Renee Diamond

Renee Diamond

Women in Nevada History: A Legacy Digital Project

Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN)

Social Justice and women's rights activist

June 19, 1937

1972

November 1997
November 20, 2014

Renee Diamond served in the Nevada Assembly for one term, but supported social justice and sex-equity campaigns for much of her adult life. She worked on the Equal Rights Amendment, Campaign for Choice, welfare rights, fair housing laws, and Democratic Party women candidates’ campaigns.Renee Diamond was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1937. At five years old, her family left Chicago and moved to Los Angeles, California. Renee married at age 16 and gave birth to two daughters. A few years later, the marriage ended in divorce and she became a single mother raising two children. Years later, she viewed these experiences as having shaped her activism. Despite working several jobs, Renee found time to be involved with several causes. In California, she helped to organize the group Another Mother for Peace to oppose above-ground nuclear testing. She also participated in the Beverly Hills Young Democrats, worked for fair housing, and to increase political participation among minorities.Diamond married Lou Diamond and in 1972 the family moved to Las Vegas where she became involved in local causes once again. She joined the welfare-rights group Operation Life and helped it develop into an economic development organization. The National Organization for Women (NOW) selected Diamond, along with Cynthia Cunningham, to lead the Southern Nevada campaign for the ERA and the Campaign for Choice. She served as co-chair of the 1977 Nevada Women’s Conference. Diamond also worked on campaigns for Democratic candidates in Nevada, including Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign. She served one term in the Nevada Assembly in 1989.

Diamond retired from the state of the Nevada as an Administrator of the Division of Manufactured Housing.

Renee Diamond, “An Interview with Renee Diamond, an Oral History Conducted by Caryll Batt Dziedzak” [transcript], Produced by the Women’s Research Institute of Nevada (1997), Special Collections and Archives, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Renee Diamond, “An Interview with Renee Diamond, an Oral History Conducted by Barbara Tabach” [transcript], The Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project (2014), Special Collections and Archives, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Guide to the Renee Diamond Papers. Nevada Women's Archives. Special Collections. University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Collection # MS-00377.


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