Established in 1964, the University of Nevada Oral History Program (UNOHP) records, preserves, and provides access for scholars and the general public to primary source oral histories documenting aspects of the history and culture of Nevada and the Intermountain West. Research topics include, but are not confined to, community history, mining, ranching, the development of casino gaming, politics and government, Great Basin Indians, and the experience of various ethnic groups in the settlement of the West. The collection also contains a number of biographical volumes of individuals whose lives illustrate important themes in the history of the state and region.

These oral histories are derived from carefully prepared, systematic interviews with chroniclers who have firsthand memories of historically significant events, people and places. These interviews are recorded and preserved using the latest technologies. From transcripts of the recordings, the program has produced several hundred edited, indexed, illustrated, and bound research volumes.

In order to standardize the display of the oral histories for this online collection, most of the older volumes have been reformatted, a process that was completed in 2012. These documents will therefore differ in appearance and pagination from earlier print editions. Rather than compile entirely new indexes for each volume, the UNOHP has made each transcript fully searchable electronically. If a previous edition of this volume existed, its original index has been appended to the transcript for reference only.

In addition to its research volumes, the UNOHP also has published numerous professionally edited and designed books based upon selected oral histories from its collection, and has produced five award-winning documentary videos on Great Basin Indians for broadcast and classroom use. Links to complete catalog entries for these books and videos can be found on the search page for this digital collection.

For more information about the UNOHP and its oral histories, please call (775) 784-6932 or visit the UNOHP website.