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Frederica Lionel oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Frederica Lionel conducted by Gina Ballestrasse on February 27, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Lionel moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in May 1954 to divorce her husband and marry her attorney. She discusses her local neighborhood, the social clubs she was associated with, and the cost of living in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Daniel Romano oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Daniel Romano conducted by Claytee D. White on December 10, 2018 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Romano discusses his early life Walnut, California. He talks about his father’s water ski business, moving to Boulder City, Nevada, and attending dinner shows in Las Vegas. Romano recalls his involvement with The Neon Museum, copyright issues with the signs, and the growth of the museum. Lastly, Romano discusses the history behind one of his homes.
Archival Collection
Patsy Leavitt oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Patsy Leavitt conducted by Elizabeth Neumann on March 17, 1976 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview Leavitt discusses her maternal grandmother, who brought her mother and uncle to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1931, and explains how her grandmother opened a boardinghouse that she ran until her death in 1948. She then discusses her father's family, who arrived in Las Vegas in the late 1920s and established a sand and gravel business. She discusses her education and marriage, and reflects on Las Vegas in the 1950s.
Archival Collection
Withania Neal oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Withania Neal conducted by Claytee D. White on July 09, 2006 for the Hurricane Katrina Survivors in Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Neal discusses her upbringing in Las Vegas, Nevada. She remembers attending a sixth grade center, and going to Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Neal talks about her experience with hurricane season in Louisiana, evacuating, and the development of hurricane Katrina. She describes the broken levees, the flooding of New Orleans, and the chaos that followed. Lastly, Neal recalls the weeks after the hurricane, damaged homes, and the process of rebuilding the community.
Archival Collection
Joan Driscoll oral history interviews
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Oral history interviews with Joan Driscoll conducted by Kay Long on April 10, 1997 and April 17, 1997 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Driscoll talks about her experiences as a juror on a federal grand jury that investigated organized crime in Nevada. Driscoll also briefly discusses her family history, her family's origins in Iowa, and her experiences moving to the West.
Archival Collection
Georgia Adras oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Georgia Adras (b. 1916) conducted by Robin L. Hayes on March 02, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Adras relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada from Farmington, Utah in 1936. This interview covers education, religion, ad raising a family in Nevada. During the interview Adras also discusses the building of the Boulder Dam, road conditions, grocery shopping in the early days, and the Strip.
Archival Collection
Thelma Aiken oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Thelma Aiken (formerly Thelma C. Liggitt b. 1899) conducted by Patrica Gaydosh on April 05, 1976 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Born in Osceola, Iowa, Aiken discusses moving to Henderson in 1942. Aiken also offers in-depth descriptions of housing, schools, early above ground atomic tests, gambling, and the closing down of the Basic Magnesium (BMI) Plant in Nevada.
Archival Collection
Joan Johnson oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Joan Johnson conducted by Kim Geary on March 25, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Johnson discusses her personal history and her reasons for originally moving to Las Vegas, Nevada. Johnson recalls early Las Vegas entertainment, as well as the development of businesses and their unions.
Archival Collection
Carolyn Whaley oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Carolyn Whaley conducted in 2005 by an unknown interviewer for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. Whaley discusses her early interest in music and her successful audition for the United States Air Force Women's Air Force (WAF) Band in 1959. She explains that the band was the only all-female band in the military between 1951 and 1961, and shared a number of stories about the function and activities of the band. Later, she discusses her civilian career as a music teacher in Barstow, California and decision to move to Las Vegas, Nevada after her retirement in 2000. She also remarks on the lack of interest that officials at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas showed in veterans.
Archival Collection
Willis Evans oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Willis Evans conducted by Kathleen Morgan La Spina on December 02, 1986 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Evans discusses arriving and living in Las Vegas, Nevada. Evans also discusses being involved in the civic organization, District Attorney Youth Advisory Group. The interview concludes with a discussion of Boulder (Hoover) Dam, and changes in Las Vegas’ economy, politics, and environment.
Archival Collection