Oral history interview with James A. (Jimmy Gay) Gay III conducted by Joyce M. Wright in 1973 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Gay recalls details about his education in Arkansas and his training in mortuary science in Chicago, Illinois and discusses the nine-year delay in obtaining his license to practice as a mortician in Nevada because of racial discrimination. He recounts his move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1946, his experiences as a recreation director and as a personnel and communications director for the hotel industry, work that he took while waiting for his licensure to practice. He also talks about his career as a mortician with Palm Mortuary in Las Vegas, the atomic testing of the 1950s and 1960s, and his long involvement with the NAACP and the Freedom Fund. He closes by reciting two poems that have inspired him and express his philosophy.
Oral history interviews with Elton Garrett conducted by Dennis McBride on November 10 and 11, 1986 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. In these interviews, Garrett talks about hitchhiking into Nevada in 1928, the beginning of his journalism career in 1929, and the development and construction of the Hoover Dam and Boulder City. He relates anecdotes about events and people during this early period and talks about the choice of The Six Companies, Incorporated to build the dam. He continues, talking about the impact of prohibition, bootlegging, and illegal gambling before 1931. Later he talks about his work as an educator in Boulder City, and the decision by the city to work toward self-government and incorporation.
Oral history interview with Nanyu Tomiyasu conducted by Andrew Russell on March 22, 1987. In this interview, Tomiyasu discusses his father's large-scale commercial farm in Las Vegas, Nevada and the amount of produce the farm produced through the 1920s. He expands on the impact of the 1922 railroad strike, particularly in regard to the Japanese population in the city. He recounts the general lack of discrimination and segregation against Japanese residents in Las Vegas, how Japanese families integrated with the community and how they maintained their cultural traditions. Later, he begins to discuss the impact of World War II on Japanese in the people living in the western states, Las Vegas' response to its Japanese residents, and how relocation and internment impacted families.
Oral history interview with Caryl Suzuki conducted by Linda Haido on June 3, 1999. In this interview, Suzuki discusses her background and family history from the 1920s, growing up in California, and the differences between her mother's and father's families. She talks about her grandparent's internment during World War II and the impact that had on the family's fortunes, socially and economically. She explains that after the war many Japanese-American families distanced themselves from their Japanese roots with a subsequent loss of traditional culture in the younger generations. This cultural loss did not begin to see a reversal until the 1960s, when teenagers expressed a greater interest in their cultural traditions.
Oral history interview with Alice Hamilton conducted by Dennis McBride on December 20, 1986 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. In this library, Hamilton tells of how she met and married her husband, Albert and moved to Boulder City, Nevada in 1933. Because her husband worked for the California-Nevada Power Company, the couple had difficulty finding a place to live, moving eight times in the first two years of their marriage and including a several months stay in the men's dormitory constructed by the power company. She explains what Boulder City looked like when she arrived and her shock at the hot, windy weather in southern Nevada. Later, she discusses the various jobs she held, the first bank in the city, and the process of bi-monthly payroll brought in from Las Vegas in cars for distribution to the dam workers. Finally, she gives her opinion on the process of city incorporation and what she thinks Boulder City and Las Vegas will look like in the future.
Oral history interview with Jim Kaufman and Larry Reeves conducted by Joyce Marshall on June 18, 1996 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this joint interview, Kaufman begins by talking about his start as a wardrobe dresser for Hollywood, California and Las Vegas, Nevada hotel-casino revues in the early 1970s. He relates a number of stories and comments on work, including the temporary nature and the potential safety hazards. Reeves starts to add his perspective as a "boy dancer" in the shows, and the two men continue trading stories and anecdotes about the small world of Las Vegas Strip revues.
The UNLV Libraries Collection of Spanish Broadsides (approximately 1747-1930) consists of gaming-related broadsides published in Spain and Mexico. The documents are proclamations regarding the legality of gambling, owning and operating gaming houses. Many of the documents are signed or decreed by José María de Tornel y Mendívil, a 19th-century Mexican politician. The collection also includes examples of printed games from the early 20th century.
Oral history interview with Julio Lucchesi conducted by an unidentified interviewer on December 21, 2001. Luchessi discusses his decision to become an architect, as well as his desire to become an aviator. He reads extensively from his autobiography in progess, of his education, his time in the Army Air Corps during World War II, and his decision to move to Nevada. He also talks about the formation and development of the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) in Nevada, his efforts to change the exam process for new architects in the state, and the eleven-year struggle to establish a school of architecture at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Oral history interview with Dan McKenzie conducted by Connie Degerness on February 12, 1975 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. In this very short interview, McKenzie explains why he came to Nevada from Arizona, finding work on the Hoover Dam construction in April 1930, and then lists all of his subsequent work in maintenance and mechanics during the dam's construction.
Oral history interview with Lillian and Lloyd Morrison conducted by Don Morrison on October 20, 1991 for the UNLV Libraries Oral History Collection. The Morrison's talk about the loss of their Iowa farm in the Great Depression and Lloyd's decision to set out for Nevada to seek work at the Hoover dam construction site. He speaks at length about finding work, working on the dam, and an injury suffered in a fall that left him temporarily in a wheelchair. Lillian recalls arriving in Boulder City, Nevada some three years after Lloyd, of various homes the couple and their young son lived in, taking in boarders for extra money, and the growth and contraction of the town's population.