LAWRENCE W. LITTLE, 1900-1983

Lawrence William Little grew up in Colorado and California, graduating from Bishop High School in Bishop, California. From 1923 to 1928 he taught at Western State College in Colorado (1923-1924) and Carson High School (Carson City, Nevada), where he lived the rest of his life. Little married Ruth Fairly in 1926; in 1976 they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.

Little, also known as "Prof. Little," began working for the Nevada Highway Department in 1928 as a summer employee, then full-time in 1929 as a materials and testing engineer. At his retirement in 1968 he was chief of the materials and testing section. After his retirement Prof. Little worked until 1974 as inspector for the Incline (Village, Nev.) General Improvement District.

Aside from his professional work, Little was active in a number of community organizations. He served with the Nevada National Guard from 1930 to 1940, attaining the rank of Sergeant Grade III. He was a charter member of the Rotary Club of Carson City, serving as president from 1942-1943, and active in the Freemasons and Shriners.

Prof. Little was an avid gardener and contributed many floral bouquets to businesses and social functions in Carson City. He was also an amateur musician, and invested in a perlite and tungsten mine in Nevada.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The papers of Lawrence W. Little date from 1915 to 1979 and consist of three cubic feet of materials. There are no restrictions on use of the collection.

The collection is divided into three series, reflection Little's personal life, his career with the Highway Department, and his employment with the Incline General Improvement District.

Little's personal life is well documented, whether his school days, careers in teaching and engineering, or his love of gardening. The earliest item in the collection is a student newspaper, The "Quartz Creek News," written in long hand by Little and containing all the local Quartz Creek, Colorado, news. This paper consists of a "run" of issues from Jan.6 to April 30, 1915.

Between 1971-1977 Little was interviewed for an oral history by Mary Ellen Glass of the University of Nevada-Reno, Oral History Office. Little prepared himself for these interviews by making extensive notes which are contained in five notebooks. These are supplemented by daily journals and small "things to do" spiral
notebooks which incorporate his daily work with gardening and social activities.

The Rotary Club of Carson City played an important roll in the Prof's life and his Rotary files are fairly extensive. The files for Little's presidency years (1942-1943) include correspondence, minutes, reports and newsletters. Files for other years (1938-1978) include newsletters, correspondence, a brief history of the club, and programs. Likewise, LIttle's association with the Carson Lodge No.1 of the Freemasons and the Kerak Temple, Reno is documented through correspondence, programs, by-laws, and a membership certificate (1938-1960).

Other files in this series contain gardening notes and landscape drawings, teaching (1923-1929) and National Guard certificates and letters, a retirement file, articles about Little and Peakville, New York (home of his paternal ancestors), and records of Little's perlite and tungsten mines. The latter include correspondence, maps, claim forms, and agreements.

Series II, Nevada Highway Department documents Little's career as a materials and testing engineer with the Highway Department. Miscellaneous files include the Prof's history of the Department, a small amount of correspondence and meeting notes, and an article about the dedication of the Department's administration building in 1965.

The bulk of series II consists of professional and technical papers authored by Little or his colleagues. In general the subject matter is the testing of and standards for highway building materials such as rock aggregates, but of special note are a paper by Alan S. Ryall on "Earthquake Potential in Western Nevada," and Little's paper on the Dayton Sand and Gravel Company.

The last series contains daily field notes compiled by Little as inspector of the Incline General Improvement District. Most of the notes are on road or sewer projects in the then-developing subdivisions at Incline Village, but others are for work along U.S Highway 50, Round Hill to Glenbrook and Round Hill to Cave
Rock, and U.S. Highway 50 from Eureka, Nevada to 3.75 miles southeast of Eureka. The notes include date, weather conditions, working crew personnel, work completed, and problems encountered.

Processed by: Susan Searcy
Date: February 7, 1989
Lawrence W. Little Papers
NC1039

The Lawrence W. Little papers are arranged into the following series:

I. Little's Personal Life and Interests

II. Nevada Highway Department

III. Field Notes for Construction Projects

I. Little's Personal Life and Interests. 1 cubic foot. 1915-1979.

This series contains some of Little's high school college papers, teacher's certificates, military service records, and certificates received while employed by the Nevada Department of Transportation. it also includes daily journals, extensive notes compiled by little as president and member of the Rotary Club of Carson City and Reno. Little invested in perlite and tungsten mining operations; records for these activities include maps, correspondence, claim forms, and agreements. This series is arranged by topic and chronologically within each subject.

Box 1

I/1b - Personal materials. 1927-1977.
I/2 - Genealogical, class reunions. 1964-1974
I/3-5 - Little's notes for his oral history.
I/6-7 - Little's notes on his career; Highway Department history.
I/8 - Notebooks: reminders of things to do. ca 1970's
I/9-10 - Daily journals. 1971-1975
I/11 - Retirement. 1968.
I/12 - Teaching career. 1924-1929
I/13 - Military record. 1930-1942.
I/14 - Freemasons and shriners. 1938-1960
I/15-
16 - Carson City Rotary Club. Little's presidency. 1942- 1943.
I/17 - Rotary Club NEWSLETTER. 1939-1949.
I/18 - Rotary Club. 1938-1978.
I/19 - Gardening.
I/20 - Articles about Little.
I/21-
23 - Little's school papers.
I/24 - Peakeville, New York.
I/25 - James G. Patton.
I/26-
27 - Perlite mining claims.
I/28 - Tungsten mine.
I/29 - BLM regulations governing surface management of mining
claims. 1980.

II. Nevada Highway Department. .5 cubic foot. 1949-1977.

Here are found papers written by Little and others on highway construction techniques, and a review by Little for the Atomic Power Utilization Committee of Nevada. Two of Little's papers were presented to the 9th and 10th Annual Highway Engineering Conference at the University of Utah; these folders also include correspondence, clippings, and programs from those meetings. This series includes a history of the Highway Department, meeting notes, an article on the dedication of the new Highway Department administration building (1965), and miscellaneous correspondence from the Department. Arranged by subject.

Box 2

II/1 - History of the Nevada Highway Department. 1968.
II/2 - Dedication of the new Highway Department administration building. 1965
II/3 - Meeting notes. 1976-1977.
II/4 - Miscellaneous correspondence from the Department. 1949;1974
II/5 - 9th and 10th Annual Highway Engineering Conferences, University of Utah. Correspondence, clippings, programs, Little's paper. 1948-1949.
II/6 - 10th Annual highway Engineering Conference, Salt Lake City. Rough drafts of Little's paper. 1949.
II/7 - Notes on the 2nd Pacific Coast Conference on Asphalt Specifications Including Producers and Consumers. Feb. 22, 1957
II/8 - "Aggregate Surveys and Presentation of Data to Prospective Contractors." L. W. Little. 1949.
II/9 - "Concrete Aggregate Quotations for Western Nevada and Tahoe-Truckee Areas, Feb.-Mar., 1969." L.W. Little. Mar. 12, 1969.
II/10 - Study of Material Source and Products of the Dayton Sand and Gravel Company, Nov.-Dec., 1968." L.W. Little. Dec 18, 1968.
II/11 - "Specifications of Asphalt Products. After-shipment: A Consumers' Viewpoint." L.W. Little. 1958.
II/12 - "The Record Sampling Program." L.W. Little. April 27,1961.
II/13 - Coefficients for Pavement Structural Components. 1963. Classification of Highway Subgrade Materials. 1944- 1945.
II/14 - "Planning Highway Programs in Urban Areas." Calvin C. Berge. 1970.

Box 2

II/15 - "Airphoto Interpretation in Route Location and Material Surveys." Grant A. Ross. 1970.
II/16 - Graduation charts for base cover (Nevada).
II/17 - "Liquid Asphalt: Viscosity Changes Due to Contamination." George V. Allison, Sr. Feb. 1963.
II/18 - "Kinetic Viscosity vs Float Test." George V. Allison
II/19 - "State of Nevada Method of Test for Apparent Specific Gravity of Aggregates." 1967.
II/20 - "Oregon Degradation and Maximum Density Tests for Granular Materials." Clarence M. Collins. 1960.
II/21 - "Cement Treated Base Materials Test Method." Bud Rude.
II/22 - Court documents for the case of Lalif Wood vs State of Nevada. 1967.
II/23 - Bureau of Public Roads circular memorandum, "A New Aggregate Graduation Chart." 1962.
II/24 - Highway Department Materials Manual Updates. 1970; 1973.
II/25 - "Earthquakes Potential in Western Nevada." Alan S. Ryall. 1973.
II/26 - "Nevada's Climate Survey."
II/27 - Atomic Power Utilization Committee. 1952-1955

III. Field Notes for Construction Projects. 1.5 cubic feet. 1969-1974.

This series consists of notes made by Little as a private consultant, either in notebooks or on worksheets, of the daily activities of road or sewer construction projects at Incline Village, Lake Tahoe; Highway 50 near Eureka, Nevada; and from Round Hill to Glenbrook. Roughly arranged by name of project.

Box 2

III/1 - Contact for construction of Highway 50 between Eureka and 3.75 miles southeast of Eureka.
III/2-6 - Teichert Contract, Incline Village. 1970-1971.
III/7-15 - Incline Village, various units. 1969-1971.

Box 3

III/16 - Incline Village Units 1,2,4,5. 1970-1971.
III/17 - Douglas County-Carson Valley Highways. 1973.
III/18 - Southwest Gas Company trench, Kingsbury Grade.
III/19 - Earth Science Consultants: Vista Project. 1971.
III/21
-9 - Skyland Subdivision, Incline Village. 1974.
III/30
-32 - Round Hill to Glenbrook sewer project. 1974.
III/33
-38 - Cave Rock Estates, U.S. 50 from Round Hill to Cave Rock. 1973-1974.
III/39
-46 - Notebooks, locations not identified. n.d.