With the 2024 political season in full swing, the University Libraries and its (SCUA) are pleased to invite the campus and greater community to the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center to view a new exhibit on display on the .
“Nevada’s Silver Lady: Barbara Vucanovich and Nevada Women in Politics” explores the multi-decade political career of the first Nevada woman elected to federal office, .
Nevada’s Silver Lady
Barbara Vucanovich’s Reno story begins as a classic mid-century tale. She came to Northern Nevada from the East Coast for a , met someone going through the same process and ended up marrying him. But from the point of her marriage to Ken Dillon, her story diverges from the classic Reno divorce story. She and Dillon got involved with local political groups, and her involvement only grew from there. By the early 1960s, Vucanovich was a local leader in Paul Laxalt’s campaign team, even serving as a delegate at Republican National Conventions. When Nevada got a second House district after the 1980 census, Laxalt encouraged her to run, which she successfully did in 1982.
Barbara Vucanovich is a trailblazer for Nevada women in federal office.
Just over 30 years after she was first elected, as of the time of exhibit installation (late October 2024), the majority of Nevada’s Congressional delegation is female. Nevada is a geographically large state with a relatively small population, but the state has a substantial presence in national politics. Barbara Vucanovich had a significant role in creating this presence during a remarkable time in national and international history. Vucanovich’s interests while in office brought her into contact with one of the most important international events of the late 20th century: the collapse of the Soviet Union and the re-establishment of independent states in Central and Eastern Europe.
“I hope those who view the exhibit have their curiosity piqued, and I hope they want to learn more about Vucanovich or other Nevada politicians,” exhibit curator, assistant professor, outreach and public services archivist , said. “The collection is large, and the exhibit is no more than the barest taste of what it contains, so mostly I hope to prompt viewers to further exploration. It would be great if it inspires some of the budding politicians in the student body, too!”
Curating the exhibit
The Vucanovich exhibit has been discussed for several years within the Libraries and SCUA, but active preparation started a little more than a year ago. Focused work on the exhibit began at the end of Spring Semester 2024, starting with exhibit curator Olson undertaking a close reading of Barbara Vucanovich’s memoir, “Barbara F. Vucanovich: from Nevada to Congress, and back again.”
“It’s so helpful to have a starting source like a memoir, as it guides me as the curator in determining what the person at the center of the exhibit thought was most significant about their life and career,” Olson said. “It also helped me identify people in some of the photos used in the exhibit!”
Specific categories within Vucanovich’s career were identified after reading the memoir.
“Political collections tend to be massive and complex,” Olson said. “The Barbara F. Vucanovich Papers collection comes in at around 150 boxes. Reading Vucanovich’s memoir brought certain categories of her work and political experience to the fore, which made it much easier to narrow the search for materials within the collection. Congressional delegations, committee and legislative work related to women’s health, land management, energy, and the military all stood out among her stories, as did the descriptions of campaigning in a heavily rural district like the one she represented. I found it particularly interesting to explore the correspondence around creating legislation and encouraging other members of Congress to vote for or against a particular bill or amendment. It helps me understand government processes at the day-to-day level a bit better.”
When asked to reflect on curating the exhibit Olson said, “I think my favorite item in the exhibit is the photograph of Barbara Vucanovich with Air Force pilot Lt. Col. Roger Riggs, from August 1985. Vucanovich wrote in her memoir about getting to fly in an F-16 Falcon, and how excited she was to do it. The photograph shows both of them with huge grins, and I can’t help but smile in return when I look at it. It’s lovely to see how much she genuinely enjoyed her work as a Congresswoman.”
She added, “I also wish I could have met George Vucanovich! He seems like a kind man and supportive spouse, and several anecdotes about him made me chuckle. Apparently he used to go to campaign events with Barbara Vucanovich and wear a name tag that just said ‘The Husband.’”
What is on display
Guests coming to view the exhibit can find it located on the third floor of the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center outside of the Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) department.
Along the walls of the third floor, guests can view gallery-style photographic displays of Vucanovich’s diplomatic travel and campaigning. Campaign ephemera is on display in the two large cases at the top of the atrium stairs connecting the second floor to the third floor. The cases in the SCUA exhibit room feature original materials used to do some linear storytelling related to Vucanovich’s political career, from her pre-Congress work for Paul Laxalt, through important causes and committees while she was in Congress, to work she did after retiring from government.
Along the north hallway and within the northern display case, Vucanovich is positioned within the larger stream of Nevada women in politics. This display is a gallery-style timeline highlighting approximately two dozen other women who have served in elected positions. This display is not a comprehensive list, of course, but ranges from Anne Martin’s historic run for the US Senate in 1918 to the current-as-of-installation (October 2024) Congressional delegation from Nevada. It shows women involved in governance from the local to the national levels.
The timeline presented in the Nevada women in politics display begins with Anne Martin in 1918. The University of Nevada History Department began with Anne Martin, who was also a prominent suffragist and the first woman in the country to run for the U.S. Senate, before women even had the constitutionally-protected right to vote. But, she certainly wasn’t alone in having a political presence. Nevada women have been involved in politics for a very long time.
“Elected or not, found in the archives or not, women have always been involved in the political and governmental processes,” Olson said. “Nevada women have long been involved in government and political activism at every level. Barbara Vucanovich marks a turning point as the first Nevada woman elected to federal office, but her role as trailblazer builds on the work of those women who came before.”
Nevada Political Papers collection
Nevada politics, politicians, and activists comprise a significant portion of the materials housed within SCUA. A partial list can be .
In total SCUA has approximately two hundred collections connected to politics, ranging from collections with just one or two documents all the way up to the enormous Harry Reid Papers. The Harry Reid Papers, which will begin opening to the public in 2026, has more than 1,000 boxes and 7 terabytes of data! Many of these individuals whose collections SCUA stewards have connections to the University.
“One interesting political collection includes the papers of Eva B. Adams,” Olson said. “Adams was an administrative assistant to Senator Pat McCarran, so we have her office files, but she was later appointed to be head of the U.S. Mint by President Kennedy. It’s a remarkable career. Some of the individuals listed have oral histories, too, which is a wonderful resource.”
Special thanks and acknowledgements
The University Libraries extend its appreciation to the Cafferata family for their donation of Barbara Vucanovich’s political papers to SCUA, and for their financial support in processing the collection and creating this exhibit.
Special thanks are in order for Patricia Cafferata, the eldest child of Barbara Vucanovich. Cafferata has been a major Libraries supporter and has herself held elected office at the state level, serving as Nevada’s first female State Treasurer. She is also listed as the co-author of Vucanovich’s memoirs.
“The Cafferata family has been very generous with SCUA and the Libraries, and we are very appreciative of their generosity,” Olson said.
ƼӰԭ the University Libraries
The University Libraries embrace intellectual inquiry and innovation, nurture the production of new knowledge, and foster excellence in learning, teaching and research. During each academic year, the Libraries welcomes more than 1.2 million visitors across its network of four libraries: the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center, the DeLaMare Science and Engineering Library, the Savitt Medical Library and the Prim Library at the ƼӰԭ at Lake Tahoe. Visitors checked-out more than 80,000 items and completed more than two million database searches.
