Hoover Dam Construction Worker Database

Las Vegas, NV, December 28, 2008 --(PR.com)-- The Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas recently added to its collections a copy of Judith Sattler Irons’ CD, “Hoover Dam Construction Worker Genealogical Database”. Irons spent 14 years of diligent research in archives, libraries, and museums throughout the West; the resulting document is an invaluable resource for an important period of Nevada and national history.

Covering the years 1929-1936, the database includes not only the names of workers and their families who came to southern Nevada to build Hoover Dam, but sections on businesses and businessmen, contractors and subcontractors, government employees, and organizations involved with Hoover Dam construction--at 4500 pages, this database reveals the sheer scale of Hoover Dam construction employment. In addition, a concluding section lists “Miscellaneous Place Names, Buildings, and Construction Features” associated with the Boulder Canyon Project. The database recovers the history of one of the nation’s most important social, economic, and engineering projects.

Supporting the value of the database is the extensive list of references from which Ms. Irons drew her material.

The database is arranged as a PDF file and authored to provide easy navigation, including a “Find” feature that makes quick searching for key words simple. In addtion to name entries, Irons has included maiden names, familial relationships, aliases and nicknames, alternate spellings, the job or jobs an individual performed during construction, as well as the individual’s employer. The scope of information Irons has compiled is vast; they find, for instance, that Dr. Charles P. Berkey of Columbia University in New York served as a consulting geologist and engineer on the Boulder Canyon Project, as well as secretary of the Colorado River Board. Irons notes that Berkey’s name is spelled variously in resources ad Berkley, Berky, Charles F., Charles T., C. R. and C. H. There follows in Berkey’s entry a list of citations that include photographs, news accounts, published references in books and pamphlets, even diary entries in which he is named. They also learn that Louis Fagan, aka “One-Rope” Fagan, worked on the dam as a high scaler and jackhammer man, and Irons gives 9 references for his name. Boulder City restaurant owner Ida M. Browder has nearly a hundred references, while the unnamed “Child” Hopkins, son of dam worker Ben Hopkins, has a single citation. Irons will update the CD periodically as she continues her research.

Irons’ CD will be available by December in the museum stores of the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas (702-486-5205, x 234); the Clark County Museum (702-455-7955); and the Boulder City Museum and Historical Association (702-294-1988). Copies may also be obtained through www.JudithSattlerIrons.books.officelive.com or contact Judy at judyirons@msn.com.

The Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas is located at 700 Twin Lakes Drive in Lorenzi Park. The museum is open daily from 9:00a.m - 5:00 p.m. General admission is $4 for adults, $3 for seniors 55 and over, and free to children 17 and under.

The Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas is one of seven museums managed by the Division of Museums and History, an agency of the Nevada Department of Cultural Affairs. The Department serves Nevada’s citizens and visitors through cultural and information management, presentation and promotion of cultural resources, and education. The Department also includes the State Historic Preservation Office, Nevada State Library and Archives, and the Nevada Arts Council.

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