Adelante Nevada

In recent years, Latinos in Nevada have increasingly become a highly coveted voting bloc by political candidates campaigning in the state. The national media has elevated them into the political spotlight by highlighting their integral contribution to Obama's victories in the last two presidential elections. Latino elected officials are also making history in the Governor's office, numerous city councils, and the state legislature, which boasts more Latino members than ever before. This is a major departure from the state's early political history that was incredibly exclusive of this population. What caused this sudden upward shift in levels of Latino political incorporation in Nevada? Historically, the state's Latino community lacked the necessary political opportunities and organizational strength needed to raise its members' awareness of their oppression to sufficient levels to incite collective action. Using the Political Process Model, this project will analyze the factors that eventually allowed them to do so via the political system. I argue that the elevation of strong Latino community leaders to positions of power, the formation of Pan-Latino grassroots organizations that mobilized the masses, and the proliferation of the Spanish-language media were essential in uniting the rapidly growing population into the political force they are today.

A readable account of Nevada's largest ethnic minority, detailing their vital role in the development of the state and their cultural contributions in the past, present, and future. Contains chapters on mining and building of railroads, the creation of negative stereotypes, migrant farmworkers, Hispanic immigrants, the Chicano movement of the 1960s-70s, the Latin Chamber of Commerce and activism in the 1980s-90s, and recent Hispanic population trends, economic and social issues, and politics. Includes bandw photos. For scholars of history, ethnic studies, and social work, as well as general readers. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

In 1949, renowned journalist A. J. Liebling came to Reno to obtain a divorce, which required that he establish residency in Nevada for a period of six weeks. Liebling stayed at a guest ranch on the shores of Pyramid Lake. While there, his reporter’s curiosity was engaged by a bitter dispute raging between the Paiutes and non-Indian squatters who were claiming the most agriculturally productive lands of the reservation and the waters feeding the lake that was the economic and spiritual heart of the Paiutes’ ancient culture. Liebling recorded the litigation over the fate of the Pyramid Lake Reservation lands in a series of articles published in The New Yorker in 1955. Reprinted here in their entirety, the essays discuss the affair in detail, following it from the shores of the lake to the halls of Congress, and introducing readers to the colorful world of 1950s Nevada. This is a valuable record of one of Nevada’s most enduring and significant debates over the uses of the land and the precious water that nourishes it. Introduction by Elmer R. Rusco.

Nevada's relatively brief history (it became a state in 1864) has been largely a story of the exploitation of its natural resources. Mining has torn down mountains and poisoned streams and groundwater. Uncontrolled grazing by vast herds of sheep and cattle has denuded grasslands and left them prey to the invasion of noxious plant species and vulnerable to wildfire. Clear-cut logging practices have changed the composition of forests and induced serious soil erosion. More recently, military testing, including hundreds of atomic blasts to determine the efficacy of nuclear weapons, has irreversibly polluted expanses of fragile desert landscape. And rampant development throughout the state over the past four decades, along with the public's growing demand for recreational facilities, has placed intolerable demands on the arid state's limited water resources and threatened the survival of numerous rare plant and animal species. Veteran historian and Nevada native James W. Hulse considers the state's complex environmental history as a series of Faustian bargains between the state's need for economic development and the industries, government agencies, and individuals that have exploited Nevada's natural resources with little concern for the long-term consequences of their activities. His survey covers all these issues, and examines public attitudes about the environment and the role of federal and state agencies in creating, interpreting, and enforcing environmental policies.