Commencement program from University of Nevada, Las Vegas Commencement Programs and Graduation Lists (UA-00115).

Commencement program from University of Nevada, Las Vegas Commencement Programs and Graduation Lists (UA-00115).

On March 19, 1978, John (Sonny) Le Jeune interviewed John (born 1904 in Trail Creek, Idaho) and Mabel Dillingham. The two provide many historical accounts of Las Vegas, Nevada, including John’s work on the railroad, the development of the city, and their living conditions when first moving to Las Vegas. The three also discuss prominent members of the community, recreational activities, church membership, and popular attractions around Las Vegas. Other topics include the building of Hoover Dam, the site of the Stewart Ranch, early irrigation systems, flood control, and Block 16.

At age 95, Marian Wojciechowski recalls his personal story of being born a region called called Poland in 1914, just as World War I was beginning. This narrative gives special attention to his Polish background at a time when the country did not technically exist, and their language was forbidden. By the late 1930s and the dawning of World War II, Marian is a young man struggling to understand what is transpiring, but knowing that he must participate in the Polish underground resistance against the Germans His activism gets him arrested and sentenced to Auschwitz as a non-Jew and without penalty of death. He recalls the Gestapo beatings which have left him without feeling in his fingers and a loss of hearing. He shares historical perspectives of the war era, agricultural coops, goal of Germans to sell Jews to the United States and other countries, and a story about a woman who helped save 2500 Jewish children during war.

Oral history interview with Fernando Rocha conducted by Nathalie Martinez and Barbara Tabach on November 13, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Fernando Rocha recalls growing up in Santa Ana, California and in Sunrise Manor in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fernando Rocha is a Mexican professional who is committed to giving back to the Latinx youth of Las Vegas. He talks about his responsibility as a translator in his family with his siblings. He credits his academic and professional success to the Clark County School District and programs such as GEAR UP and Upward Bound. After studying at Hofstra University, he came back to Las Vegas to work with Wells Fargo and is an active community member as co-founder of the Nevada Youth Coalition and work through the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) and Nevada Promise Mentor at the College of Southern Nevada (CSN).