Oral history interview with Clark Crocker conducted by Monica Lehman on March 3, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Crocker discusses his family and educational background as well as his experiences attending school in California and Massachusetts. Crocker then describes the building of the Hoover Dam and his career as a teacher and school principal, as well as his thoughts and philosophies on how curriculum should be structured in schools. Crocker also discusses his work for the fire department in Pahrump, Nevada and his career as a frogman and navigator for the United States Navy during World War II.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Nellie Bunch conducted by Robin Ducharme on November 20, 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Bunch first talks about her settlement into the Whitney Ranch area of Henderson, Nevada, and her knowledge about the building of Hoover (Boulder) Dam. She also talks about the early utilization of water resources from Lake Mead, early sources of power, and the early use of evaporative coolers. Bunch also speaks about her experience as a postmaster and later discusses telephone technology and the early churches of Las Vegas, Nevada. Digital audio and transcript available.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Lucille Matyas conducted by Irene Rostine on November 18, 2010 and December 02, 2010 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Matyas opens her interview by discussing her family's move to Las Vegas, Nevada and her mother's turbulent marriage to a Las Vegas constable in 1935. She then describes working at the phone company after school to avoid the dangers of her home life. She discusses learning to repair switchboards, saving equipment parts during wartime rationing, and listening in to the private conversations of repairmen. Matyas then describes family gatherings in Ohio before her family's move to Nevada. She later returns to talking about working at the telephone company and describes the issues customers had with party lines and the lack of telephone lines to serve the growing population of Las Vegas. Matyas ends her interviews discussing other memorable experiences she had working at the telephone company.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Viola Johnson conducted by Claytee D. White on March 03, 1996 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Johnson discusses leaving Fordyce, Arkansas in 1942 to join her parents in Las Vegas, Nevada where her first home was a tent. Johnson goes on to discuss life with her parents in Las Vegas including their work and church activities. Johnson also describes her work at the Flamingo Hilton and Sands Hotel and Casino as a maid, and at the Riviera Hotel and Casino making sandwiches. Finally, Johnson talks about labor conditions and the Culinary Union during the early years of the Las Vegas Strip casino development.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Leo Lewis conducted by Kenneth "K. J." Evans in 1999 for the Las Vegas Review-Journal First 100 Oral History Project. In the interview, Lewis discusses Las Vegas, Nevada's resort industry and assisting to develop the College of Hotel Administration (William F. Harrah College of Hospitality) at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Lewis also talks about teaching casino management at UNLV and UNLV's collaboration with international resort industries. A woman, possibly Lewis's wife, Lucy Lewis, is also present in the interview and elaborates on their travels during UNLV's international resort programs, including Tiananmen Square, China during the 1989 protest.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Florence Frost conducted by Barbara Tabach on February 10, 2015 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview Frost talks about her parents and early life, her marriage and coming to Las Vegas, Nevada in the early 1960s, and her husband's work as an interior designer. Then she discusses her work with the Temple Beth Sholom and involvement with the board, as well as many of the Jewish-owned businesses in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Helen Yu conducted by Andrew Yu on December 1, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Helen Yu discusses her upbringing in Seoul, South Korea, her grandfather's immigration to the United States in the late 1970s, and her family's decision to follow him to Portland, Oregon in 1984. She shares her family's history and their experiences during the Korean War, including what life was like both in North and South Korea at that time. Helen Yu discusses her undergraduate education at the University of Oregon studying graphic design and her graduate education at Ewha Womans University College of Art and Design in South Korea. She shares her thoughts having both a Korean American and Asian American identity, her marriage and two wedding ceremonies to her Korean husband, and her family's move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2001. Helen Yu concludes with a discussion of her event planning work which led to her current role as the Operations Manager at the Emerald at Queensridge in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Heather Victorson conducted by Nancy Hardy on June 26, 2003 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Victorson discusses her early life in Nairobi, Kenya and London, England. She remembers being enrolled into the Royal Ballet School, and her experience dancing in show productions for the Royal Ballet Company. Victorson talks about winning a dancing audition that required her to move to Las Vegas, Nevada, dancing in the
Archival Collection