Nevada Writers Hall of Fame and Silver Pen Award Records

 Collection
Identifier: AC 0519

Scope and Contents

The Nevada Writers Hall of Fame and Silver Pen Award Records include budget and planning information for the annual programs, correspondence, histories of the two awards, biographical and marketing material about the authors, newspaper clippings, and some publications. Of particular interest are Black Rock Press broadsides honoring James W. Hulse, Robert Laxalt, and Stephen Liu.

Dates

  • 1878-2020

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Materials must be used on-site; advance notice suggested. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Historical Note

In 1988, the President of the Friends of the University Libraries, Marilyn Melton, proposed an awards program to honor and celebrate Nevada writers. That same year, Walter Van Tilburg Clark and Robert Laxalt became the first two authors to be inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. The award became an annual event and a prestigious Nevada literary tradition. Candidates must be established, published writers with a demonstrated "Nevada" connection, whether published subject matter or the author's residence in Nevada while the material was produced. Other criteria address critical recognition, quality of material, national recognition, and commercial success.

In 1995, the Friends' President, Larry Struve, proposed an award to recognize and encourage the efforts of younger writers. As a result, the first annual Silver Pen Awards were presented in 1996, honoring Teresa Jordan and Douglas Unger. The first Nevada Writers Hall of Fame display area was installed in Getchell Library in 1991. A new display area was incorporated into the building design for the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center, which opened in 2008.

Extent

5.417 Linear Feet (7 boxes, 1 oversize folder)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

In 1988, the President of the Friends of the University Libraries, Marilyn Melton, proposed an awards program to honor and celebrate Nevada writers. That same year, Walter Van Tilburg Clark and Robert Laxalt became the first two authors to be inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. The records include budget and planning information for the annual programs, correspondence, histories of the two awards, biographical and marketing material about the authors, newspaper clippings, and some publications. Of particular interest are Black Rock Press broadsides honoring James W. Hulse, Robert Laxalt, and Stephen Liu.

Arrangement

Arranged into the following series: 1) Administrative Records; 2) Award Programs; 3) Nevada Writers Hall of Fame Inductees; 4) Nevada Writers Hall of Fame Medallion; 5) Silver Pen Award Recipients; 6) Marketing and Publicity

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transfers from Information Technologies-Libraries Administration, along with periodic campus-wide distribution of marketing material. James Hulse donated the copy of Walter van Tilburg Clark's "Christmas Comes to Hjalsen" in 2014. University Archivist Betty Glass gathered material about the award recipients over time, including some of Virginia Coffman's research resources from her sister's estate sale in Reno. Some material transferred from the Special Collections "Vertical File" (Collection 2008-09) in October 2015. The prototype medallion was transferred from IT-Libraries Administration in July 2016. A CD with a 2010 program file was transferred in 2017. Additional event files transferred in 2020 and 2021.

Related Materials

Photographs originally in 2008-09, the "Vertical File," or the University of Nevada Biographical Files (AC 0473) transferred to UNRA-P3509: Friends of the University Library Collection.

See also: AC 0446 Friends of the Library Records, Series 6 for video recordings of Rollan Melton's acceptance speech and readings by other award recipients for the "Voices" programs in the 1990s.

Several award recipients have individual manuscript collections in either Special Collections or University Archives.

See also: 91-25: Nevada Poetry - Pyramid Lake poems by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Joanne De Longchamps, and poems by Sagebrush School writers Rollin Daggett, Samuel Post Davis, and Joseph Thompson Goodman.

Deaccessions

  • Catering invoices, silent auction bid records
  • four broadsides of the poem "The Frog and I" by Stephen S. N. Liu, autographed in Chinese

Subjects

Related Names

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to Nevada Writers Hall of Fame and Silver Pen Award Records
Status
Completed
Author
Betty Glass
Date
October 24, 2015
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the University of Nevada, Reno. University Archives Repository

https://library.unr.edu/SpeColl
Contact:
Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center
1664 N. Virginia St.
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno NV 89557-0322 USA
775-682-5665
775-682-5724 (Fax)