Oral history interviews with Will Vicuna conducted by Stefani Evans on June 23 and July 3, 2023 for Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In the first interview, Vicuna goes into detail about his family's history, and his parents' life in Quezon, Philippines. When his brother sent Will a postcard of the newly opened Hilton Hotel and Casino, Will decided he would move to Las Vegas as soon as he completed his psychology degree in 1970. He concludes the first interview discussing his employment at the Hilton and the Flamingo Hilton, his 1972 marriage, and his 1973 UNLV graduation in Hotel Administration. In the second interview, Vicuna talks about his wife, Felicidad, who graduated from University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila in Medical Technology. He shares details about her career, and then talks about his own career in hospitality, working in a number of Las Vegas hotels including the Hilton and Flamingo Hilton, Palace Station, Peppermill Mesquite, and the Golden Eagle in Pahrump. Throughout the interviews, Vicuna discusses family reunions in Las Vegas, shopping for Filipino food, and eating at various restaurants around town. Digital audio available; no transcript available.
Part of the fourth interview with Senator Joe Neal conducted by Claytee D. White on March 24, 2006. Five interviews cover Neal's life from his birth in Mounds, Louisiana, in 1935 to his service as a local politician and community leader. Shortly after joining his family in Las Vegas, Neal served in the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1958. Following his military service, he earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Neal continued his education at the Institute of Applied Science in Chicago, Illinois, with postgraduate work in law. From 1973 to 2001, he served in the Nevada Legislature as the Senator from Clark County Senatorial District No. 4. In the clip, Neal comments on his experience in Nevada politics.
Part of an interview with Senator Joe Neal by Claytee White on June 1, 2006. Neal talks about his work in local government and working to prevent fraud in the election of Aaron Williams, the first African American North Las Vegas city councilman.
Part of an interview with Paul Pradia conducted by Claytee D. White on July 13, 2010. Pradia describes how golfing helped him advance his career and his support of women golfers.
On February 26, 1977, collector Harold May interviewed Laura Gentry (born May 1897 in St. Thomas, Nevada) at her cabin in Gold Butte, Nevada. In this interview, Laura Gentry discusses living in St. Thomas and Overton, Nevada. She discusses the development of the Overton and Gold Butte areas of Nevada as well as the people involved in mining in these areas.
Gertrude (n?e Rightman) Rudiak was born in 1915 in North Dakota to Russian immigrants. She grew up in Wisconsin until 1924. That was the year the family drove to California via the Yellowstone Trail, a dusty, undeveloped road marked by yellow stones. In Los Angeles, her father practiced chiropractic, a holistic approach to well-being for which there was little knowledge at the time. Gertrude earned her music degree at University of California at Berkeley; a decision that did not lead to a career. She then attended a business college and got a job as a social worker in Northern California. In 1941, she met and soon married George Rudiak. It was the advent of World War II. George enlisted in the service and was assigned to Las Vegas Gunnery School (Nellis Air Force Base.) Since he had a law degree from University of California at Berkeley and passed the Nevada Bar exam, he found supplemental employment with local attorneys. Las Vegas became the Rudiaks? permanent home where they raised their five children. In this interview Gertrude recalls the stories of coming to live in Las Vegas of the 1940?s: their phone number was 1-2-3; the neighborhood they lived in longest being Scotch 80s and being part of the secular and Jewish communities.
In this interview Glusman discusses his early memories of being raised in Vancouver, Canada and how he ended up in Las Vegas. He reflects on how he first got his start in the town and his early dealings with casinos and their owners while he was working as a carpet and drapery salesman and while working for Fabulous Magazine. Glusman explains how he started his restaurant and tells about the people he encountered while doing this that where significant to both the Jewish community and Las Vegas as a whole. He recounts stories that include such people as Meyer Lansky, Al Sachs, and Moe Dalitz.
Interview with Justice Michael Cherry by Barbara Tabach on September 19, 2014. In this interview, Justice Cherry talks about how he came to Las Vegas and his work as a public defender and as a lawyer in private practice. He also discusses his involvement with Jewish organizations in various capacities, and his involvement with high-profile cases such as the MGM Grand and Las Vegas Hilton fires, earning him the nickname "master of disaster."
Justice Michael Cherry was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and went on to spend his childhood in the Jewish neighborhood of University City. He attended University of Missouri and became a leader in his fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, and a committed ROTC cadet. By the time Justice Cherry graduated from Missouri and was heading to Washington University School of Law, he was a second lieutenant; halfway through law school, he was promoted to first lieutenant. It was also during law school that he married his college sweetheart, Rachel Wolfson. When a bad back prevented him from becoming an active air force officer, he and his wife decided to follow his mother to Las Vegas. Justice Cherry worked both as a law clerk with the Public Defender's Office as well as a security guard at Wonder World when he first moved to the city. After passing the Nevada bar, Cherry took at position with the Public Defender's Office, and later went into private practice as a successful criminal defense attorney. Cherry was elected as district judge in 1998 and 2002. In 2006, he won his campaign for state Supreme Court justice. Justice Cherry was reelected to office in 2012 for another four-year term. He is currently the highest-positioned Jewish official in the state of Nevada. Throughout his years in Las Vegas, Justice Cherry has been an extremely active and influential member of the Jewish community and served as chairman of the Anti-Defamation League and is active in the Jewish Federation. Justice Cherry attributes his commitment to service to his mother. In addition to his service to the Jewish community, he has been active in numerous other service organizations, including March of Dimes, Olive Crest, Adoption Exchange and American Cancer Society.