants in a workshop on using primary documents to teach history and for research. |
| 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:00- 4:30 | Free time to use the UNLV Library and Special Collections |
| 4:30 – 5:30 | Travel back to Boulder City |
Saturday July 14 – Day 7: Elwood Mead and the Bureau of Reclamation
Scholars/Lecturers:
- John Shields, engineer, Bureau of Reclamation
Saturday Schedule:
| 9:00 a.m. | Introduction of the theme/overview of the day
Dr. Anthony Arrigo
|
| 9:15 – 11:30 | Elwood Mead, the Bureau of Reclamation, and Boulder City At: Water and Power Building, 600 Nevada Way, Boulder CityMr. John Shields, an engineer with the Bureau, will present a biographical study of Elwood Mead, the commissioner of reclamation who oversaw Boulder City and for whom the lake is named. |
| 11:30 | Free the rest of the day.
Optional events for participants, include visiting Las Vegas to tour The Mob Museum, the Neon Museum, the Clark County Museum, and/or the Atomic Testing Museum; working in the Boulder City or Nevada State Museum archives; visiting the UNLV library; or exploring Boulder City. |
Sunday July 15 – Day 8: Off
Nothing scheduled for Sunday
Monday July 16 – Day 9: Hoover Dam and the Rise of Southern California
Scholars/Lecturers:
- Donald C. Jackson, Lafayette College
- Greg Hise, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Monday Schedule:
| 9:00 a.m. | Introduction of the theme/overview of the day
Dr. Anthony Arrigo |
| 9:15 – 11:45 | Dam Culture in the United States, William Mulholland, and Southern California At: LCTC, Room 126Dr. Donald Jackson will discuss the culture of dams in America drawing on his book on dam postcards, then focus on St. Francis and Hoover Dams, and how the disaster at the former affected the latter, and how both impacted Southern California’s growth. |
| 11:45 – 1:30 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:30 – 3:45 | Hoover Dam and Southern California’s Economy
Picking up on Dr. Jackson’s introduction to Southern California, Dr. Greg Hise will delve into Hoover Dam’s economic and cultural impacts on Southern California and Los Angeles. |
Tuesday July 17 – Day 10: Labor, Archives, Museum
Scholars/Lecturers:
- Michelle Turk, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Tuesday Schedule:
| 9:00 a.m. | Introduction of the theme/overview of the day
Dr. Anthony Arrigo |
| 9:15-11:30 | Labor at The Dam and at Boulder City At: LCTC, Room 126 Dr. Michelle Turk will discuss the role of labor in building the dam, what it was like to work at the dam, how laborers described their experiences, how Boulder City was built and run as a federal reservation, the working and living conditions that laborers faced, and the challenges to unionizing at the dam. |
| 11:30 – 1:00 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:00 – 4:30 | Boulder City Archives
Participants will have access to the local archives and the museum. Free time the rest of the day to use the museum archive and work on individual research projects. |
Wednesday July 18 – Day 11: Women, and Imagery
Scholars/Lecturers:
- Anthony Arrigo, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
- DeAnna Beachley, College of Southern Nevada
Wednesday Schedule:
| 9:00 a.m. | Introduction of the theme/overview of the day
Dr. Anthony Arrigo |
| 9:15 – 11:30 | Hoover Dam Imagery and Using Images in Research and Teaching At: LCTC, Room 126 Dr. Anthony Arrigo will discuss the role of images in the drive to build the dam and its use in persuading a skeptical public, as well as the use of images in research in teaching, generally. |
| 11:30 – 1:00 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:00 – 3:30 | Women in the Great Depression and at Hoover Dam
Dr. DeAnna Beachley will discuss working women in the Great Depression, women and the New Deal, the role of women in Nevada history and at Hoover Dam. |
Thursday July 19 – Day 12: African Americans and Oral History
Scholars/Lecturers:
- Claytee White, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Thursday Schedule:
| 9:00 a.m. | Introduction of the theme/overview of the day
Dr. Anthony Arrigo |
| 9:15 – 11:30 | African American History in Nevada At: LCTC, Room 126 Ms. Claytee White will discuss the history of African Americans in Nevada, the segregation of Las Vegas, and attempts by African Americans and the NAACP to secure jobs at the dam site. |
| 11:30 – 1:00 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:00-2:30 | Oral History Workshop
Ms. Claytee White will conduct a workshop on oral history, using examples from her work and work on Hoover Dam. |
| 2:30 – | Free time for participants to work in archives or explore Boulder City. |
Friday July 20 – Day 13: Native American History, Presentations
Scholars/Lecturers:
- William Bauer, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Friday Schedule:
| 9:00 am | Introduction of the theme/overview of the day
Dr. Anthony Arrigo |
| 9:15 – 11:30 | Native Americans and Hoover Dam At: LCTC, Room 126Dr. William Bauer will discuss the history of Native peoples in Nevada, the impact of the dam on Native Americans, Native contributions to building the dam, as well as the Native communities displaced by Lake Mead. |
| 11:30 – 1:00 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:00 – 2:30 | Lecture/Discussion
Dr. William Bauer will continue his lecture/discussion. |
| 2:30 – 3:30 | Break |
| 3:30-6:00 | Final presentations |
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed on this website or at this workshop do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
