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Transcript of interview with Irving Kirshbaum by Cheryl Rogers, February 23, 1979

Date

1979-02-23

Description

Interview with Irving Kirshbaum by Cheryl Rogers on February 23, 1979. In this interview, Kirshbaum discusses the Riviera Hotel where he began working in 1955. He also talks about the landscape of the Las Vegas Strip in the 1950s, and the state of gambling, comps, customer service, and dealer training. The interviewer asks about the treatment of minorities at the Riviera, and in Las Vegas generally, and the effect of corporate ownership on casinos.

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Transcript of interview with Glenn Tredwell by Barbara Tabach, March 4, 2016 and April 14, 2016

Date

2016-03-04
2016-04-14

Description

In this interview Glenn Tredwell talks about his business ventures since moving to Las Vegas in 1976. He is able to address the many nuances of technology on the global gaming industry.

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Transcript of interview with Arthur "Art" Lurie by Cheryle Bacot, April 25, 1986

Date

1986-04-25

Description

Interview with Arthur "Art" Lurie by Cheryle Bacot on April 25, 1986. Lurie talks about his family and upbringing with Kenny Washington, who was the first African American to sign with the National Football League. Lurie discusses knowing everybody in Las Vegas in the 1950s, being in the service/retail sector and watching the city grow. He operated several businesses including grocery stores and the liquor department at Wonder World. He talks about his love of boxing, serving on the boxing commission, and advantages of living in southern Nevada.

Arthur C. Lurie lived in Las Vegas for 33 years at the time of this 1986 oral history. He and his wife Eleanor had relocated from Los Angeles area to help run his brother-in-law's food market. Over the years his career would include the grocery, bar (Art's Place) and restaurant businesses; including being co-owner of the liquor store at Wonder World. He shares memories of adjusting to the more laid back culture of small town Las Vegas and how he feels like a native after watching the city grow over the past decades. Art was a founding member of Temple Beth Sholom, where he served as an early vice-president. Being in the non-gaming sector provided gave him the opportunity to work with youth programs and he started the Golden Gloves gym in Las Vegas. He judged over 40 title fights and had a long career on the Nevada Boxing Commission. Arthur Lurie past away in 2014 at the age of 96.

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Audio clip from interview with Justice Michael Cherry, September 19, 2014

Date

2014-09-19

Description

Part of an interview with Justice Michael Cherry on September 19, 2014. In this interview, Justice Cherry discusses connections with Jewish casino operators. He also talks about losing to, then representing, unions in court proceedings. He was later endorsed by the unions when he ran for office.

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Transcript of interview with Susan Molasky by Barbara Tabach, March 11, 2014

Date

2014-03-11

Description

In this interview, Susan Molasky discusses her childhood and teenaged years growing up in London, where she worked with in a fabric store. Molasky shares photos and momentos with the interviewer, and talks about originally coming to Las Vegas with her first husband, Leo Frey, in the late 1950s. She discusses raising her children in Las Vegas, and her bout with ovarian cancer, which prompted her involvement in Nathan Adelson Hospice. She continues to discuss her life with second husband, Irwin Molasky, and the causes they are involved in.

Susan Molasky was born in Israel (what was then-Palestine) in mid-1930s, the daughter of Bukharian Jewish immigrants. With the end of World War II, at the age of nine Susan, her sister and mother were able to get visas to live with her father in London. It was in England where Susan learned English and began working, at a fabric shop on Regent Street. In 1957, Susan married her first husband, and the couple moved to Las Vegas on January 1, 1958. She knew immediately that the city would be her home. Susan and her husband moved to Las Vegas to help her brother-in-law, Leo Frey, renovate and manage the Moulin Rouge; their primary business was long-term room rentals to casino employees, occasionally renting to tourists when the casino hotels were full. After two years, her husband changed careers paths and the couple moved to Europe. They had three sons before returning to Las Vegas in 1964. In 1973, Susan married Irwin Molasky, whom she had met through her work with the Sisterhood at Temple Beth Sholom; both sat on the temple's board. Susan enjoyed the excitement and glamour that defined Las Vegas during the 1970s, attending show openings, visiting movie sets, and socializing with stars. But more than this, Susan devoted herself to helping others, most notably through the opening of Nathan Adelson Hospice. Her own battle with cancer, as well as serving as a caretaker for others, ignited her commitment to establish quality hospice care in her beloved city, and she has continuously led the organization's fundraising efforts. There are now two Nathan Adelson Hospice facilities serving the greater Las Vegas area.

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Transcript of interview with Dayvid Figler by Barbara Tabach, June 22, 2016

Date

2016-06-22

Description

Dayvid Figler (1967 - ) is the quiet boy who became an insightful and creative contributor to the local culture of Las Vegas. The oldest of Barbara and Meyer Figler?s three children, he was four years old when the family station wagon reached Las Vegas in 1971. They moved in with Uncle Izzy (aka Big Irish) Figler for a few months. Having the ?juice,? Dayvid?s father soon became a Pan dealer on the Strip. As the family grew, Barbara eventually immersed her energies in her children?s activities, Hadassah and Temple Beth Sholom. In this oral history, Dayvid also recalls his awkward, but incredibly interesting youth, his bar mitzvah at Temple Beth Sholom, and path to a successful career as a criminal defense attorney. He also talks about embracing Las Vegas as his home, owning a home in John S. Park neighborhood and mentions a number of literary depictions of Las Vegas that he admires. Dayvid describes growing up a ?casino kid? who lived in an apartment near the Riviera Hotel. This, in addition to his slight stature and academic brilliance, may have set him apart from many of his childhood peers. He graduated from Valley High School at the age of 16 and by the age of 23 he was a rising star in the legal world. He looks back with appreciation to his list of mentors who encouraged him along the way. Dayvid is also a local favorite as an essayist and poet. For a number of years he could be heard on KNPR/NPR. He has been a performer in hundreds of productions that featured his comic wit and writings, from Lollapalooza to Tom and Jerry?s on Maryland Parkway.

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Transcript of interview with David Dahan by Barbara Tabach, May 26, 2016

Date

2016-05-26

Description

The fascinating life of David Dahan began in Casablanca, Morocco where he was born to Mathilde and Isaac Dahan in 1957. After a hasty departure in 1970 the family came to America and to Las Vegas. Isaac became an administrator for Yellow Cab and Mathilde was a server at the Stardust Hotel/Casino. David evokes a tale of growing up a teenager in a strange culture and then heading out on a solo adventure to learn about the world. By 1977, he fell in love and married an engaging Israeli nurse named Yaffa (1954-2007). Her legacy is the Yaffa Dahan Nursing Education Fund established to assist outstanding PhD nursing students in their dissertation research. Leadership and the energy to always say yes are among David?s many characteristics. He has served on numerous local boards, such as: Nevada Restaurant Association, North Vista Hospital, Touro University, Las Ventanas, Henderson Chamber of Commerce, and the Nevada Law Foundation. He has been the recipient of many awards and acknowledgments for his tireless efforts throughout Las Vegas. Among those is being named the 2005 Person of Influence by In Business Las Vegas. From 1997 ? 1999, he served as President of the Jewish Federation during which time he led a trip to Russia. He is past chair of AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs) Committee. In 2007, David was honored as Mensch of the Year at Congregation Ner Tamid. In this interview he recalls his family?s escape from Morocco, learning to adjust to life in Las Vegas and his early jobs in the restaurant business. With his roots firmly planted in Las Vegas, David has built strong relationships within the Jewish and general Las Vegas communities. David is the Chief Executive Officer of Orgill/Singer Insurance. His life experiences have fueled passions for his faith, cooking, photography, poetry and his daughters, Shana and Michelle.

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Transcript of interview with Mike and Susan Baller by Barbara Tabach, March 16, 2016

Date

2016-03-16

Description

In this interview, Mike and Susan Baller reflect upon their lives in Las Vegas, from growing up as teenagers amongst the tight-knit Jewish community, to mob influence on the city, and the impact of the city's growth. Mike shares stories about first arriving in Las Vegas to live, being a teenaged busboy at Binions Horseshoe to being related to Moe Dalitz -- in Michigan Mike drove a truck for the Dalitz dry cleaning business.

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Transcript of interview with Suzie Chenin by Barbara Tabach, September 29, 2015

Date

2015-09-25

Description

In this interview, Suzie discusses growing up in Las Vegas, with a strong community of friends, particularly within Temple Beth Sholom. She also talks about her real estate career, both in residential and commercial properties, highlighting some of the successes and challenges. She describes her working relationship with Milton Schwartz, as well her time working with the Greenspuns while selling advertising at the Las Vegas Sun.

Suzie Chenin was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in August of 1949. The next year, her parents, Joseph and Irene Chenin, moved the family to Las Vegas. Her father, a dentist, was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, becoming the first Jewish dentist in the state ? and only the thirtieth overall. After graduating from Las Vegas High School, Suzie attended Arizona State University. However, she quit school and moved to Los Angeles where she got a job with a large real estate developer. This was her first foray into the industry. A few years later, back in Las Vegas, Suzie got her real estate license, eventually starting her own brokerage firm, Chenin and Associates.

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Transcript of interviews with Edythe Katz-Yarchever by Claytee White, 2000-2005

Date

2000-12-09
2003-02-11
2003-03-11
2005-12-06

Description

Transcript of interviews with Edythe Katz-Yarchever by Claytee White over the course of several sessions in 2000, 2003 and 2005. In the interviews, Katz-Yarchever discusses her life in Las Vegas, owning theaters with her husband, Lloyd Katz, and the strides they made in civil rights. She talks about her service in Civil Defense and the National Guard, and moving to various places, then working in California and meeting her husband, Lloyd. The Katzes became involved in the community in various ways with Operation Independence and Holocaust education. About a decade after Lloyd's death, Edythe married Judge Gilbert Yarchever.

Edythe Katz-Yarvhever was born in Boston, a second generation American whose grandparents left Russia the century before. Edythe completed finishing school at the start of World War II and worked various jobs at home before joining the Civil Defense, and later, the National Guard. She moved to Maryland and got a job as a secretary at Edgewood Arsenal, then transferred to Cushing General Hospital to assist a Marine Corps neurologist, who was also a Jewish refugee. Towards the end of the war, she is transferred to an Army hospital in Hawaii, and thus began the rest of her life on the West Coast. When the war ended, Edythe sailed to California and worked various jobs in Los Angeles: in the secretarial pool at MGM Studios, for a casting agency and for a hotel magazine. Edythe met Lloyd Katz in San Francisco, and the two were married after a short courtship. The couple lived in San Francisco before moving to Las Vegas in 1951, where they took over the management of the Huntridge, Palace and Fremont theaters, then leased by Edythe's parents. The Katzes took a stand to desegregate their theaters, allowing black customers to sit with white patrons. Edythe and Lloyd became active in the city's Civil Rights Movement, including work with Operation Independence and the NAACP. Edythe started organizations like Volunteers for Education and Junior Art League, and directed an interfaith, interracial preschool. Lloyd would frequently open up their theaters to organizations to hold fundraisers, free-of-charge. Edythe was extremely active in the local Jewish community, including opening the city's first Jewish gift shop, serving as sisterhood president at her synagogue and starting the Jewish Reporter. She later founded a library for Holocaust education as well as assisted the school district's development of curriculum and teacher training relating to the Holocaust. Lloyd Katz passed away in 1986, and in 1995, Edythe married Gilbert Yarchever. Edythe and Lloyd's community service work was honored with the naming of their school, the Edythe and Lloyd Katz Elementary School, where Edythe still remains active.

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