A native of Virginia, Jean Moore Earl grew up in the foothills of the Appalachians as part of a family with deep roots in the folk traditions of the region. Her interest in the documentation and preservation of traditional folk arts, crafts, and culture was further developed while attending Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. It was while working as a community health nurse in Reno that she first became acquainted with Basque Culture, following home health visits to retired Basque sheepherders. Phillip I. Earl spent most of his life in Nevada. He received a master's degree in history from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1975. From 1975 to 1999, he served as Curator of History at the Nevada Historical Society before he became Curator Emeritus. Mr. Earl published extensively on Nevada and Western history for newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals, and he was the author of This Was Nevada (1986) and This Was Nevada, Vol. II: The Comstock (2000).

A native of Virginia, Jean Moore Earl grew up in the foothills of the Appalachians as part of a family with deep roots in the folk traditions of the region. Her interest in the documentation and preservation of traditional folk arts, crafts, and culture was further developed while attending Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. It was while working as a community health nurse in Reno that she first became acquainted with Basque Culture, following home health visits to retired Basque sheepherders. Phillip I. Earl spent most of his life in Nevada. He received a master's degree in history from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1975. From 1975 to 1999, he served as Curator of History at the Nevada Historical Society before he became Curator Emeritus. Mr. Earl published extensively on Nevada and Western history for newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals, and he was the author of This Was Nevada (1986) and This Was Nevada, Vol. II: The Comstock (2000).