UNLV Public History is proud to bring Payday on Block 16: Life and Leisure After the Colorado River Compact to the Mob Museum on April 26 from 5-8 p.m.
Payday on Block 16 will feature a student-guided walking tour of the city's historic red-light district, one-on-one talks with experts on Las Vegas history, and a sampling of Depression-era films that explore the themes of debauchery and vice in the era's cinema. The event is free with registration.
The event celebrates the centennial anniversary of the signing of the Colorado River Compact, the legislation that set in motion the building of the Hoover Dam, or Boulder Dam as Americans called it at the time.
“As the Southwest grapples with a critical water shortage that only worsens as the local population grows, this project really puts the origins of the Hoover Dam construction and Colorado River Compact into perspective,” said Deirdre Clemente, associate director of the UNLV Public History program. “We are grateful to the Mob Museum for this collaborative relationship, which allows students and the public at large to hands-on experience the value of public history.”
The unprecedented construction project demanded thousands of workers, and an influx of men and their families came to live and work in Boulder City and Las Vegas.
Vegas's original red-light district offered Dam workers a place to blow off steam and built the foundation of what would become our international reputation as a place to party. Block 16 was a site of free-flowing liquor, gambling, and legalized prostitution.
“This project takes the study of history beyond classrooms and textbooks and into the places where history actually happened,” said Annie Delgado, a UNLV public history graduate student who’s leading the project. “It has been a great learning experience for me and other students as we launch careers in public history.”
A product of the culmination of two semesters of archival research, the event will highlight the lived experience of the workers and locals. They include Gus Ciliax, a downtown Las Vegas restaurant owner who noted, “In the days of the dam construction, particularly on pay days, it was next to impossible to walk down that sidewalk, it was so crowded.”
UNLV students collaborated with the Mob Museum, UNLV’s College of Liberal Arts, Lied Library’s Special Collections, and the Department of Film Studies to host the event. Students also consulted archives across the region to examine documents and objects in consultation with Clemente and UNLV associate professor of history Michael Green.
The event is the first of several year-long efforts by UNLV Public History to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Colorado River Compact.
Admission for “Payday on Block 16: Life and Leisure After the Colorado River Compact” is free to those who register through the online portal.
Guests can participate in the tours and discussions, as well as explore the Mob Museum. For more information, please contact Annie Delgado at analiesa.delgado@unlv.edu.
