Abstract
The Spencer and Georgia Butterfield Papers (1890s-1978) consist primarily of photographs and scrapbooks pertaining to Spencer and Georgia Butterfield, a prominent Las Vegas, Nevada couple involved in local business and civic activities. The collection also includes newspaper clippings of their social activities, correspondence, and assorted personal memorabilia.
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Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The Spencer and Georgia Butterfield Papers (1890s-1978) consist primarily of photographs and scrapbooks pertaining to Spencer and Georgia Butterfield, a prominent Las Vegas, Nevada couple involved in local business and civic activities. The collection also includes newspaper clippings of their social activities, correspondence, and assorted personal memorabilia. The photographs include family vacations and travel, social events, and several images taken in Jiggs, Nevada. Jiggs, formerly known as Hylton and later Skylton, was founded by Georgia Butterfield's uncle, John Jesse Hylton.
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
These papers are organized into two series:
Series I. Correspondence, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia, 1929-1978;
Series II. Photographs and scrapbooks 1890s-1960.
Biographical / Historical Note
Spencer and Georgia Butterfield were a prominent Las Vegas, Nevada couple involved in local business and civic activities. Spencer was born February 11, 1904, in Marseille, Illinois and came to Nevada in 1917. Later, he became the branch manager for the First National Bank in Carson City and in 1941, he transferred to the bank's branch in Las Vegas, Nevada to work as an assistant cashier. In 1943, he began working as a cashier at the Bank of Nevada, eventually becoming its president, as well as president of the Nevada Bankers Association. Spencer was also active in community affairs through involvement with the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, and the Las Vegas Press Club. In 1947, he was named Las Vegas' "Man of the Year." Spencer Butterfield died on August 17, 1960.
Georgia (Hanna) Butterfield was born on November 26, 1911 in Elko, Nevada. The Hanna family was one of the first settler families in Elko, Nevada. Georgia attended Wabash Business College in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1931, she married Reese Turner. The couple came to Las Vegas in 1937, and Georgia accepted a secretarial position at First National Bank, which is where she eventually met Spencer Butterfield. Reese Turner and Georgia divorced, and Georgia married Spencer Butterfield on May 6, 1944. Georgia was active in the Mesquite Club, Daughters of the Nile, and the Republican Club, as well as other organizations. She became the first female postmaster for Las Vegas on August 1, 1960, holding that position until February of 1961. In later years, she was an executive with International Hosts, first opening the gift shop at the Hilton Hotel and later supervising the gift shop at Caesar's Palace. In 1978, after a brief illness, Georgia Butterfield died at the age of sixty-six.
Source:
Lyle, Michael. "Banker Spencer Butterfield is believed to be the namesake of Spencer Street."
Preferred Citation
Spencer and Georgia Butterfield Papers, 1890s-1978. MS-00189. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 1978 by Georgia Hanna Butterfield; accession number 78-107.
Processing Note
Material was processed in 1996 by Caryll Batt Dziedziak. In 2017, Joyce Moore revised the collection description. In 2018, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Christina Lamoureux rehoused the materials, revised the collection description to bring it into compliance with current professional standards, and entered the data in ArchivesSpace.