Oral history interview with Geri Tomich conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Jerwin Tiu, and Stefani Evans on May 15, 2023 for the Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Born and raised in the Philippines, Geraldine "Geri" Tomich recalls life in the city of Manila, where her father worked as an engineer and her mother as a stay-at-home mother. Tomich attended an American school, where she learned how to speak English from a young age, and her extracurricular activities included speedreading and writing letters to her friends. After her parents divorce, her mother took Tomich and her three siblings to the United States to live with their aunt. After a brief period in California, Tomich resumed her college career in a community college in Southern Nevada, getting an associate's degree in paralegal studies before transferring to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to earn her bachelor's degree in business management. During this time, Tomich recalls working her way up in a law firm, starting as a receptionist before moving up to a secretary and then later a paralegal. For law school, Tomich moved to Spokane, Washington, to attend Gonzaga University. Citing her family, she moved back to Las Vegas to practice law, first returning to the law firm where she got her start before moving to Marquis Aurbach in 2003. She also discusses the other organizations she is involved in, including the Nevada Community Foundation and the Baller Dream Foundation. Throughout the rest of the interview, Tomich discusses values, what it has been like balancing a family with a full-time job, and what parts of Filipino culture she has retained.
Archival Collection
The Mavis Eggle "Books as They Were Bought" collection provides a broad overview of printed material from the 1780s through 1949. Gathered by book collector Mavis Eggle, the collection serves as a social history of books, newspapers, and ephemera. Physical characteristics of the books include a variety of printer's marks, publishers' bindings, bookplates, and early subscription libraries. The collection's titles are a diverse and creative gathering of poetry, children' literature, religious texts, broadsides, newspapers, and popular fiction. Together, the items in the Mavis Eggle "Books as They Were Bought" collection illustrate changes in literature, printing and publishing, advertising, and book history over a time period of more than 170 years.
Archival Collection
The McGriff and DeVinney Family Papers (approximately 1900-1959) contain papers and photographs documenting Francis De Vinney and his wife, Della, who lived in Las Vegas, Nevada in the early- to mid- 20th century. The collection also includes documentation about Della's father, Edwin Guy "E. G." McGriff, an early Las Vegas resident. Materials include photographic prints and albums, business and personal correspondence, and 16mm film.
Archival Collection
The AH'-WAH-NEE Exhibition Records (2020-2021) contain materials related to the AH'-WAH-NEE Exhibit which was the first exhibit at the UNLV Donna Beam Gallery featuring local and regional Native American women artists. UNLV resides on the traditional homelands of the Nuwuvi, Southern Paiute People. The exhibit was curated by MFA Art student Fawn Douglas (2021), and ran November 1-December 10, 2021. The records contain exhibit planning documents, correspondence, publicity, loan agreements, and photographs of objects and installation views for exhibit catalogs. Also included are photographs and videos taken during the symposium events at the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art Auditorium and the Paul Harris Theatre and the exhibit's closing event held at the Donna Beam Gallery. The collection also includes archived web captures of the AH'-WAH-NEE exhibition website and for Nuwu Art + Activism Studios. AH'-WAH-NEE is Paiute for 'balance'.
Archival Collection
The Desert Inn Country Club Newsletter Collection (approximately 1970-1979) contains official newsletters from the Desert Inn Country Club in Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as photographs used to create the newsletters. The photographs depict members participating in events and tournaments, and the newsletters consist mostly of black-and-white photographs that highlight club parties and tournament champions.
Archival Collection
The Gay Fiction Book Collection (1951-1976) is a small collection of fiction books published from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s that have gay men as the lead characters or storylines that relate to the gay community. The majority of the books were published in San Francisco, California and were collected and donated by Dennis McBride.
Archival Collection
The William Mors Audiovisual Collection (approximately 1989-2001) contains material created by William Mors Productions and the Las Vegas History Foundation. Subjects include Hoover Dam, entertainment in Las Vegas, Liberace, and the history of Las Vegas. The collection consists of vhs tapes, U-Matic tapes, betamax, and other formats and are originals, masters, edited masters, clips, and final production tapes.
Archival Collection
The Jean Decock Papers (1965-1992) consist of Nevada Dance Theatre programs, programs from international dance companies, and newspaper clippings related to Nevada Dance Theatre and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas department of dance.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Harold Wadman conducted by Dennis McBride on December 21, 1986 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. In this short interview, Wadman talks about running away from his childhood home in Ogden, Utah at the age of thirteen. He explains how he hitchhiked to Nevada, bypassing Las Vegas and reaching Boulder City, Nevada in the middle of the night. He explains how he worked odd jobs before a brief employment at the dam site as a waterboy; possibly the youngest person to work on the dam.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Mary Ann and Carl Merrill conducted by Dennis McBride on June 24, 1986 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. In this interview, Carl Merrill discusses working for Anderson Brothers Dairy at the dam construction site and his experiences as a worker and resident in Boulder City, Nevada. Mary Ann Merrill talks about moving with her parents and brother to Boulder City and finding work, as a teenager, in the town. They both discuss their marriage and subsequent life in Boulder City, commenting on the environment, social conditions, and growth in Southern Nevada.
Archival Collection