Oral history interview with Phyllis Syzdek conducted by an unknown fifth grader on April 24, 2009 and is part of the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. Syzdek opens her interview by discussing her childhood during the Great Depression, and moving around the United States often as her father searched for work. She then talks about moving to a small farm town in Colorado for her high school years. Sydek then recalls December 07, 1941 and where she was when she found out about the Pearl Harbor bombing. She remembers that her town had a considerable Japanese American population but they were not sent to internment camps because of their farm work. She then describes how World War II affected her, how young people helped the war effort, and her sister's service in the United States Marine Corps. Syzdek then discusses what life was like in the 1940s, how much things cost during that time, and what she remembers from when she was in 5th grade. Lastly, Syzdek talks about her adult life and family.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Faye Todd conducted by Claytee D. White on October 15, 1996 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Todd discusses her life in Las Vegas, Nevada starting in 1964 when she moved there with her husband. Todd details the variety of discrimination and racism she experienced while living in Las Vegas from service refusals to discriminatory hiring practices in hotels. Todd also discusses her career path, from taking adult education classes at Rancho High School to gain clerk skills, to eventually becoming Entertainment Director and Corporate Executive Assistant at the Landmark Hotel and Casino in 1976. Todd also discusses the challenges her husband faced as an African American chef. Finally, Todd also discusses class relations within the black communities of both Las Vegas and San Antonio, Texas, where she was born.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Mark Matthews conducted by Marcus Harrison on March 30, 1981 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Matthews discusses his arrival to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1949 in an attempt to find better living conditions. Matthews then describes living through the Great Depression, and explains the hardships it brought upon many people. Matthews later discusses improvements in transportation throughout the city as more streets were paved.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Ann Ronzone conducted by Claytee D. White on July 19, 2005 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Ronzone discusses her personal history and arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1946. Ronzone recalls atomic bomb testing, local organizations that she was involved in, Ronzone's department store, and changes in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Barbara Cloud conducted by Shirley Emerson on May 30, 2006 for the UNLV @ 50 Oral History Project. Barbara Cloud discusses teaching journalism at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, building up the journalism program, becoming department chair, editor of Journalism history, and Associate Provost for Academic Affairs. She also discusses serving on the Nevada Commission of Colleges and Universities and the Nevada Humanities Committee, as well as currently indexing the Las Vegas Sun newspaper for digitization.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Jennie Mead on March 04, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Mead discusses her career as a waitress at the Hacienda Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she had worked for twenty-one years at the time of the interview. Mead also describes how the Hacienda Hotel and Casino had changed over the years.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Arsya Respati conducted by Madison Chang on December 4, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) student Arsya Respati shares his childhood and upbringing in Jakarta, Indonesia and educational background. He discusses his studies at the international BINUS SCHOOL Simprug in Jakarta and his immigration to the United States with his younger brother to pursue the culinary arts at the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality at UNLV. Arsya Respati talks about his relationship with his parents and their daily communication, his "aunty" who has helped him adjust to American culture and homesickness, his Muslim faith and traditions, and his employment. He also shares his views on Indonesian politics and cultural diversity, and the diversity of Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Monteria Hightower conducted by Claytee D. White on February 28, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Hightower discusses her career as a librarian who has worked across the United States. She begins by talking about her upbringing in Texas and the multiple universities she has attended to study library science. Hightower describes her experiences with racial discrimination as an African American woman and how racism affected her personal and professional life. Hightower also discusses her time as the Nevada State Librarian from 1998 to 2001 and living in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with James Deacon conducted by Elizabeth Warren on August 28, 2008 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Deacon discusses his ichthyological and environmental research around the geological formation of Devils Hole in Nevada, where he studied the Devils Hole pupfish. Deacon also describes other species of fish he studied in several different bodies of water in Nevada and his experiences over the course of those studies. He talks about how they measured population size of different fish, how species interacted with each other and responded to environmental changes, and performing ichthyological research for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Maude Woo conducted by Barbara Tabach on February 11, 2007 and February 25, 2007 for Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In these interviews, Woo discusses her early childhood in Korea, taking care of her siblings, and difficult memories of war. Later, she discusses travelling to the United States and having foster parents, and going to college for nursing. She married her first husband and they had two sons, David and John. The family moved to Orange County, California where Maude raised the family and eventually started a private practice. Later, Woo divorced her first husband. She married her current husband, Leland, in 2011. She discusses her family, the importance religion has in her life, and coming to Las Vegas, Nevada to retire. Digital audio and photographs available; digital transcript draft available.
Archival Collection