Time & Place with Alicia Barber

This fall, there’s been a lot of talk and media coverage about the campus climate at the University of Nevada, Reno in light of several incidents of hate and bias on campus. Those have included graffiti of swastikas and flyers for a white nationalist group.

With campaigning well underway for many local, state, and federal elected offices, it’s a good time to look back at how Nevada’s political landscape has changed through the years. In this episode of “Time & Place,” historian Alicia Barber takes a close look at Nevada’s seats in the United States Congress.

Today, the cities of Reno and Sparks make up one large metropolitan area. But unlike Reno, Sparks wasn’t known as a destination for gambling until the 1950s. Historian Alicia Barber tells the story of the Sparks casino that changed all of that, in this episode of “Time & Place.”

Our media landscape is constantly changing with the introduction of new technologies and formats, but it all began with words printed on a page. Historian Alicia Barber traces the evolution of Reno’s daily newspapers in this installment of Time & Place.

Classes are underway at the University of Nevada in Reno. And in this segment of “Time & Place,” historian Alicia Barber tells the story of how, why and where it all began. 

It may not feel like fall out there yet, but for students throughout our region, summer vacation is over and school is back in session. In this episode of “Time & Place,” historian Alicia Barber takes a look back at the development of Reno’s public schools and some of the neighborhoods they served.

Summertime in Northern Nevada can really bring the heat. Fortunately, for most of us, cooling down is as easy as heading to the refrigerator. But it wasn’t always so easy for our region’s residents to chill out in the hot weather, as historian Alicia Barber explains in this episode of “Time & Place.”

Today, casinos are run by corporations that operate under a set of industry-wide standards and practices, but in the early days of Nevada gaming, the way a casino operated could tell you a lot about its owners. Historian Alicia Barber describes one notable example in this episode of Time & Place.

The Reno Rodeo celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding this year, and as you might imagine, the event has inspired a wide range of traditions over the course of a century. Historian Alicia Barber highlights one of them in this installment of Time & Place.


This year marks the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad, a massive undertaking that employed thousands of Chinese immigrants. In this installment of “Time & Place,” historian Alicia Barber explains some of the challenges faced by the Chinese residents of the Sierra Nevada after the railroad was finished.

As a warning, this segment contains historical accounts of physical violence fueled by racism and may not be suitable for children.

It’s well known that the landscape around Reno was once filled with working farms and ranches. And as the tourism industry developed, some ranch owners noticed a growing interest among visitors in playing cowboy—or at least in meeting one. Historian Alicia Barber explains in this installment of Time & Place.

Today, Virginia City, Nevada attracts more than two million visitors each year. But that wasn’t always the case. In this segment of “Time & Place,” Alicia Barber explains how early promoters helped turn the historic mining town into a national tourist destination.

The fact that prostitution is legal in some parts of Nevada remains a source of controversy both inside and outside the state. Although it’s not allowed in Washoe County today, the city of Reno has been more permissive in the past.

This month, KUNR is featuring stories about Reno's iconic neon in a series called Sparked: Northern Nevada’s Neon. In this installment of Time & Place, historian Alicia Barber explains how the shifting popularity of neon has been reflected locally in the evolution of Reno’s most celebrated landmark.

As neighboring countries, the United States and Mexico have a long history of bilateral agreements. In this installment of “Time & Place,” historian Alicia Barber looks at one cooperative program introduced during World War II to benefit residents on both sides of the border.

Perhaps the most famous event in the history of Reno, Nevada took place on July 4, 1910. As we close out Black History Month, that momentous day is the focus of this segment of Time & Place from historian Alicia Barber.

February is Black History Month, and in this segment of “Time & Place”, historian Alicia Barber discusses a groundbreaking African American architect from California whose contributions crossed the border into Nevada more than seventy years ago.

In the 1930's, the effects of the Great Depression reached nearly every community in the United States. In this segment of Time & Place, Historian Alicia Barber describes one federal relief program that helped rebuild Nevada while putting thousands of Americans back on their feet.

Nevada’s casino industry is one of the most tightly regulated in the world, but it takes a lot of legislation and enforcement to keep it that way. In this segment of Time & Place, historian Alicia Barber describes one of the earliest challenges to the state’s strict gaming laws.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 plunged the United States into the Second World War, disrupting the lives of millions of American residents. Among them were thousands of people of Japanese descent. Historian Alicia Barber tells the story of one Nevada family’s experience in this segment of Time & Place.