Oral history interview with Margaret Casey conducted by Claytee D. White on January 13, 2005 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Margaret Casey discusses the female workers during World War II (WWII). She discusses Las Vegas, Nevada history during the mid-century. She also discusses the Mesquite Club, the ways of family life including the grocery stores, restaurants and the various leisure activities like gardening and golf. Casey then discussses topics such as the atomic testing, Howard Hughes and the transformation of Las Vegas' transportation and downtown.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Jessica Hutchings conducted by Barbara Tabach on March 21, 2018 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Jessica Hutchings discusses her experience flying to Las Vegas, Nevada on the night of the October 1, 2017 mass shooting. She speaks of her flight's detour to Phoenix, Arizona, and her discovery of the shooting. Hutchings explains how Congregation Ner Tamid, where she is a cantor, contributed to the community healing after the tragedy, including their organization of vigils, a music fundraiser called "Vegas Strong in Song," and discussing the event with teenage Hebrew School students who had questions and concerns about the shooting.
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Oral history interview with Donna and Gail Andress conducted by Karen Schank on April 13, 2011 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project.
Donna and Gail Andress talk about their early lives and how they each came to live in North Las Vegas (Donna moved with her family from Los Angeles and Gail with his family from Arizona). They discuss city life in the 1930s, places they spent their time as children, their education, and how they met in high school. Donna and Gail recall their marriage and early years as a married couple living apart while Gail served in the Navy as a turret gunner. The couple discuss businesses that operated in the area and shared stories of raising their children in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Sari and Paul Aizley conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee D. White on November 04, 2016 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. Both narrators discuss the growth of the American Civil Liberties Union in Southern Nevada. Sari talks about working for the
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Lawrence Chiu Hill oral history interview conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Nessa Concepcion, and Stefani Evans on November 8, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Lawrence "Larry" Chiu Hill shares his experiences growing up in Taiwan and immigrating with his family to South America, then moving to Corpus Christi, Texas, and finally Las Vegas, Nevada. He discusses his education at University of Nevada, Las Vegas as a Political Science graduate and his career path moving from casino gaming into the practice of law. Lawrence manages his own firm, Lawrence C. Hill and Associates, and talks about his work, his family, and the community he has created in over two decades of living in Las Vegas.
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Oral history interview with Mozella Sheds Scott conducted by Claytee D. White on November 30, 2010 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Scott discusses her childhood in Friars Point, Mississippi, and aspects of rural life. She then described moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1965 and taking a job as a laundry presser and distributor. Scott compares life in Mississippi to the Westside of Las Vegas, describing the Bonanza Village area, employment of the black population, and churches in the area. She also discusses her employment while attending Nevada Southern University, now University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as well as her first position in education and libraries. Additionally, Scott discusses racial discrimination her husband faced in his job at a titanium plant. She concludes by describing her work to improve literacy and education in her community with organizations including, Upward Bound, Community Adult Learning in Libraries (CALL), Parent-In-Charge, and Word on a Rock.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Luceanne "Lucy" Taufa conducted by Jerwin Tiu, Cecilia Winchell, and Stefani Evans on December 16, 2022 for Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Taufa describes growing up on the Tongan island of Vava'u in a large family and later immigrating to the United States. She recalls her father first immigrating to Hawaii, and after obtaining a green card, her and her siblings following shortly after. While Kaufa's older siblings continued to pursue higher education and her younger siblings were too young to work, she took on a bulk of the responsibility to provide income and navigate life in Hawaii for her family. Eventually, Lucy moved to Dallas, Texas, met her husband, and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada for her husband's job. Later in the interview, she discusses joining the Culinary Union after experiencing racial discrimination at her workplace and her pride in her identity as a Tongan woman.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Teresa Jones Denning conducted by Lynn Ballard on February 26, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Denning first discusses living on a farm and her education in Overton, Nevada. Denning also talks about the construction of Hoover (Boulder) Dam while living there, her work as a bus driver for Las Vegas High School and the changes in Boulder City, Nevada over time.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Robert Alton Thielke conducted by his grandson, Harry Stephen Lauer, on March 12, 1975 and an unknown date in 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In these interviews, Thielke discusses his personal history working for railroads, gas companies, and munitions manufacturers before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1948. Thielke describes life in Las Vegas during the 1940s and taking road trips in a Ford Model T roadster. He talks about how Las Vegas has changed and grown, as well as rodeos in the city. Thielke explains the history of Henderson, Nevada, manganese mining, and the history of Stewart Ranch. He also describes his recreational activities and explains that he moved out of west Las Vegas because of the increase of African Americans living in that area.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Lucile Spire Bruner conducted by Alice Cowles Brown on March 03, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Spire Bruner discusses her husband Elmo Bruner's career as an architect and appraiser in Las Vegas, Nevada from, 1947 to 1973, World War II, her religious affiliation with the Unitarian Fellowship Church, and her involvement with organizations such as American Institute of Architects, engineering societies and architectural registration and examination boards.
Archival Collection