Dennis Chamberland interviews Thomas Barbarite (b. 1932) in his home about his time in Las Vegas and his experiences in the casino industry. Barbarite discusses his time at the Four Queens and the Dunes as a dealer as well as his work as a pit boss at the Flamingo, the Aladdin, and Caesars Palace. Chamberland also asks Barbarite about the changes over time on the Strip, including the disappearance of lounge shows and expansion of larger shows on the Strip. Barbarite also discusses the involvement of the mob in Las Vegas, particularly the influence of Bugsy Siegel in the operation of various properties.
Las Vegas history from the perspective of medical care. Senator Pat McCarran aiding patients. Water. Charleston Blvd underpass. Influx of specialists beginning in the 1950s. Expansion of valley hospitals beginning in the 1950s. Southern Nevada Memorial and Las Vegas hospitals. Working in the Clark County jail. Reflections on living in Reno, Goldfield, and Tonopah. Walker Scott and Scotty's Castle. Sunday services during the construction of Scotty's Castle. Comparison of medical care between Reno and Las Vegas. Local gaming. Bugsy Siegel's mistress. Critic of modern doctors. Reno medical school.[Interview summary on file]
Millicent Rosen was born January 14, 1931 in New York City. Millicent Rosen's father was the Jewish mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. She married Jack Rosen in 1950 when she was 19 years old and they had three children together: Benjamin, Cindy, and Wendy. Rosen moved to Las Vegas to be with one of her daughters and her family in 2000 and cherished her role as a grandmother. An artist at heart, Rosen painted canvases for needlepoint and promoted her own clothing line in 2015. She passed away November 17, 2017.
Oral history interview with Valerie Wiener conducted by Barbara Tabach on January 20, 2015 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview, Wiener discusses her childhood and being raised in Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1950s as well as the academic path that led her career into politics. Throughout Wiener’s interview, she highlights the traditions of the small, but growing Las Vegas Jewish population in the 1960s. Wiener also discusses her community service work and her life mantra of giving.
Oral history interview with Jack Cherry conducted by Cheryl Mawhinney on March 20, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Jack Cherry, M.D. (b. 1897 in Little Rock, Arkansas) discusses about his experiences as a practicing physician in Southern Nevada. Dr. Cherry first discusses the steps he took to initiate the building of what would become the Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital, where he would later become the hospital administrator. The interview concludes with Cherry’s opinion on the modern practice of medicine.
Jerry Engel was born in 1930 in New Jersey and spent most of his early life in Long Beach, New York until the family moved westward to Las Angeles. Jerry is a retired Certified Public Accountant and loves to talk about the history of Las Vegas that he observed since arriving in 1953. That was the year that he moved to Las Vegas to join his older brothers, Morris and Phil, in their accounting firm. Their major client at the time was Desert Inn. Another personal connection with local history: the Engel brothers? mother, Esther Katz Engel, was among the early investors in the Moulin Rouge hotel/casino enterprise. Jerry graduated with honors from University of California, Los Angeles in 1951. His accounting career in Las Vegas is highly regarded and he continues to maintain a consulting practice. He remains active within the community and enjoys doing presentations based on his memories of Las Vegas history. Within this interview, Jerry highlights people, casinos and other observations of local history that he came into contact with over the decades. He provides insights about the role of an accountant in the gaming industry. He also discusses the influence of Jewish business leaders in and array of local gaming and non-gaming issues, including the retail world, Jim Crow era segregation, and the astonishing growth of the valley over six decades.
In this interview, Milton Schwartz discusses his life in Las Vegas and his business investments. He worked at the Flamingo Hotel right after World War II, and he started Valley Hospital as an investor in 1970. Schwartz has a Hebrew academy named after him in Israel, and owned the Yellow-Checker-Star Cab Company. He was active in the Republican Party.
Milton I. Schwartz was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He enlisted in the Army the day after Pearl Harbor (age 20) and did a five year stint in the Pacific as a repeater specialist. After the war he returned to his job as a refrigeration mechanic in Brooklyn and was soon offered a job out in Las Vegas at the Flamingo Hotel, which was owned by Bugsy Siegel. After three months in Las Vegas, during which time he had several conversations over dinner with Beldon Cattleman, Milton returned to New York to work with his father in the fixture business. After ten years he sold that business and bought into Design Equipment Construction, which brought him back to Las Vegas. Milton started or bought many businesses over the years, but the one he's proudest of is Valley Hospital. He and his partners brought the first medical helicopters into Nevada and he feels that many lives were saved because of that. He also invested in Yellow-Checker-Star Cab Company, which he still owns. Two on-going concerns that are important to Milton are his involvement with the Republican Party and the Milton I. Schwartz Hebrew Academy in Israel. Of the many awards and plaques he has earned over the decades, he is proudest of the birthday acknowledgements from the Academy. He believes strongly that the most important achievements of his life revolve around his religion and the children being educated in it. Milton shares many stories, facts, descriptions, and anecdotes about Las Vegas in the decades since 1946. He built a house in the Scotch 80's, contributes to UNLV, and approves of city growth and the proposed changes in the downtown area. He has contributed much to the growth and stability of the Las Vegas valley.
"El Cortez Hotel and Casino is the longest continuously running hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Opened in 1941, it was so successful that it attracted the attention of Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Gus Greenbaum, and Moe Sedway, all whom purchased it in 1945.
In 1963 El Cortez was purchased by Jackie Gaughan, and it has been run as a family business ever since, even through its sale to Ike Gaming in 2008.
Part of an interview with Joyce Mack on February 23, 2015. In this clip, Mack recalls when her father-in-law, Nate Mack, shared his vision of Las Vegas with her while looking at the landscape of the Las Vegas Valley.
On February 26 and 27, 1979, Dale Forshee interviewed Helen Early (born 1919 in Des Moines, Iowa) about her life in Southern Nevada. Early first talks about her arrival to Las Vegas and the early development of the city. She also talks about some of the first businesses in Las Vegas, the initial development of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the early nightclubs and casinos in the city. Early also discusses her work in establishing a school for disabled children before discussing other topics related to McCarran Airport, Bugsy Siegel, Senator Walter Baring, the first churches in Las Vegas, and the Helldorado Parade.