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Phillip Irving Earl
1937 - 2019 Obituary
Reno - Noted Nevada Historian and Author Phillip Irving Earl died on 01/08/19 at Renown Medical Center. Phillip was born on February 13th, 1937, in Cedar City, Utah. His father (Irving Bradshaw Earl) had served with the Civilian Conservation Corps, and was working for the Works Progress Administration as part of building Boulder Dam at the time of his birth. His mother (Dorothy Anderson) drove to Cedar City all by herself to give birth.
Although born in Cedar City, Utah, Phillip grew up in Boulder City, Nevada, and considered Nevada to be his home state. He joined the U.S. Army in 1957, serving as a communications operator in Europe. He always told stories about his adventures in France and throughout Europe as a young man.
Phillip graduated from the University of Nevada-Reno in 1964, and finished his Master's Degree in History in 1975. Phillip was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. He taught Nevada history classes at Truckee Meadows Community College.
Phillip wrote the "This Was Nevada" weekly column for newspapers throughout the state from 1975 until 1996. These historical columns detailed life and happenings throughout early Nevada and the West, providing insights into the colorful history of the state he loved. These columns were published in a two-volume series titled "This Was Nevada". Phillip was instrumental in the development and placement of the Nevada-shaped historical markers that are commonly seen throughout Nevada, writing the text for many of the markers.
Phillip worked for 26 years as the Curator of History at the Nevada Historical Society in Reno. His dedication to Nevada's history led to an emphasis on historical preservation and research on the history of the state. Phillip's focus on increasing the archives and research materials has assisted countless students and researchers in their work with Nevada history. His areas of research in Nevada history included women's suffrage, the role of women in World War I, boxing, early transportation, law enforcement, and the many colorful characters that he discovered during his research.
Phillip was involved with many groups and organizations over the years. He was involved in the establishment and publication of "Nevada In The West" magazine. Phillip wrote many articles for Nevada Magazine, the Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, the Humboldt Historian, the Northeastern Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, the Central Nevada Historical Society, and for the National Outlaw and Lawman Association (NOLA). He was an active member of the Lincoln Highway Association, and he presented several papers at their annual meetings. Phillip participated in the creation of documentaries about the western United States, to include the building of Boulder Dam where his father had worked and of early law enforcement in Nevada and the West.
Phillip lectured extensively at the Gold Hill Hotel, providing presentations about the history of Nevada to many audiences. He completed numerous projects for the National Register of Historical Places, and conducted historical environmental assessments in preserving Nevada's historical buildings and locations. Phillip found it very important to support history in rural areas of Nevada. He especially enjoyed presenting programs in rural counties, and was always ready to respond to requests from them. Phillip was a Clamper in good standing for many years, and always spoke of his friendships with persons in this organization.
For over 40 years, Phillip and his wife Jean worked to preserve images carved by Basque sheepherders on aspen trees as they herded sheep on the summer ranges in the High Sierra meadows. They developed a technique of wrapping muslin cloth around the carvings on the trees, and used black rubbing wax to lift the exact image onto the material, thus creating pieces of art. This work culminated in publishing an art book titled "Basque Aspen Art of the Sierra Nevada".
Phillip is survived by his wife of 53 years Jean (Moore), his daughter Kira and son Kevin (Debbie), his grandchildren Ethan and Marissa, his three sisters Diana Jansen (Dennis), Helen Glines, Myrna Marsden, and numerous nieces and nephews.
The Nevada Historical Society will be hosting a memorial to honor Phillip on Saturday, January 26th, from 1:30 to 3:00 PM. The public is welcome. Phillip's love of the history of Nevada remained strong throughout his life. Right to the end, he continued to work on his projects at the Historical Society and to expand understandings of the history of Nevada. As Phillip noted, a historian's work is never done because history never ends.
Published in Reno Gazette-Journal from Jan. 13 to Jan. 15, 2019
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Roy Atkin (1956)
Phillip Earl was a motivated man. In corresponding with him several years ago, I asked him how he became such a successful educator, author and researcher. He mentioned a Boulder City English teacher, Luana Rushton who gave him the desire to further his writing skills. Phillip was somewhat of reculsive in High School and Miss Rushton saw his potential and encouraged him to gain higher education. Phillip credited her for seeing his potential in higher education. Phillip said while in Germany in the Army, he began studying the history of European countries and found his love for history, research and writing. Phillip did accomplish amazing historical research and was recognized by historians for his work.
My grand-daughter entered a high school history fair in San Diego County and chose the subject of the Pony Express. I called Phillip and he sent her information and references on the subject which allowed her to win one of the awards.
It was good to talk to hiim and recall our association at BCHS. I am sorry to hear of his passing and send my condolences to his family.
Roy Atkin '56
Gail Schuyler (Walsh) (1955)
So sorry about Phillip's passing. My sympathy to his family. I read a few of his articles and saw the tv presentation of the building of the dam. When we were in highschool, I didn't realize he was so interested in Nevada history. Not many left in the class of '55. Sincerely, Gail Schuyler Walsh
Michael Merrill (1955)
Sorry to hear about Phil's passing! My thoughts and prayers to his family. I had forgotten all he had done with the history and his writing since I have not seen much of him or his writings since I went into the Navy. But we had a great time together in high school. His nickname among the guys was Flapper. Anyway RIP classmate.
Mike
Donald Welsh (1955)
I was very sorry to hear of Phillip's passing. I lost track of him after graduation and it wasn't til years later that I learned of his acclaim as a Nevada historian, what a surprise, for me anyway. Since then I've learned of the huge contribution he's made to the Nevada story, his efforts will live on forever !
Jimmy Widner (1958)
Phil Earl from NPR Nevada Public Radio
Mar 07, 2019 by Nevada Yesterdays is written by UNLV history professor, Michael Green, and is supported by Nevada Humanities
As you know, for many years, this feature was written by Frank Wright, who was a curator for the Nevada State Museum. If there was an equivalent of Frank in northern Nevada, as the go-to guy for history, it was Phil Earl. We’re sad to report that Phil died early this year just before his eighty-second birthday, and we would like to tell you more about him.
Phillip Irving Earl was born in Cedar City, Utah, but was a Nevadan through and through. His father Irving Bradshaw Earl worked for the Works Progress Administration on the dam project. Phil grew up in Boulder City. He went on to the University of Nevada in Reno, and eventually got a master’s degree there. In those days, the history department included Russell Elliott, the dean of Nevada historians, himself a native of McGill, and my old history professor.
For 26 years, Phil was curator of history at the Nevada Historical Society in Reno. His job was to keep track of the society’s collections and his goal was to expand knowledge of Nevada’s history. He achieved what he set out to do. His main job there was to enhance the archives, and he worked to obtain more collections that researchers could use. He was a scholar, publishing articles in numerous historical journals, especially the Nevada Historical Society Quarterly, where anyone who wants to know about Nevada history turns for information. He helped put together nominations for the National Register of Historic Places, which increased public awareness of the need for preservation. He was interviewed in numerous documentaries and for countless television news reports and newspaper and magazine articles. He worked on environmental assessments of historic buildings and sites for the same purpose. He wrote up the material for a lot of historical markers that you can stop and look at as you drive around Nevada. He and his wife Jean became involved in an effort to preserve the images that Basque sheepherders carved onto aspen trees. He taught Nevada history, and he spoke just about anywhere at least two people wanted to hear someone knowledgeable and entertaining talk about this state.
He became best known around the state as a history columnist. For two decades, he wrote a weekly feature, “This Was Nevada,” which was distributed to newspapers throughout Nevada. It appeared in the big city dailies, but also in the small-town weeklies that dot the state. The columns have been collected in two books called This Was Nevada. If you love Nevada’s history, they’re on your bookshelf, or they should be. He wrote about everything in Nevada from women’s suffrage to volunteers in the Spanish-American War, from ghosts to divorce. Even after he retired, he kept researching, writing, and speaking on Nevada.
Many of you are familiar with the name Guy Louis Rocha. He was the longtime state archivist. He and Phil weren’t exactly a tag team. But if you needed to know something about Nevada history, especially up north, and didn’t talk to one or both of them, you didn’t actually find out what you needed to know. A wise man said that every time we lose someone like Phil Earl, we lose a library. Thankfully, he also left us a library of great work on Nevada’s history.
Larry Hardy (1959)
I have a short story about Phillip Earl regarding some research he did for me at the Historical Society.
About 20 years ago I went to see Phillip to see if he could find out more about Imlay Nevada a small stop on the railroad in Northern Nevada.
My middle name is Imlay which is my mothers maiden name. She was from Hurricane, Utah where her dad and my grandfather was Mayor for many years.
I was told by my parents Ruth & "Blackie" Hardy that the town was named after Grandpa or his brother or both?
So, I asked Phillip if he could find out more about "Imlay Nevada" and how it got the name.
About a week or two later he called me to come see him at the Historical Society office...
When we met he told me that Imlay Nevada was in fact named after my Grandfathers Brother (I think that makes him my "Great Uncle" don't remember his name). He was a civil engineer for the Railroad many years ago and he went to a small settlement on the RR line in Nothern Nevada. He surveyed and laid out the streets for the township... and the story was told that the townspeople liked Mr. Imlay so much for his work that they named it "Imlay Nevada" So, yes Phillip was a marvelous Historian and knew how to find out just about anything you wanted to know about Nevada History.
If you travel across Northern Nevada you will see Imlay Nevada if you don't "Blink"...Fun place, has a Bar and a store & Post office..
Thank you Phillip for your help!!