Oral history interview with Voris Perkins conducted by Elizabeth Patrick on November 12, 1983 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Perkins discusses the business and methods of mining salt. Perkins later discusses his career as a farmer as well as the climate and environment in Nevada. Lastly, Perkins discusses working for the Clark County Road Department.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Lee Cagley conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee White on August 08, 2016 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. Cagley discusses the importance of keeping the various pieces of the infrastructure of a resort invisible in order to maximize the visitor experience. He also describes the challenges the Las Vegas, Nevada resort industry finds in creating the best visitor experience for multiple generations at the same time.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Russell Harvey conducted by Claytee D. White on May 20, 2016 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Harvey discusses his upbringing in Las Vegas, Nevada and growing up in the Westside community. He talks about recreation activities he participated in, the discrimination he experienced, and integration in Las Vegas in 1960. Harvey remembers attending Nevada Southern University (now University of Nevada, Las Vegas), working stage production for shows on the Strip, and being a member of the Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local Union 720. Lastly, Harvey discusses his involvement with the Nevada Minority Purchasing Council.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with James Whitney conducted by Anna Huddleston on January 24, 2014 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Whitney discusses his involvement with the beverage and restaurant industry in Las Vegas, Nevada and life in the city during the 1960s. Whitney describes working as an alcohol distributor and salesman and driving around rural Nevada and the surrounding states selling liquor. Whitney talks about prominent locations and eateries in the Las Vegas area, and what he likes about living in the desert compared to his former residence in Chicago, Illinois. Whitney also discusses the presence of organized crime in Las Vegas and his associations with the mob through his family and his business.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Jim Gans conducted by Claytee D. White on January 30, 2013 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Gans discusses working as an electrician and attending the Aviation Academy in Reno, Nevada and then as a flight instructor there. He also discusses working in measuring radioactivity from nuclear testing, working at the Clark County Sanitation, and at the Las Vegas, Nevada Convention and Visitors Authority as a vice president there.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Richard J. Ronzone conducted by Edna Goodman on March 08, 1985 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Ronzone discusses education in Tonopah, Nevada, and his early life in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ronzone also discusses his business, “Ronzone’s Department Store,” and the growth of local businesses in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ronzone then gives his opinions of the changes that occured in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Marion Lindesmith conducted by Elizabeth Nelson Patrick on March 17, 1984 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Lindesmith describes her unhappiness with moving to Nevada with her husband in 1942 and living in government-owned housing in Henderson, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Count Guido Roberto Deiro conducted by David G. Schwartz on January 30, 2002 and November 22, 2017 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Deiro gives his personal recollections of living in Las Vegas, Nevada, including his father’s career, his upbringing, and fondest memories of the city.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Patricia M. Haack conducted by Claytee D. White on May 21, 2014 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Haack begins by discussing her upbringing in Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1940s and 1950s, and what it was like living in the Four Mile community. She continues, describing her education at Las Vegas High School and her career working for First National Bank of Nevada, eventually becoming the vice president of the bank. Haack talks about other aspects of her personal history, such as living in California and the different locations she has lived in Las Vegas. She concludes by discussing her recreational activities and her efforts to start an alumni association for Las Vegas High School graduates.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Carolyn Hutcheson conducted by Barbara Tabach on May 2, 2022 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Hutcheson, a native of Houston, Texas, discusses relocating to Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband Floyd in 1989. At the time, she worked for Quality Mechanical and later for the Perini Building Company when the Cosmopolitan was under construction. Throughout the interview, Hutcheson recalls what it was like making Las Vegas her home in the late 1980s. Digital audio available; no transcript available.
Archival Collection