Transcript of interview with Pamela Hicks by Elaine Broniecki, February 16, 1979

UNLV University Libraries Pamela Carlos Hicks i An Interview with Pamela Carlos Hicks An Oral History Conducted by Elaine Broniecki 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 Pamela Carlos Hicks ii © Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2019 UNLV University Libraries Pamela Carlos Hicks 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 Pamela Carlos Hicks iv Abstract On February 16, 1979, collector Elaine Broniecki, interviewed local Clark County School District teacher, Pamela Carlos Hicks, (born in Dayton, Ohio, on November 23rd, 1946) in her home in Las Vegas, Nevada. This interview covers Hicks’ recollections of Las Vegas from 1955 to 1979. Hicks’ also lists the addresses of where she has lived within Las Vegas.UNLV University Libraries Pamela Carlos Hicks 1 Informant: Pamela Carlos Hicks. Date: February 16th, 1979. Time: 8 P.M. Place: 212 Moller Circle, Las Vegas, Nevada. The collector is Elaine Broniecki, 2350 Lincoln Road, Las Vegas, Nevada. Oral Interview Project for Nevada History, instructor Dr. Roske. Misses Hicks has lived in Las Vegas since early infancy and will give us her recollections of growth in Las Vegas, from about 1955 to the present day. Misses Hicks, were you born in Las Vegas? No. I was born in Dayton, Ohio, on November 23rd, 1946. And in what year did your family move to Las Vegas? We moved to Southern Nevada in the spring of 1947, when I was approximately three or four months old. What was the reason for your family’s immigration to this part of the country? My mother was suffering from acute asthma. The climate in Ohio was very bad for her and the family doctor suggested that she move to a drier climate out west. Thank you. Obviously, you’ve attended school here in Las Vegas. Would you like to name the schools that you’ve attended? I began my education at Hellen Day Stewart Elementary School, I attended North Ninth Street School, I attended the old Fifth Street School, which is on Las Vegas Boulevard North now. I attended three junior high schools: J. D. Smith, Roy Martin, and John C. Fremont. I graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1964, and I was the fiftieth graduating class of this school. And I received my master’s degree and my bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Thank you. And what are some of the different jobs that you’ve held throughout high school and after college? UNLV University Libraries Pamela Carlos Hicks 2 My first job was when I was a senior in high school. I was a shampoo girl at a small beauty shop, right across the street from Phong’s Garden. The beauty shop is no longer there at this time. I was a clerk at Scag’s Drug Center on East Charleston, and I worked for First National Bank at their branch on Tonopah Highway and Twenty-Fifth Street. I had several work study jobs at the UNLV. I was a graduate assistant at UNLV and I’m now a teacher in the Clark County School District. Thank you. And would you please tell us what different addresses did you live in Las Vegas? Our first address in early 1947 was the old Chevron Motel, on Fifth Street, which is now Las Vegas Boulevard South. We moved to 112 McWilliams, which is on the west side of town. We lived briefly on Biltmore Drive and we lived at 1237 Easter Avenue and my father still lives there today. And I lived there until I was married. After my marriage, we lived on Cassata Way, Bartlet Avenue, Vegas Drive, Harmony Avenue, and currently Moller Circle. Thank you. Why did you move so much? Well, with my family, as my parents’ income grew and they were able to afford bigger and better homes, we moved for that particular reason. My parents bought their first home in 1960, and that’s the 1237 Eastern Avenue address. When I married, my husband and I moved from rented apartment to rented house and we bought our first home, which was a condominium in 1972. Thank you. Did you get married here in Las Vegas? Yes. January 27th, 1968, at Saint Francis De Sales Church, which is located at Washington Avenue and Michael Way. Thank you. Was church activity ever an important part of your life? UNLV University Libraries Pamela Carlos Hicks 3 Yes. When I was in junior high school, I attended the Mormon Church with my friends. I was not a Mormon. However, most of my friends were. And I was always invited to accompany them to the many youth activities that they had. When I was twelve or thirteen, I was asked to join the church and I wanted to, however my parents felt that, that was not a decision that a twelve year old needed to make and so they did not let me join. And they felt it was just my association with my friends at this point that—and it was true, that made me active in this particular church. I did not become a Mormon later on in my life. Okay. Thank you. Do you remember the visits of any of the presidents or other important people to the Las Vegas area? I distinctly remember John F. Kennedy’s visit in 1962. He came to speak at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and our high school band from Las Vegas High School was asked to play for him. He—as he left the arena, he walked through the band area and he stopped and shook my hand, along with several other band members. And it was always a—a fond memory for me, and it was a grave shock the following year that—when he was killed because he was the first president that I really remember, or have any memories about. I remember when the Beatles came to town, this was quite an event, and my mother, had tickets for myself and my brothers and sister. I scalped my tickets because I found someone that wanted the tickets more than—than I did. And I did not go to the concert but I remember that they caused quite a sensation. I remember Howard Hughes, of course. I remember the burning of the El Rancho Hotel. And I remember when they destroyed the Union Pacific Depot because that was always a spot that we liked to visit during high school and hang around. Okay. Were you ever active in politics? UNLV University Libraries Pamela Carlos Hicks 4 Yes. I was a “Sawyerette” during Grant Sawyer’s 1966 campaign. I was injured in a car accident and wasn’t able to complete my duties in working for his campaign. The car accident was at an annual event that is no longer held, and this was called the rebel roast. This was a—picnic, barbeque, swimming party at Las Vegas Wash and my boyfriend and I were run over by a car at this function and they haven’t held it since. But this was what prevented me from working with Governor Sawyer and he did stop by on his way to a political rally at—in Sunset Park while I was in the hospital, to wish me well, and I was always—I always felt bad that I was never able to complete my activities with him. I was a Bible Girl for Senator Bible during his ’68 campaign. And we handed out materials and campaign buttons at his political rallies in Southern Nevada. Thank you. Were or are you a member of a social group or any other special interest group? Yes. During college I was a member of New Sigma Upsilon Sorority. And New Sigma Upsilon is the—are the Greek letters for NSU and this was a local sorority at the time, in the early sixties. It had quite a few members and we had no national sororities on campus at this particular time, during the late sixties and early seventies many of the local groups on campus went national and New Sigma Upsilon became (unintelligible) national sorority. I worked with the (unintelligible) group for a short period of time and I was in—have been involved in the alumni functions at UNLV. Thank you. Is or was gambling an important recreational activity for you or for your family? Yes. It’s an ironic question, when you say recreational activity, my father is—and has been, since we’ve moved to Nevada—a compulsive gambler. And our lives have been drastically affected by it. When my mother and father were told to move to the west for my mother’s health, UNLV University Libraries Pamela Carlos Hicks 5 my father sold all of his businesses in Ohio and came to Las Vegas with a large sum of money to invest again and buy new businesses. Because he had heard that this was a rapidly expanding area and decided that this would be the place for him. Well, my father lost all of his capital in the time period of a week. And we were—found ourselves without money and with no jobs and here in Las Vegas. And this was the start of my father’s compulsive gambling. And it’s a situation that probably was caused by this particular—particular area. Okay. And did you share in any recreational activity with your family or with your friends? Well, my parent’s work kept us from doing many things together as a family. They both worked in the hotel business. My mother and father started at the White Spot, which was an old café downtown and my mother worked at the Melody Lane, which was a restaurant in that same area on Fremont Street and their days off were during the week and not on Saturdays and Sundays when we were home, and consequently we did not have a great deal of time together to do the things that most families do. Hotel people were not off on holidays and that was their busiest season. And we were not—we did not do a great many things. I do remember going to Twin Lakes, which is now Lorenzi Park. And this particular area—the pool was surrounded by grass and lots of trees and it was a very nice place to go swimming. The pond right next to Twin Lakes pool, one could fish for their Goldfish or take paddleboat rides or they had little rowboats that you could rent and there was an island out in the middle that kids used to play on, and it was quite an adventure to go out there. We also would go swimming at Vegas Wash every once in a while and we always looked forward to the annual Helldorado Parades. I remember those quite vividly because they were—so beautiful and we had such a good time. There were three parades. There was an old-timers parade on Friday and Saturday, a little kiddie’s parade and Sunday the UNLV University Libraries Pamela Carlos Hicks 6 beautiful, beauty parade. And the beauty parade had all the floats from all the different hotels and were definitely on a par with the Pasadena Rose Parade. But the Helldorado days are no longer—no longer have these large floats and all the traditions that were with them. When I was in high school, in the band, we performed, or marched during the parades—and this was always a—a great experience to have. I don’t remember, I know that I did not go to many other recreational areas. I did not see Red Rock Canyon till I was twenty-one years old. But again, this was basically because my family’s interests or you know, their jobs were demanding, and they didn’t have a lot of time to spend—or days to spend, going out and visiting. Thank you. Do you remember anything about the early above ground atomic tests? Yes. At Hellen J. Stewart, we would always go out in the black top with our teacher, and watch the mushroom cloud form after the detonation of the bomb. It was always a fun time for the kids. I remember looking forward to the days when we’d get out of school and get to watch the bomb. Of course, not realizing its—potential dangers that they would have. We also had bomb drills or atomic drills, where—unlike a fire drill, we had to push the desks against the wall, climb or crouch underneath them and put our chins to our chest and our arms around our knees and this as I look back, of course, was to prepare us for any sort of atomic attack. And we had these quite frequently all during the time that the bomb was being tested. Another interesting fact—when my sister—my sister was born during this particular period of time and she was born with a large mushroom shaped birthmark on her right hip. And everyone always thought this was a very strange happening for this particular period of time. Thank you. Can you remember any economic changes in Las Vegas? The most obvious economic change, of course, is the growth of the town. The people. The number of people. The cars. The fact that there seems to be in this town now, so much money UNLV University Libraries Pamela Carlos Hicks 7 and so many people with a great deal of money. When we lived on the McWilliams—on McWilliams Avenue, this area at the time, we lived there in the late forties—was a low, middle income area, very well kept. Very nice homes and—and now this particular area’s considered the slum area of town. It’s dilapidated, run down and this particular area has become a very low socio-economic area at this particular point. My mother tells a story that in the late forties, they had an opportunity to homestead some land, which, on, in an area which is now Paradise Valley Road. But my father said that this—he felt that this town wasn’t going anywhere and it was just a place with a lot of dirt and rocks. And he did not want to invest the ten dollars that was required in the small monthly payment to homestead this land. To this day, we still talk about the opportunities of buying land never taking advantage of them and of course many people did are reaping the benefits today because of it. I remember when Maryland Parkway was a dirt road, when I was in high school. And when I started attending UNLV there was only two buildings out there at the time. And the dirt posed a great problem on windy days and it was a very difficult area to be in, when we had our high winds in the spring time. There seems to be in Las Vegas now the super-rich and the super-poor. And there never seemed to be this distinction. It—there, we seemed to have to rich and we seemed to have to average. And we seemed to have a little, a few poor people. And now it just seems like that there are a great number of people that have a great deal of money and a great number of people that have a—that do not have much money. And very few people in the middle. I can remember that the classy addresses, when I was going to high school was at South Six, South Seven, South Eighth Street area. And now this area is upper middle class. However, this is not where the money people, so to speak, live. And it’s strange to see an area that you used to think that maybe someday I will be living there, is not the area that you would want to be living in today. Because it’s—there are many more attractive UNLV University Libraries Pamela Carlos Hicks 8 areas, other than this particular spot in town and it’s definitely not one of the more attractive addresses. Thank you. What about the environmental changes? It seems like the smog today is definitely posing a problem. I don’t suppose back in the early sixties you had much of that? I don’t recall any complaints about smog, in the late fifties, early sixties. Maybe the problem was there but people were not environmentally conscious at that particular period of time. And we don’t—I don’t recall anything about smog, during those years. I do remember being able to look out on the Valley and not see any haze or any cloud, and—like there is now. But I don’t—I don’t recall any great smog problem. Probably the biggest environmental impact, of course, is the number of people and the number of cars they drive. You used to be able to get in your car and drive all day and not get into a traffic jam and now you can go a very short distance before you run into this particular type of problem. The car also—you know, and the number of people adds to the littering and the bad roads and all the problems that you see as far as the environment is concerned. Okay. What about the social changes that have taken place? And tell the cute little story about one time when your mother was able to go down and see the governor. I somehow can’t imagine doing that in this day and age. Well, when Las Vegas was small, the governors, the mayors, the sheriff, these people were very easily accessible and one time my mom was having a particular problem and was able to go to the governor and go into his office and talk to him and just by calling up and making an appointment to see him and getting her problems solved. And nowadays these people are inaccessible. After mountains of correspondence and lots of phone calls, you still may not have your problem answered and Las Vegas, in the late fifties, early sixties was a place that you could UNLV University Libraries Pamela Carlos Hicks 9 run into these important people—politicians and—in Bob Baskins restaurant Downtown at the Melody Lane and people could talk and ask their questions and get their problems solved in a very short period of time. And that’s because everybody knew everybody. Everybody was aware of what was going on and you’ll no longer find that. I think the newspaper is something that—is something that I notice has changed a great deal. I could look in a newspaper up to ten years ago and know the family or know someone who was in the obituary or the society columns or in the wedding announcements and if you did not know the person personally, you knew about them or someone in their family. And now you can read the paper for months and not see anybody that you have heard of or known. Now this is sort of a very sad aspect of life because you—it’s no longer the small place that it used to be. Okay. Thank you very much for your time and also thank you for sharing a part of your past with me.