Abstract
The Penelope Ruchman Collection of Las Vegas, Nevada Casino Professionals Oral Histories includes interviews conducted by Ruchman from approximately 1999 to 2001 of casino industry workers who worked in Las Vegas, Nevada. Interviews were conducted by Ruchman in her office at Gambler's Book Shop (GBS), in interviewee's homes and offices, or over the phone. The collection represents Ruchman's efforts to interview and document a generation of early casino industry workers that were quickly aging. The collection includes interviews on audiocassette tapes and sixty-three digital transcripts. Not all interviews have digital transcripts available.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The Penelope Ruchman Collection of Las Vegas, Nevada Casino Professionals Oral Histories includes interviews conducted by Ruchman from approximately 1999 to 2001 of casino industry workers who worked in Las Vegas, Nevada. Interviews were conducted by Ruchman in her office at Gambler's Book Shop (GBS), in interviewee's homes and offices, or over the phone. The collection represents Ruchman's efforts to interview and document a generation of early casino industry workers that were quickly aging. The project was intended to be compiled as a definitive history of Las Vegas and American gambling, entitled "After the Gold Rush." The project was permanently postponed in the fall of 2001 when Ruchman left GBS to work for Park Place Entertainment as a corporate business and operations analyst, and later as casino operations director for Caesars Palace. The collection includes interviews on audiocassette tapes and sixty-three digital transcripts. Not all interviews have digital transcripts available.
Access Note
Collection is open for research. If use copies of the recordings do not exist, reformatting/production of use copies is required before access will be granted; this may delay research requests. Advanced notice is required.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish. Some transcripts do not exist in final form, therefore any editing marks in a transcript (deletions, additions, corrections) are to be quoted as marked. This collection includes multiple interviewees and there are no release forms from any interviewees. The interviews are accessible onsite only, and researchers must seek permission from the interviewee or heirs for quotation, reproduction, or publication. Please contact special.collections@unlv.edu for further information.
Arrangement
Materials remain as they were received.
Biographical / Historical Note
Penelope "Pennie" Ruchman is a long-time gaming and casino professional who graduated from in 1977 from Oberlin College's Creative Writing and American Literature honors program. Following graduation, Ruchman moved to New York City, New York to work as a photographer where she apprenticed for Irving Penn and Arnold Newman before embarking on a career of creating her own artwork, holding one-woman exhibitions throughout the country.
In the 1990s, Ruchman worked in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Gambler's Book Shop (GBS) on Charlesto Boulevard and 11th Street. Ruchman served as vice president of the GBS until the fall of 2001 when she left to work for the now defunct Park Place Entertainment as a corporate business and operations analyst and then casino operations director for Caesars Palace. Ruchman then worked for Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut following her time in Las Vegas. In 2009, she helped open the FireKeepers Casino Hotel in Battle Creek, Michigan where she is employed as of 2019.
Source:
Penelope Ruchman, written communication provided at time of donation, December 13, 2018.
Preferred Citation
Penelope Ruchman Collection of Las Vegas, Nevada Casino Professionals Oral Histories, approximately 1999-2001. MS-00907. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/f1fh3f
Permalink
Acquisition Note
Materials were purchased in 2018; accession number 2018-059.
Processing Note
The materials in this collection are unprocessed. A summary of materials was created by Tammi Kim in 2019 during accessioning. To prepare the summary, the described materials were reviewed to create a contents list, estimate dates, and identify materials types. Karla Irwin processed the digital files. In 2023, Sarah Jones updated the collection inventory with a detailed list of taped interviews and corresponding digital transcripts. Sarah Jones also updated the front matter.