Oral history interview with Kevin Orrock conducted by Claytee White on December 04, 2015 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Orrock focuses on Summerlin, Nevada, the 22,000-acre, award-winning, master-planned community on the west side of the Las Vegas, Nevada. He discusses Summerlin’s physical layout, its history, its development, and its future. He also talks about the development and future of Downtown Summerlin; its balance of private, charter, and public schools; and the ways the company selects its residential builders.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Dennis Myers conducted by Dennis McBride on March 23, 2005 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. In this interview, Myers discusses meeting former Lieutenant Governor of Nevada, Fred S. Alward. Myers talks about the public's speculation surrounding Alward's sexual orientation and the impact that had on his career.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Daisy Lee Miller conducted by Claytee D. White on March 22, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Miller discusses Las Vegas, Nevada’s education system and raising her children in the Westside community amidst the civil rights movement.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Patricia and Robert Schnider conducted by Claytee D. White on October 22, 2018 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Robert discusses his early life and arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1955. He remembers attending Nevada Southern University (now University of Nevada, Las Vegas) and his father's ownership of the Capri Motel. Patricia discusses her upbringing in Las Vegas, and growing up homesteading. Lastly, Patricia and Robert describe entertainment in Las Vegas during the late 1950s.
Archival Collection
The Las Vegas Archive Memorabilia and Promotional Materials (approximately 1960-2019) contains reproductions of photographs taken of historic landmarks around Las Vegas, Nevada and entertainers like Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Liberace performing in Las Vegas. The collection also contains digital photographs from 2008 of an airship displaying an advertisement for the M Resort Spa and Casino. There is also memorabilia from the MGM Grand Hotel including a gaming guide, decks of playing cards, and a commemorative drinking glass. The collection also includes several historic postcards depicting Las Vegas, political campaign buttons for local Nevada elections, and greeting cards from U.S. Representative Jim Santini.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Harry Mortenson conducted by Claytee D. White on April 08, 2014, April 22, 2014, and May 06, 2014 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In the first interview, Mortenson discusses his personal background, working at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and arriving to Nevada to work as a nuclear physicist at the Nevada Test Site. Mortenson describes his work and recalls anecdotes from his employment. He then talks about his company, Sigma Scientific, and explains the different projects where he worked as a consultant. In the second interview, Mortenson discusses the methods of transportation used to arrive to the Nevada Test Site, his involvement with different organizations, and his tenure in the Nevada State Legislature. In the final interview, Mortenson discusses the device he built to take photographs of the nuclear reactor cores at Las Alamos National Laboratory, and explains how that device worked.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Charlotte Ellsworth conducted by Jane Ellsworth Olive on March 22, 1977, December 26, 1980, December 28, 1981, and August 06, 1987 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In the span of four interviews, Ellsworth discusses her family’s history, the growth of Henderson, Nevada, working at the Basic Magnesium Plant, and life during World War II. She also talks about war bond drives, the Oakey Theaters, Nevada Chamber of Commerce, "western" clothes, and hotels like the Flamingo Hotel and the Riviera Hotel. She then describes visiting places like Canada, Salt Lake City, Utah, Washington, D. C., and San Francisco, California.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Linda Van Tuyl conducted by Ruth Brainard on February 22, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Van Tuyl discusses arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1948 to work as a nurse and describes nursing practices during that time. Later, Van Tuyl discusses the integration of accessibility accommodations for people with disabilities throughout Las Vegas. Van Tuyl later shares her thoughts on Medicare and other forms of health insurance.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Thalia Dondero conducted by Suzanne Becker on March 10, 2008 and August 22, 2008 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Dondero opens her interviews discussing why she became involved with the Las Vegas, Nevada Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and eventually the Nevada State PTA. Dondero then describes her work with the Girl Scouts and her election campaign for a seat on the Clark County Commission. Dondero also discusses Las Vegas city development and how the city has flooding issues. Later Dondero discusses her membership in the Las Vegas Junior League and her work throughout the state to supervise the living conditions of foster care children. Lastly, she describes her experience as a commissioner working to ensure various goods and services were available to the community.
Archival Collection