Richard Franklin "Frank" Wright (June 15, 1938 – April 25, 2003) was a historian in the

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, area. Wright was born in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

. He received a political science degree from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

. He moved to Las Vegas in 1968 and taught at Nevada Southern University, later known as the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

. In the late 1970s, he began working at the

Binion's Horseshoe Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel, formerly Binion's Horseshoe, is a casino on Fremont Street along the Fremont Street Experience pedestrian mall in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is owned by TLC Casino Enterprises. The casino is n ...

casino as an auditor and later as hotel manager. In the 1980s, Wright became

curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

of education for the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society. Because of his knowledge of Las Vegas history, he was often consulted by film and television productions, as well as reporters and journalists. He sought to dispel common misconceptions about the city's history. Wright was diagnosed with

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

in 2001, and retired from the museum in 2002. He died in Las Vegas the following year, at the age of 64. At the time of his death, he sat on the boards for numerous organizations, including the

Neon Museum The Neon Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, features signs from old casinos and other businesses displayed outdoors on . Efforts to establish a neon sign museum were underway in the late 1980s, but stalled due to a lack of resources. On ...

and the Springs Preserve. He was survived by his wife Dorothy, a stepson, four grandchildren, and a brother. Shortly after his death, the city voted to name part of a new park in his memory. Known as Frank Wright Plaza, it was located at the northwest corner of Stewart Avenue and 4th Street. It closed a few years later, after attracting a homeless population.

Notes

1938 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers {{US-historian-stub