Most people know Las Vegas for casinos and showgirls.
But a growing archive at UNLV is documenting the real stories of workers in Nevada’s entertainment industry — stories that often get ignored or erased from history.
Since 2023, UNLV’s Special Collections and Archives has been building the Sexual Entertainment and Economies collection.
The goal is to preserve materials that help researchers understand labor conditions, workers’ rights advocacy, and cultural change in Nevada and beyond.
According to a recent update from the university, researchers have used these collections 149 times.
The Norma Jean Almodovar Papers alone have been accessed 43 times since opening in August, drawing international scholarly attention.
Documenting Real Labor Issues
The collections focus on workers and labor conditions, not salacious content.
Almodovar’s papers document her advocacy work for sex workers’ rights and legal reform. She spent decades fighting for better working conditions and legal protections.
The Barbara G. Brents Professional Papers include her research on Nevada’s unique regulatory environment.
Brents studied the economic and political aspects of legalized prostitution in Nevada — work that helps policymakers and researchers understand labor law, public health, and workers’ safety.
Nevada is the only state with legal prostitution in some counties. That makes it a unique case study for researchers examining regulation, workers’ rights, and public policy.
The Ted McIlvenna Collection includes educational materials about sexual health and culture from the second half of the twentieth century.
These materials help researchers track changing attitudes about sexuality, education, and public health over time.
Why This Research Matters
Nevada’s sex entertainment industry employs thousands of people. Understanding their working conditions, legal protections, and economic contributions matters for policy decisions.
Researchers use these archives to study labor economics, workplace safety regulations, health policy, and civil rights.
The materials help answer questions about how society treats marginalized workers and how laws affect people’s lives.
The university hosted two public programs in 2025 highlighting this research.
One symposium examined “Erotic Labor in the 21st Century,” focusing on workers’ rights and labor conditions. Both events drew strong attendance from scholars, students, and community members.
The Nevada Angle
Nevada has always been different when it comes to entertainment and regulation.
Legal brothels operate in rural counties under strict regulation. And Las Vegas hosts entertainment venues that don’t exist elsewhere.
These industries employ real people with real concerns about workplace safety, legal protections, and economic security.
Without archives like this one, researchers have no way to study how these policies actually work.
They can’t examine whether regulations protect workers or put them at risk. They can’t track how attitudes and laws changed over time.
The Robert Scott Hooper Photographs, opening in 2026, will document performance culture and modeling work in Las Vegas. The collection captures work environments and industry changes that shaped Nevada’s economy.
Preserving Stories That Disappear
Workers in stigmatized industries rarely get their stories preserved. Their experiences get lost because nobody bothers to document them or because shame keeps materials from being saved.
Special Collections Director Sarah Quigley and Professor Lynn Comella say that’s why this work matters. These materials won’t survive without intentional preservation efforts.
The collections include documents about workers’ advocacy, legal battles, health and safety campaigns, and efforts to change laws.
Future researchers won’t be able to study these topics without access to primary source materials.
Universities preserve materials on many controversial topics.
Archives hold documents about organized crime, political extremism, and social movements of all kinds.
Preserving historical materials doesn’t mean endorsing the activities they document. It means giving researchers the tools to study complex questions about society, law, economics, and culture.
International researchers have already started using newly opened collections. That brings attention and academic credibility to UNLV’s scholarship.
Nevada’s history includes industries that other states don’t have. Workers in those industries have stories worth preserving and studying.
UNLV’s archive gives researchers the materials they need to examine labor conditions, workers’ rights, and cultural change in Nevada’s unique environment.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. Digital technology was used in the research, writing, and production of this article. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
