Student Bios
This page discusses the fantastic UNLV students who have worked on The Walking Box Project.
Tim Brown:
Timothy Brown is a first year M.A. student in the History Department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). His area of interests are Antebellum politics and slavery with a minor in public history. His BA is in History with a minor in Museum Studies from SUNY Buffalo State College. He worked as an intern with the Buffalo History Museum in their collections where he accessioned objects. Currently, he is working on an exhibit for the UNLV Women’s Film Festival on Clara Bow’s career. He is also working in the collection with accessioning.
Sam Carmer:
Sam Carmer is a first year graduate student in the UNLV Master's Program with a major in twentieth-century American history and a minor in public history. She specializes her research in the continued segregation of American high schools and plans to go on to teach high school after completing her Master’s. She enjoys long walks from her office to the library and back, loud music, and a good plate of fries. Concerning the Walking Box, Sam’s focus is on Cattle Ranching in the Mojave. Sam helps run our social media so if you don’t like the puns… don’t tell her.
Paige Figanbaum:
Paige Figanbaum received her Bachelors at the University of Northern Iowa with a major in History and a minor in Public History. She is a second-year Ph.D. student at the University of Nevada, las Vegas. She is a teaching assistant at UNLV and is currently teaching a class on "Historical Issues and Contemporary Society." Paige has worked in the Public history field for over five years working at the University of Northern Iowa Museum, National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Dan Gable Museum, and John Deere and Tractor Museum. She also developed and implemented a Public History Workshop in the summer of 2019. Paige's research interests are related to tourist industries in rural Nevada communities.
Jennifer Kimball:
Jennifer Kimball and is first-year M.A student in the UNLV History Department. She received her Bachelor’s at UNLV in 2018 with a double major in English and History with a minor in Business Administration. Her major concentration as an M.A student is European History with Public History as her minor concentration. Her main research is on British women missionaries and their involvement in female education in China and Southeast Asia during the late Qing Dynasty. Last semester, she created an interpretive and research portfolio of the fireplace in the Great Hall of the Walking Box Ranch and its creator Big John Silveira, who was
the deputy sheriff of Searchlight. This semester, she is creating research portfolios for the artifacts in the collection on OMEKA, to expand the public face, accessibility and information of the collection for future use.
Mary Ludwig:
Mary Ludwig is a first year Ph.D. student in History at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She grew up in the Texas hill country and attended the University of Texas, Austin before moving to Laramie, Wyoming, to pursue a master's degree in History. For fourteen years Mary taught at Laramie County Community College. There, she provided a variety of cultural programing and volunteered at the Frontier Days Old West Museum. Currently, Mary is researching the intersection between Japanese Americans and the Gila River Indian Community during the era of internment during World War II.
Tracey Neblina:
A resident of Las Vegas since 1998, Tracy Neblina grew up in rural Lovelock Nevada and spent her early adulthood in northern California, returning to Nevada to marry and raise her family. For the past twenty years, Mrs. Neblina has worked as a middle school history teacher at The Meadows School. Tracy earned a Master’s Degree in Social Studies Education and a second Master’s Degree in History, both from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is currently a second-year Ph.D. student at UNLV, her primary focus being the history of the American West with a minor in Public History.
Her Interest in Walking Box Ranch is twofold. First, as water resources are an important aspect of her research, she is interested to know what impact this resource had on the ranch, surrounding communities, and extractive enterprises, all of which are contingent upon access to water. Second, the Bell’s melding of the myths of the American West with the realities of their daily lives in the Mojave Desert as embodied by the natural and built environments the Bell’s lived in is also of great interest. This last aspect is also of importance to Tracy as an educator. She hopes to bring her students to the Walking Box Ranch and have them experience local history in a deep and meaningful way.
Kristen Phipps:
Kristen Phipps is a First Year PhD student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She received her BA in Art, Art History and History from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Kristen focused on World War II Propaganda and the ways in which it affected American women. She received her MA in American History from Southern New Hampshire University. Kristen focused with on slavery in Minnesota. Kristen is currently studying the American West with a minor in Public History. Kristen is passionate about Public History and enjoys teaching people about history. She has worked on the Walking Box Project since August 2019. Currently, she is part of the Archives and Collections team.
Alex Shear:
Alexandra Shear is a First Year Master student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her BA is in History with a focus in the American West, specifically Indigenous History. She studies the American West with a minor emphasis in Public History. She started the Rebels History Club in 2018 and is an active member of Phi Alpha Theta. Alex has a passion for Public History and wishes to work as an archivist in the future. She has worked with Dr. Clemente as an intern for the Walking Box Project since May 2019 as well as helped organize and categorize the objects in UNLV's care. Currently, she is the Project Manager of Ranch Day to celebrate the Walking Box Ranch and has facilitated the professional photoshoot of the Walking Box Ranch collection.
Alex Reininger:
Alex Reininger is currently a non-degree seeking graduate student currently trying to get into the Masters History program at UNLV. Alex got his BA in History in 2018 with a focus in American Cultural History. Alex is currently studying the effects popular culture has on American politics and society during and after the Cold War and plans on writing a book under the same topic. Alex is also a film enthusiast allowing him to build and create the Walking Box Ranch Teaser and Safety videos as well as studying both Rex Bell and Clara Bow's film career in depth to enable a better understanding of who Rex and Clara were as people.
Kassidy Whetstone:
Kassidy Whetstone is a 4th year undergraduate student dual-majoring in History and Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. She has completed workshops hosted by the UNLV Public History Department in handling historic artifacts, and has been involved with the Walking Box Ranch project since May 2019. She is currently inventorying the objects related to the Walking Box Ranch, and accessioning them into the OMEKA database. Kassidy will graduate from her undergraduate career in December 2020 and continue her education in the UNLV Graduate College with the intention to major in European History with a Public History minor. She has won multiple awards for her research, including the Lance and Elena Calvert Award and the Joseph A. Fry Award, and enjoys discussing history and helping others discover their passions for history as well.