Oral history interview with Raya Meron conducted by Claytee D. White on July 14, 2014 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Meron discusses her upbringing in Israel, moving to Istanbul with her husband, and immigrating to Canada after their divorce. Meron also talks about her career as a showgirl in Las Vegas, Nevada, including being in the Vive les Girls road show in 1965. She then discusses her involvement in helping Cambodian refugees.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with George Simmons conducted by Claytee D. White on December 13, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview George Simmons discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife Eva in 1963. He talks about racial discrimination, especially with buying a house. He then discusses his long career as an engineer with the Holmes and Naver engineering firm.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Elena Newman conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on April 11, 2022 for the Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Newman discusses her childhood in Dagupan, Pangasinan, Philippines. At the age of eighteen, she moved to Singapore for better work opportunities to help support her family. After meeting her husband, the couple moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Since moving to Las Vegas, Newman has spent her time working as both a guest room attendant and shop steward at Mandalay Bay. She is also a part of the Culinary Workers Union, and she discusses how helpful the union is to the livelihoods of the many workers in the casino industry.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Theron Goynes conducted by Catrina First on April 11, 2002 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Goynes reflects upon his career as a teacher and administrator in Nevada’s Clark County School District (CCSD). He discusses his experiences becoming a teacher as an African American man during the 1950s and 1960s, and his early interactions with Native American students in Arizona. He then describes the process by which he joined CCSD in the 1960s, and quickly became an administrator. He describes his regular responsibilities, his experiences with school integration, and his efforts in maintaining working relationships with students, staff, and parents. He also offers suggestions for individuals interested in pursuing school administration.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Mike Montano conducted by Lisa Gioia-Acres on September 19, 2008 for the All That Jazz Oral History Project. Montano begins by discussing his mother and father, who met in Hawaii when his father immigrated there from the Philippines, and later moved to Stockton, California during the late 1930s after Montano was born. He describes racial prejudice he has faced as an Asian American, how he developed interest in playing the piano as a child, and his siblings. Montano continues, detailing how he started playing jazz while attending the College of the Pacific and the musicians he played with. He describes first going to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1960 and returning throughout the 1960s as a member of various touring jazz bands. He talks about the other places he performed around the world and the celebrities and prominent musicians he has met. Montano concludes by reflecting on his career as a musician and his life in Las Vegas after moving there permanently in 1974.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Adla Earl conducted by Suzanne Becker on May 20, 2009 for the Voices of the Historic John S. Park Neighborhood. In this interview, Earl discusses her upbringing in Las Vegas, Nevada and living in the John S. Park neighborhood. She remembers purchasing her home, the influence and increase of the LGBTQ+ population in the area, and the historic designation of the neighborhood. Lastly, Earl talks about changes in the neighborhood.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Elbert Edwards conducted by Ronald Johns in 1972 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Edwards discusses his work in Las Vegas, Nevada public schools during the Great Depression. The two also discuss the Hoover (Boulder) Dam, Edwards’ involvement in politics, and mining in Nevada. He also talks about the development of Boulder City, Nevada, the early territorial boundaries of Nevada and Utah, the atomic testing at the Nevada Test Site, and early water sources in Southern Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with John Perazzo conducted by Claytee D. White on June 16, 2016 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Perazzo discusses his upbringing in Las Vegas, Nevada. He talks about attending Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California to obtain a degree mathematics and computer science. Perazzo then recalls his father's work in architecture and his father's employment at the Nevada Test Site. Later, Perazzo discusses becoming a card dealer at the El Cortez Hotel and Casino and describes the challenges in working at casinos. Lastly, Perazzo talks about the development of Fremont Street.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Christian Giovanni conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Jerwin Tiu, and Stefani Evans on May 17, 2022 for the Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Giovanni describes her early life being born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. She discusses her mother, Oywan, who first worked for the casinos before turning her focus to community building. Throughout Oywan's life, she did everything from start the first temple in the city to the first Thai newspaper, Las Vegas News. Giovanni mentions having what she considers a normal childhood, especially because of her more Western appearance, and did not embrace her AAPI identity until much later in life after she started helping her mother with different organizations. Currently, Giovanni is involved in many organizations, from the AAPI County Commission to the Thai Culture Foundation.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Bud Bodell conducted by an unidentified collector in the 1970s for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Bodell discusses Six Companies, the building of the Boulder (Hoover) Dam, and the development of the local sheriff’s department and the police department. Bodell also discusses the impact of gambling on the local economy, and the development plans and construction of the Las Vegas, Nevada Strip hotels.
Archival Collection