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Transcript of interview with Mary Cooke by Gigi Arino, March 18, 1978

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1978-03-18

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On March 18, 1978, Gigi Arino interviewed antique shop owner, Mary B. Cooke (born November 13th, 1936 in Watertown, Wisconsin) in her antique shop in Las Vegas, Nevada. During this interview Mary discusses previous jobs, personal family history, education, and the growth and development of the city. She also expresses her opinions on the topic of welfare, healthcare and the condition of the hospitals in Las Vegas.

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OH_00420_transcript

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OH-00420
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    Cooke, Mary Interview, 1978 March 18. OH-00420. [Transcript.] Oral History Research Center, Special Collections & Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.

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    This material is made available to facilitate private study, scholarship, or research. It may be protected by copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity rights, or other interests not owned by UNLV. Users are responsible for determining whether permissions are necessary from rights owners for any intended use and for obtaining all required permissions. Acknowledgement of the UNLV University Libraries is requested. For more information, please see the UNLV Special Collections policies on reproduction and use (https://www.library.unlv.edu/speccol/research_and_services/reproductions) or contact us at special.collections@unlv.edu

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    Digitized materials: physical originals can be viewed in Special Collections and Archives reading room

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    English

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    36.17497, -115.13722

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    UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke i An Interview with Mary Cooke An Oral History Conducted by Gigi Arino Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas Special Collections and Archives Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada, Las Vegas UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke ii © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2018 UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke iii The Oral History Research Center (OHRC) was formally established by the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada System in September 2003 as an entity of the UNLV University Libraries’ Special Collections Division. The OHRC conducts oral interviews with individuals who are selected for their ability to provide first-hand observations on a variety of historical topics in Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. The OHRC is also home to legacy oral history interviews conducted prior to its establishment including many conducted by UNLV History Professor Ralph Roske and his students. This legacy interview transcript received minimal editing, such as the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader's understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. The interviewee/narrator was not involved in the editing process. UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke iv Abstract On March 18, 1978, Gigi Arino interviewed antique shop owner, Mary B. Cooke (born November 13th, 1936 in Watertown, Wisconsin) in her antique shop in Las Vegas, Nevada. During this interview Mary discusses previous jobs, personal family history, education, and the growth and development of the city. She also expresses her opinions on the topic of welfare, healthcare and the condition of the hospitals in Las Vegas. UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 1 My name is Gigi Arino and I will be interviewing Mrs. Mary Cooke, a twenty-year resident of the Las Vegas area, to fulfill the Nevada State history requirement. Mrs. Cooke and her husband operate an antiques shop off Nellis Boulevard. Mrs. Cooke this will be an informal interview and if at any time you feel uncomfortable with a question or would prefer to change your remark, please feel free to stop and we’ll try to correct it, okay? Okay. When did you first arrive in Las Vegas? I first moved here in January of 1957. Was there any particular reason you chose to make Las Vegas your home? My husband had a job out at the Nevada Test Site so we moved here. Oh. Have you ever lived in any other city or area in the state of Nevada? No. No? Ah, could you tell us a little bit about your ancestry? For instance, where did your ancestors come from and what part of the United States did they settle? My grandparents came from Germany and Scotland and my parents of course were born in the United States, they lived in Iowa and Wisconsin. And what professions were they involved in? Do you know? Or their reasons for coming to the United States? No special reason for coming to the United States. When I was a small child I know that my father owned bars. Oh, I see. And where were you originally from? I was born in Watertown, Wisconsin. And when? (Laughs) I hope that’s not too personal. (Laughs) UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 2 November 13th, 1936. Ah, what other parts of the United States have you lived in? I’ve lived in Kansas City, Missouri, Portland, Oregon, Phoenix, Arizona, Truckee, California. I lived in New Mexico, and most of the small towns in northern California, I mean, northern Arizona. And of all these states which state did you enjoy living in the most and why? Nevada. I enjoy living in Nevada because I like the heat, I like the climate. I don’t like the cold, I don’t like the snow and I think Nevada is an ideal place to live. Okay. What other jobs have you been involved in beside the antique business? Many years ago I worked out at the Nevada Test Site and I worked in the badge office where we made badges for all the employees that came in. You could not get in or out without a badge. Then later on I went to be the bookkeeper for the company I work for, and I worked for them approximately seven years. Okay. And could you tell us a little bit more about your job? What exactly took place and what does the site look like or how has it changed since then? Nevada Test Site when I first went to work there was quite small. It had dormitories there for men and women where you could stay if you needed to, you could live on base. It was similar to an Army base probably. It, they had quite a few tests which were very, very interesting. You could see ‘em set off the bombs. Mm-hm. I never did go out into the area where they set ‘em off of course, because it was more for military personnel. But we could see ‘em, we could feel ‘em, we dealt with people from all over the world that came there mostly through military. The Test Site has really changed now. It’s grown. UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 3 Before it was just an old, just a small place. Now they have swimming pools out there, they have bowling alleys, and it’s quite changed. How was the Test Site—Nellis Air Force Base was just recently set up, what was there before Nellis Air Force Base? Well, Nellis, I can remember Nellis being there for quite, ever since I’ve been here. I don’t know how big it was or anything about it. It, to us, Nellis was always kind of a taboo place. Oh. But I do know that there was a lot of Army and personnel out there. Before it was called McCarran it was an Army Depot wasn’t it? Ah, I’m not exactly sure. I’m not exactly sure either. I just never did pay much attention because it was quite a distance from where I lived. And you mentioned it being taboo. Could you explain this a little further? Oh, I don’t know, we had always been told that military personnel weren’t the type to be around. However, I have found out different. I found out that now, they are some of the greatest people. And what interested you in dealing with antiques? We, my husband was transferred, he works in construction, and he was transferred to Kansas City, Missouri. And there we started buying antiques and putting them away and so then finally the house got so full of antiques that I had to open up a store. Oh. Is your husband self-employed in the construction business or is he—? No. He worked for Del Webb Construction Company. And is he still working for construction? No. He’s ill. Ah, will he return to the construction business after he recovers? UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 4 Yes, yes. He will. Okay. So, after twenty years you’ve certainly watched this grow. Could you describe basically how this city has changed since you arrived in Las Vegas? Yes. When I first moved here Las Vegas was a very small town. It didn’t have any freeways. It had mostly desert all around it. There was very few houses. There was very few apartment houses. I know how difficult it was for us to find an apartment when we first came here. Yes. And it has grown tremendously since I’ve been here. And what have you noticed about the people that have moved here, how they’ve changed since you’ve first came? Well, the people have changed. The people that live here and have lived here have changed because most of the people that come here are transients. They’re here a little while and then they’re gone. So people don’t want to get involved with them because they know that they’re here today and gone tomorrow. I’ve noticed living here, I’m a newcomer also and I’ve noticed that Las Vegas is a very cold and hard city, and it’s hard to get to know people here. Because of being transient, they, the natives tend to be somewhat distant and it’s hard. It is hard. It is hard and I think that the people are that way. They’re cold because a lot of the people come here, they, they’re gamblers. They lose their money, then maybe they rob from you and things like that just to get more money to gamble with. And I think that’s why a good deal of our native people here are very leery of them. Yes. Las Vegas is certainly famous for the coming and going of stars and prominent people. Do you ever attend a nightclub act or shows and performances? UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 5 Yes. I have. I haven’t within the last couple of years but I have attended quite a few of them. What are some of them that you’ve seen? I’ve seen many, many of the movie stars, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Elizabeth Taylor, Eddy Fischer, Debbie Reynolds. I’ve seen a lot of the shows, like Hello Dolly, and quite a few of the Broadway shows. And what’s your opinion of ‘em? Do you feel that they give the public what the public wants? Or are they just another ploy to, for the hotels to make money from? No. I feel that any of the shows I’ve ever seen I have thoroughly enjoyed and anybody that I’ve ever talked to that saw ‘em said they thoroughly enjoyed them also. Okay. We certainly can’t leave out the gaming industry. Do you and your husband ever indulge in the gambling sport? Yes. We do. What game do you most enjoy and why? I play blackjack. I like it, ah, I guess because I win a lot on it. I’m also a slot gamer. I love to play the slot machines. And now that the new dollar slot machines come in, they just, I just can hardly stay away from them. I love to play ‘em. Have you had many successful winnings? Yes. I have. In the last two years, I have had quite a few successful winnings, most of them were on the dollar slot machines. I know my father, he tries to figure out systems, do you and your husband find yourself trying to figure out a way to beat the system? I have thought about it. But I know that the casinos, there is no way. I know that there is no way because the casinos aren’t built and can’t be built by somebody else’s system, only theirs. UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 6 What strikes you as most interesting in this city? For instance, the historical sites, or have you visited many museums and archives and things as far as— Well, to me, Las Vegas is, it’s an ideal town because it has everything here that you need. Everything here that you’d have to go miles and miles to see. You have the gambling, you have the movie stars. But yet, just a short distance away, you have the snow, you have the rivers and the lakes. Do you ski or swim or both? Do you have any particular sport? I swim and I don’t boat. I swim and I love to fish. You love to fish. Ah, what strikes you as the most significant physical attraction in this area? What do you mean by physical attraction? Buildings. I think that Las Vegas is a beautiful city. I think that there’d be a move and the casinos are gorgeous. I lived a short distance for two years from Reno and to me, it can’t in any way compare to Las Vegas. Yes. What is your opinion of the Strip? I think it’s beautiful. Really? I think that they have just beautiful, beautiful buildings. Someone once described to me that Las Vegas was the Walt Disneyland of, for the adults. How do you feel about this? I feel that that’s a very fair statement. It is. It’s where you can just go and kinda let your hair down. UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 7 Yes. If you don’t mind me asking, what religion are you (unintelligible)? I’m a Catholic. A Catholic. Okay. I talked to you before about this about the ERA amendments and I got your opinion was rather in the negative, I’d like to ask you again, why? Don’t you believe that—cause recently Nevada turned down ERA and they only need three more states to ratify the amendment before it’s adopted into the constitution. Could you give me your opinions on that? In my opinion the ERA could mean lots of different things. It, but I don’t want to be classified as a man. I don’t want to have to do a man’s job. I want to just be a woman and I feel, and I feel that other women should be the same way. I don’t like to see women out doing men’s job, doing construction work. Because they’re really not qualified and they’re really not physically able. Some women would contradict you because I know I’ve seen some women that are very much capable of construction work and wrestling sports but I agree too that, that some women just take the jobs to prove a point, and that bothers me. Yes. In my opinion that’s the same thing. I know that on my husband’s job many times he has had women sent out from the union to work and he knows that they can’t before so therefore he gives them easier jobs. But I don’t feel that’s right because the men are out and they’re working twice as hard as a woman can do but yet the women are making the same amount of money, and in my heart I really don’t feel that’s right. Some women though are now starting to support their families while the husband stays at home, how would this affect your opinion of the ERA? I don’t believe in it. I believe that it’s a man’s world. He should be out there doing the support and that the woman should be at home. UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 8 But some women aren’t happy at home and they would rather be out, fighting the world. Then a part-time might be fine, but as to make it a full time job to support a family, I don’t think any woman’s capable of doing that, mentally or physically. Okay, I’d like to get back on the topic of how the city has changed in the past twenty years and the people that you’ve noticed coming in now. Could you elaborate a little bit more on this for me please? Yes. When I first came here in 1957, the farthest point to the west, in Las Vegas was just about Elko and Decatur, beyond that was all desert. Now for miles and miles and miles, it’s nothing but houses and apartment houses. Where I live now is up against Sunrise Mountain. When I first came here that used to be like a dump area, and very, very few people came out. We drove out there because it was up high and you could see the city. It was a beautiful sight to see all the beautiful lights of all the casinos. However, now it’s much more beautiful because there are more casinos, more lights, and when I look through my living room window I can see the whole city in the evening. All the lights (unintelligible) I look at them and they really say come to town, come to town. (Laughs) (Laughs) And you just feel like you want to rush there (unintelligible)? I really do, I really do, because I like Las Vegas. I think that it’s a beautiful home. I think that there’s many, many beautiful things here. And I think that it has really progressed. What I don’t like about it now is the freeways. When I first came here there was no freeways and you could get clear across town in five minutes or less but now, for me to even get from my house to the Sahara Hotel takes me at least twenty-five minutes. UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 9 Yes. It’s because of the tourists and traffic, it really presents a problem with driving on the road and people come home and they’ve had a little too much to drink. I know even from driving to and from school, Las Vegas is a city where you have to be a careful driver to get from one place to another. It is. It, I know when you attended UNLV, when I first came here, UNLV was very, very small. There was only one or two buildings. I watched UNLV grow also. I watched them put in dorms and different buildings. To my amazement I never thought that it would ever get that large. Because I always considered Las Vegas a small town but to me now, it’s a metropolis but I still enjoy it. I enjoy the climate. I think that’s most of all what I like because I like the heat but I also like the beauty of it and being able to go anywhere at any time within a thirty, forty mile radius, you can do anything you want to do. Okay. And about the people, how have they changed since the last twenty years? The different types of people? Different nationalities? Have you noticed more coming in than before? Yes. I have, I’ve really noticed a lot of different nationalities coming in, when I first lived here in ’57, it seemed to be quite the normal American family that lived here, but now I see more and more Cubans coming in, more and more Oriental people. They, I think that they found a good place and that they like it. Most of them came from Florida. They always thought that was the ideal place to live but when I talked to these people now they tell me that they think Las Vegas is the ideal place to live. You have children, do you not? Yes. I do. I have five children. Did any of them attend schools in Las Vegas? UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 10 I have two of them that attend schools here. They both go to Ira J. Earl School. One is in the fourth grade and one is kindergarten. Okay. Then what is your opinion of the school system in Las Vegas? The educational system? In my opinion, from living in different states too, I think that they’re a little behind from different states. However, they try hard and they work with your children, if you have a child that needs speech therapy or anything like that, they go all the way out for ‘em. I don’t approve of bussing. I don’t approve of sending my children on the other side of town. I don’t approve of the Sixth Grade Center, and I don’t think that the colored people approve of it also. They like their children to go in their own area. But this is something that was voted in by I don’t know who but I think it’s wrong. Then I know that when the economy is at a stable place then the education seems to go downward and become less important and I’d like you to elaborate on that. That’s what I, I have seen that too, also, here, more than in any other state that I’ve ever lived in. But it also, it has its ups and downs, just like anything else, but then it also all of a sudden goes, jumps back up again. Yes. Okay. I’d like to ask you now a little bit about how the prices have changed since you’ve first lived here, on items such as clothing, housing costs, etcetera? Housing costs have gone up a lot but after living in other towns and visiting other towns, I don’t think that it’s any higher, there, it’s not a higher cost of living here than anywhere else. As a matter of fact, I think groceries are cheaper than in California. I’ve been down there many times to visit my mother and I’m appalled at how much their groceries are. I feel lucky. Clothes—you can get your clothes here, I think that they’re a little bit cheaper than they are in different states. I UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 11 have bought here and I have bought when we’ve been in different towns and to me they seemed—they haven’t fluctuated that much really. They might seem a bit higher but we must remember that the wages have all gone up, too, in the last few years. Okay. Las Vegas is a city for tourists and many of our popular people live there, do you feel that the tourist industry is what makes the prices cheaper? Well, the tourists industry, no, it doesn’t really make the prices cheaper. I think the prices in groceries and clothing and things like that are all for the hometown people, if you know where to shop, there are shops like out on the Strip and everything, in those places like that, your gift shops, your souvenir shops, where I think that they really take the tourists. Because if you go to a normal shop you can buy the same name brand for a lot cheaper than you can (unintelligible) places or the souvenir places. I know for a fact because I’ve checked them all out. I really think that they rip off the tourists. But the tourists want to be ripped off, evidently, or they would shop around a little bit. Okay. Before you mentioned that you were in the antique business, what kind of antiques do you deal in, mainly? My specialty is really glassware, I have quite a bit of glassware. I thoroughly enjoy the glassware. My husband had bought quite a bit of antique furniture and so we have that also; however, the glass is our biggest seller. And what is your oldest item that you would have for sale? I have a very old desk that was made in about 1870. It’s called a partners desk. It’s a desk that has drawers on each sides and it’s a beautiful piece and I think that is about the oldest piece I have now. UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 12 Okay. I’d like to get into a little bit more about your family history again, and you said you were from Wisconsin. I was born in Wisconsin. And that your father owned bars for a while and before he owned bars he wasn’t employed anywhere else or after the bars. When I was very young I know that my father owned bars and taverns and then they sold ‘em and then shortly after they sold there was quite a recession and my father had to go back to manual labor. And then he went from Wisconsin to Northern Arizona where he went to work for the railroad. We felt quite fortunate that he could get a job right away doing that and for twenty-five years he worked for the railroad. He was a paint foreman for them and he went from town to town painting big hotels. I believe they painted the Harley house. But they hardly have any more of those left anymore. They’ve all been torn down. Ah, that’s another thing, I’d like to ask you about the buildings that are in Las Vegas, when you first moved here, have any of them been torn down to be replaced by more modern buildings? Yes, a lot of them have been torn down. What I remember first coming here, the Strip wasn’t all that large, it was small, you could get around it in no time. Now one replaced the other, for instance, in the middle sixties they built a big casino across the street from the biggest hotel. It was there across the two years and then formed there in the next where the MGM Grand is built now. My husband worked for Del Webb Construction. He helped build part of the, he helped build the Mint, he helped build additions on to the Sahara. He built a lot of the schools here in town but mainly the Strip has really, really grown a lot. From a small hotel to having wings UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 13 added on it every which way, they have high rises here and high rises there, and it has really, really changed since I’ve lived here. Okay. Do you feel that Las Vegas will keep on changing and keep on growing? Or do you feel that we’ve come to just as big as we’re gonna get? No. I don’t think it’ll ever stop growing. It’s grown tremendously and I don’t think it could ever stop. It’s, because you got your tourists here, the only thing that might (unintelligible) would be because Atlanta has the gambling but I still think that your people are coming here and when they come here and they spend money here, that makes, you have to have additions to hire people, to have the rooms and things like that. Just like this weekend I tried to make reservations for some friends that were coming in from out of town and I called every hotel in town, they were all booked solid for this Easter weekend. So you know that we’ve got the tourists and when they’re booked solid like this then they’re gonna look forward to building more because they will accommodate more people. So I don’t think it’s gonna stop growing. Florida is trying to get gambling legalized in their state and that’s gonna take a lot of the tourists from Nevada, I think because the mafia will move in, in Florida, and dominate that industry there. How do you feel about this? Well, really gambling is everywhere. Legalized gambling is in different states but gambling is everywhere and it still hasn’t stopped any of the people from coming here. Because it’s just a tourists attraction. It’s something that everyone wants to see one time or another, it’s like Disneyland. Mm-hm. Everybody wants to come to Las Vegas one time or another. UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 14 Okay. You mentioned that you lived off Sunrise Mountain, ah, could you tell us a little bit about your house and the history of your house? (Unintelligible) bought our house five years ago up on Sunrise Mountain, it was a custom built home, and there was no houses around us when we set out in the middle of the desert so much that I could see the whole city through my living room window. And now, right in front of me, there’s two story houses going up. My house is right across the street from RJ Reynolds who owns the Review Newspaper. He has I think a hundred and sixty acres and he has a beautiful castle built there. I look out there and it, up above him are all sorts of new houses that have gone in, stacks of customs built houses. For a while I thought I was kind of in seclusion and enjoyed it but I still enjoy where I live. I want Las Vegas to grow. I want to see shopping centers out my way, things like that. I have a large house, two hundred square foot, and I enjoy it. Okay. Fremont Street is prominent for industry, how have you noticed Fremont Street has changed in the past twenty years? Well, when I came here Fremont Street has two places, about two blocks of casinos and then you went down about six blocks to where the El Cortez is, which has been here since I can remember. Oh, on farther was a couple used car lots but most of them, people who lost money and sold their cars. But there wasn’t as many as there is now. Of course, hundreds and hundreds of them around, hey, well, even look, I even have one across the street now. I guess the car industry has a good thing here and the salesmen have a good thing going, seem to be so, and (unintelligible) here but I guess like I said, you usually do good deal here. Okay. Another thing that’s kind of important in Las Vegas is that prostitution is legal in one of the counties. I think it’s, I believe it’s Nye County. UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 15 I believe it’s Nye County. I know that it is not Lincoln Clark County. Sometimes, maybe it should be made legalized. The people are gonna do it anyhow. More times they do it whether it’s (unintelligible) but if it wasn’t, but it’s bound to be, because you have too many tourists. You have single men coming from out of town and they just need these women. When I worked out at the test site on above going towards Reno, at the Test Site, are a couple of places, Tonopah, and different places like that, they have the legal prostitutes up there. What I (unintelligible) about it was back into ’57 you would reckon there was like a normal house there, it just look like an old country (unintelligible) on the porch and those two big red lanterns I know this sounds like it’s something you read out of a story but it (unintelligible) and I couldn’t believe that they advertised quite like that, just exactly what they are. (Laughs) Then I made a trip from here to Reno, on the road, it was dark but there was no traffic, that’s what you could see at a great distance. Two red lanterns on several houses, I questioned what they were. They, I know that a lot of the people from the Test Site used to go up there and they would mention it. I guess if that’s what they want, that’s it. But I think it probably should be legalized here because the women are gonna do it. They’ve always done it, that’s their life, that’s their living and I guess we shouldn’t (unintelligible) their way of living. Yes. I think it’s probably safer if it’s linked and they’re taken care of by the state. Right. I think— You know. I think it would be that way and they would be taken care of by the state and this was— Health—health reasons would be a— That’s true. UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 16 Another factor. This way, so many of ‘em do it, on the sly, they get hung up with the wrong person, maybe they get murdered because of it or something like that, but I think if it was legalized like anything else, I think it would be better for the city. Okay. Okay, I’d like to bring up the issue of the ERA since it’s very prominent in this state right now and they’re having many discussions and arguments about it and I think we have a lot more to discuss on it, on this topic. Could you again tell us why you don’t believe in ERA and what reasons prompted you to feel so negatively towards it? I guess it’s the way that I was raised. I—when I was a small child I came home from school every day and my mother was at home. It was just like a normal home. She was at home cooking her dinner or baking or something like that and that’s taking care of her children and that’s how I feel a home should be. I don’t like to see a woman out working. More than anything I don’t like to see a woman trying to do something that is really a man’s job. But most important what I really feel about it is, there are many, many men that go out and they work and they work hard, then there’s a woman brought in, a younger woman. Most employees lean a little bit towards a woman, they don’t give ‘em such hard work but they’re taking this job away from a man that needs to support a family, and I feel that if they don’t need—if they really don’t need to support their family, they have no business out in the world. There are many women that have, all they, all their, all the income they have is from what they get but there are many women jobs that they should, I think they should be on, and not trying to take a job from a man who has to support a family. What would, what do you feel about women politicians and their—the election? Would you ever vote for a woman president? UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 17 In my heart, I really don’t think I would. Because I think that a president needs to know more about what’s going on in this country, I think that they need to be the type of person, for instance, President Kennedy, I thought a great deal of. I still think a great deal of him no matter what. But he was in the service. He went over there and fought. He knew what was going on. While a woman isn’t over there fighting. A woman doesn’t know what’s going on. She don’t know about all the bombings. Maybe something that she’s read but you have to experience something to know it. That’s why I knew Kennedy would try to keep us out of war because he had been in it, and he wouldn’t want his children in it. And I think that a president needs to experience it and I don’t think that any woman can. Okay. Mrs. Cooke, what do you feel a woman that has say a certain number of children and after her children have grown up and gone and the woman stays at home and she has no job experience and it would be very hard for her to get a job, what do you feel she should do with her spare time? A lot of them take to drinking then and other emotional disorders. That’s true. I know a lot of women, myself, like I really know ‘em, and I know that they have started drinking and that’s it, because their family has grown and left. They’ve grown and they’ve left home and they feel empty. But I think too, in my opinion that this is just an excuse women are using. I think that maybe if they went out and tried to help people, really help them from the heart, not spend money, but time. Many, many, hospitals need help, they need the—there is so many people in these hospitals, just even tourists or people there that need a, somebody to console them. They’re all alone, maybe their husband or one of their children is in the hospital and they’re all alone here. I have this great experience, just a week ago, talking to speaking that was from out of state. Their husbands were in the hospital, they didn’t have the UNLV University Libraries Mary Cooke 18 money for a room, they had just, were here on a two day vacation and on their way home he had a heart attack and that, he was put in the hospital here. She didn’t have the funds left. They had used their vacation money, she didn’t have the funds left to get a room. She sat in the hospital for two or three days. She didn’t eat anything. But I— (Tape ends) This woman, she didn’t ask anything of anybody. She didn’t ask for money but, she didn’t ask anything, but I think that these women that have time on their hands and nothing to do instead of drinking and running around, that maybe they could go down there and comfort people like that. It would be a great help to ‘em, just give ‘em encouragement and let ‘em know that you care. That’s all people want to know, sometimes, is that you care. Yes. And too many people these days are too self-centered and they only care about their own interests and as with being young and not really involved I can see a lot of this happening and it hurts, too. It really does, it does hurt, because right, I experienced with several people down there at the hospital when my husband was in there.