Among the stories of those who came to Las Vegas in the 1960s to work at the Nevada Test Site is that of Leslie Dunn and his wife Joan. Leslie had been hired by the U.S. Public Health Service to monitor radiation from the explosions. He has tales flying into craters that make you wide-eyed. This assignment would last until his “retirement” in 1983 – one can’t really describe this couple as retired. During these early years, while Les pursued his scientist career, Joan’s chief focus was on raising their three children, Bruce Dunn, Loryn Dunn Arkow, and Sharon Dunn Levin. She also completed her education in accounting at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She was involved with Equal Right Amendment efforts and League of Women Voters. The couple were only in their forties when Les left the PHS. As he looked forward to new opportunities, he felt compelled to pursue his longtime dream to become a builder, something he had dabbled at as a youngster with his father, Jack Dunn. Together, he an
Harriett Thornton Hicks was born June 8, 1913,in Parowan, Utah; the thirteenth child of 14. She tells of her pioneer family who dwelled in two log cabins—one for cooking and one for sleeping. In 1931, she moved to Las Vegas to join two older sisters who had relocated here. She was picked up at the train by young Charles Hicks, who was a friend of her sisters. Charles had a car and offered to provide transportation. Within three years, the two were married. She quit her drug store job to raise a family and he worked for the railroad, the only business at the time in Las Vegas. At the age of 96, Harriett recalls a range of community milestones, such as the Boulder Dam, the news of Pearl Harbor bombing, Fremont Street, the Biltmore Hotel, and how to live in a city with mob influences.
In 1964, the year that Vincent Kethen was born, desegregation of Las Vegas schools began. Like many African-American children living in the Las Vegas Westside neighborhood, Vincent was bused out of his neighborhood in third grade to attend a white school. In his case, this meant attending John S. Park Elementary and later other predominantly white schools. He talks about these experiences. John S. Park was a neighborhood of manicured lawns, while the school bus and the classroom were places fraught with fisticuffs. The experience of growing up during that era are recalled. Vincent provides a sense of that it was like to reside in his home neighborhood and the onslaught of the drug culture altered gang-lead neighborhoods. Being bused had positive results he explains, such as athletics, which served as an equalizer. For Vincent, a solid upbringing, which included love of church and the chance to attend college, encouraged him to make good decisions about his future. He received a four-year degree and he returned to Las Vegas to "give back." For over a decade and a half, her has coached young basketball players and helped them see their options for a brighter future than they might otherwise have seen.
Interview with Dorothy Eisenberg by Barbara Tabach on October 23, 2014. In this interview, Eisenberg discusses her upbringing on the east coast and becoming a widow with four children. She met her second husband at a synagogue, and they moved to Las Vegas for a fresh start. Eisenberg became involved with Temple Beth Sholom, and the Las Vegas League of Women Voters. She has a school named after her in the Clark County School District.
Dorothy Eisenberg is a first generation American, with roots in Ukraine and Central Europe, and grew up in Philadelphia. Judaism was a significant part of Dorothy's life from the beginning, and both her and her brother spent many of their afternoons at Hebrew school and most weekends at Shabbat services as adolescents. Eisenberg moved to Las Vegas with her children and second husband in 1964. She became an influential member of the community and served as the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas's first female president. She was also actively involved in the League of Women Voters of Las Vegas Valley, including leading the organization's advocacy for school desegregation and serving as its president for two years.