Oral history interview with Arthur Lurie conducted by Cheryle L. Bacot on April 25, 1986. In this interview Arthur Lurie discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada, the various businesses he owned, Judaism and Jewish culture in Las Vegas, and his work with the Golden Gloves gym and Nevada Boxing Commission.
Archival Collection
Arthur C. Lurie (1918-2014) was a Las Vegas, Nevada businessman and boxing judge. Born in Los Angeles, California on April 1, 1918, Lurie served in the Navy during World War II and moved to Las Vegas in 1954. In Las Vegas he owned a bar called Art's Place and was a co-owner of Wonder World Liquors. He was also a founding member and vice president of Temple Beth Sholom. Lurie was best known for his career in boxing; he judged over forty title fights and served on the Nevada Boxing Commission under four different governors.
Person
Ronald P. Lurie is a former mayor and city councilman of Las Vegas, Nevada. Born in Los Angeles, California on January 23, 1941, Lurie graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1958. He attended Arizona State University and Nevada Southern University (now known as University of Nevada, Las Vegas). From 1966 to 1978 Lurie was vice president of Wonder World Liquors, co-owned by his father Arthur Lurie. Lurie began working in the gaming industry in 1978, as a sales executive for International Game Technology, a video poker machine company.
Person
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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The Ron Lurie Papers are primarily comprised of photographs, newspaper clippings, and daily planners from 1972 to 1990 that document Ron Lurie's political career as a city councilman and a mayor of Las Vegas, Nevada. The collection also includes a small amount of correspondence and ephemera, mainly letters that were mailed to Lurie along with photographs. The photographs in the collection depict events and activities that Lurie participated in, and the newspaper clippings document city and state politics in addition to Lurie's political career.
Archival Collection