The camper still sits in the backyard of the Ortiz family home, just off the railroad tracks on the edge of Logandale, in the heart of Nevada’s Moapa Valley. Weathered but sturdy, it’s a humble relic of a time when life was lived on the road – following harvests and chasing opportunity.
"We were lucky," Juanita Ortiz said. "We had a camper. Some families only had tents or slept in their cars on the side of the road."
That small piece of history, a hand-built camper that once protected the Ortiz family across Nevada’s rugged farmlands, is now drawing the interest of the Smithsonian Institution, which is considering it for preservation. But, the story of the camper is just one thread in a much larger narrative – one that often goes unrecognized – of America’s migrant farm workers.
It wasn’t until members of the Ortiz family attended a UNLV Special Collections Archives community archives workshop that they truly understood the power of their own history. Surrounded by representatives from community and cultural organizations sharing their stories, they had an epiphany: If we don’t preserve this history, who will?
Community Archives
The workshop grew from Special Collections & Archives efforts to expand its collection and build partnerships with a wider array of organizations and community groups from across Southern Nevada.
Unlike traditional archives, which are often curated by academic or government institutions like UNLV, community archives are led by the people whose histories are being preserved.
“Our goal is to help local families like the Ortizes, as well as organizations and cultural groups, preserve their own histories while also making them accessible to both future generations and researchers,” said Su Kim Chung, head of Special Collections Public Services, who organized the project alongside Sarah Jones, head of Special Collections Technical Services. “By documenting their own stories and records, we create a fuller and more accurate historical record that truly reflects our region’s population. These experiences are essential parts of Southern Nevada’s history.”
These archives emphasize self-representation, cultural identity, and local knowledge, ensuring that these communities are in charge of how their stories are told and remembered. The workshop teaches individuals, family, and community organizations how to safely store and organize their records, without necessarily donating them to a cultural preservation institution.
“This project reinforces that records don’t necessarily have to leave their communities or organizations to be preserved,” said Jones. “By working collaboratively, we ensure that these historical materials remain accessible and meaningful to the people and places they represent."
The Ortiz family attended UNLV’s first workshop in March 2023, learning from archivists and curators about best practices for preserving their family’s paper documents, photographs, and digital files, as well as conducting impactful oral history interviews. They also received an archival kit – funded by donors through the Libraries Advisory Board – containing materials such as folders, gloves, sheet protectors, and writing implements to support their preservation efforts.
Several members of the Ortiz family attended and then began gathering and safeguarding important family records. They followed the archivists’ tips on document and photograph storage. Recognizing the value of firsthand accounts, they also initiated a series of oral history interviews to capture the rich recollections of family experiences as migrant workers and life in Nevada.
Migrant workers in Nevada
The Ortiz family first immigrated from Mexico to the United States during the post-World War II era, traveling with the hand-built camper to different farming communities in the Southwest for seasonal agricultural work before eventually settling in Moapa Valley.
Originally inhabited by the Southern Paiute people, the valley was later home to Church of Latter-day Saints settlers, who established the farming communities that would dot the fertile lands. The area also attracted Japanese-American families seeking new opportunities following land ownership restrictions implemented in California. These early farms became thriving agricultural hubs, attracting Latino and Mexican-American farmworkers, like the Ortiz family, who contributed labor and worked the fields, shaping the local economy.
The groups developed strong ties, living and working together, and these relationships became an integral part of the history of the region. LDS leaders stepped up to support the Farm Worker Movement (migrant programs offered through the Economic Opportunity Board in the 1960s), which helped families like the Ortizes transition out of farm labor.
“Our home, it was purchased with a handshake,” said Juanita. “The Ozaki family that owned this area just really valued us. My father, they made a deal because they valued us enough to want us to stay.”
And yet, family members also remember how the Latino community often felt like outsiders, estranged by cultural and religious differences.
"I think for me, I sometimes felt not acknowledged as a group,” said Paulita Ortiz, Juanita’s sister. “There's some painful memories here, but there's also a community here that really does, in times of crisis, come together, and it made the difference.”
The LDS church has a long tradition of encouraging and providing resources for families to document their history. Through genealogies, personal diaries, letters, photographs, oral histories, and religious milestones, there is a well-preserved record of their contributions in the Moapa Valley. However, without a similar tradition, Latino family histories were not as readily documented, making it even more essential for the Ortiz family to collect their own history.
“In doing this work and seeing and hearing our history, it is amazing to see how much our family has accomplished," said Delfina Anchondo, Juanita’s niece.
Sharing their history
As the Ortiz family began collecting their history, they recognized the power of sharing their story to shed light on the often untold experiences of migrant farm workers, not only in Nevada, but across the U.S. They wanted to ensure their family’s journey, emblematic of so many others, would be preserved for future generations.
“I told my aunts, if we don’t put it at UNLV, no one will ever hear it. No one will ever see it," said Delfina. "This is our story. This is Nevada’s story. It belongs here. We know UNLV will preserve it, and it will be there for future generations to come.”
Through their research, the family realized that their records were not only crucial to understanding their own legacy, but also contributed to the broader story of migrant workers in the United States. The journey led them to work in coordination with the Nevada Department of Transportation’s Cultural Resources Latino Project and cultural heritage institutions like the Smithsonian to preserve parts of their history.
The family has also consulted with the national organization Latinos in Heritage Conservation. Additionally, the Ortiz family and other early Latino families of the Moapa Valley are founding members of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council 11158, which has provided representation at the local, state, and national levels to highlight the significance of Nevada’s Latino history in the Moapa Valley.
However, the family ultimately chose to establish a collection at UNLV, feeling that it was the most fitting institution to document the history of Southern Nevada and its unique migrant experiences. Their decision reflects a commitment to ensuring that their records remain part of the local community's history while contributing to a larger narrative of migration and resilience.
While larger cultural heritage organizations, like the Smithsonian, are interested in parts of their history to tell the larger story of migrant workers in the United States and Nevada, the family chose to establish a collection at UNLV because of its importance documenting the history of Southern Nevada.
"UNLV Special Collections & Archives is where history lives and our history deserves to be there, too," said Delfina. "I hope someone finds our collection years from now and sees themselves in it; sees their family in it, and is inspired to collect their own history."
With the guidance of Aaron Mayes, the curator for visual materials, the Ortiz family entrusted their treasured history to UNLV. The collection offers a window into their life in Logandale, featuring intimate photographs of family gatherings and milestones – each image telling a story of resilience, community, and the daily experiences that shaped their journey.
“We are incredibly proud to house the Ortiz family's collection, as it provides invaluable insight into the rich history of Latino communities in Southern Nevada,” said Mayes. “This collection not only reflects the family's journey and resilience but also enriches our broader mission to preserve the diverse histories that shape our region. By preserving stories like theirs, we ensure that future generations can better understand the complexities of our shared past and the contributions of every community to the fabric of Southern Nevada.”
In late 2024, Mayes and Sarah Quigley, director of Special Collections, traveled to the family home in Logandale to meet with the family and pick up the materials that the Ortiz family was entrusting to Special Collections & Archives.
“Meeting with the Ortiz family, listening to their firsthand accounts of life as migrant farm workers, and visiting the place they call home was incredibly powerful,” said Quigley. “Their stories bring to life this unique history of Southern Nevada in a deeply personal and vivid way — one that can't be captured through official records alone. Their generosity in sharing their experiences enriches our mission to document the diverse communities that have shaped our region.”
The collection includes family photographs, earnings statements for Pedro Ortiz Sr., letters of recommendation from their long-time employers, funeral programs, and oral histories detailing their experiences as migrant farm workers and later as members of the Logandale community.
Juanita Ortiz donated materials that highlight her career achievements, with awards from organizations like the Economic Opportunity Board of Clark County, along with her dissertation from UNLV. The collection features yearbooks from Moapa Valley High School and the University of San Francisco, as well as a scrapbook documenting her senior year, filled with photographs, clippings, and notes.
The family’s collection is now available for research in Special Collections & Archives at UNLV’s Lied Library. Maribel Estrada Calderón, a UNLV alumna and former student worker on the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada project from the UNLV Oral History Research Center, is already using the story of how the collection was acquired for her Ph.D. research at the University of California, Berkeley.
“When I found out that Special Collections & Archives processed the Marta and Pedro Ortiz Family Papers, I quickly booked a flight back home to Las Vegas from Berkeley, California, where I am pursuing my doctoral studies in 20th-century Latinx history,” said Estrada Calderón. “This collection sheds light on the culturally and socially rich world the Ortizes created in the Moapa Valley, and tells the stories of Mexican belonging, love, and resilience that I not only craved to learn as I grew up as a Mexican immigrant in Las Vegas, navigating the challenges of belonging, but that I now aim to preserve as a scholar of Latinx history.”
The Ortiz family is also encouraging other families to collect their own histories, whether they want to preserve them for their own private use or make them available to cultural institutions like UNLV.
“I just want to encourage everyone: If you have a story, if something has been passed down through your family, don't wait too long. Start now. Preserve what you can, because once it's gone, it's gone,” said Delfina. “It’s important for us to tell our story and ensure it’s here for future generations. If we don’t do it, no one else will."
