Kenneth Fong reflects on growing up in Las Vegas and being the son of two successful and philanthropic community members, Wing and Lilly Fong. When Ken was born the family live in a modest home on 20th and Stewart. It was a close-knit neighborhood and era, kids played tag and roamed freely. When he entered third-grade, his parents moved their family to a newer subdivision near Rancho and West Charleston Avenue: the Scotch 80s. Their new custom home on Silver Avenue reflected Asian architecture and the family’s Chinese cultural heritage; it also included a pool and a small basketball court. Memories of the neighborhoods are distinct. He learned to be comfortable with his sister and he being the only Asian Americans in school at the time. He kept busy with community volunteering at Sunrise Hospital and tutoring younger children on the Westside among other high school activities. Ken speaks lovingly of his parents and their achievements, family outings to local venues such as Mount Charleston and Red Rock and to California, where they bought Chinese baked goods. His mother, Lilly was born into a large Chinese American family of ten children, each of whom achieved a college education. After her marriage to Wing, she moved to Las Vegas with plans to work as a teacher. Ken retells the story of her encounter with discrimination and overcoming that, and her trajectory to be the first Asian American elected the Nevada Board of Regents. His orphaned father, Wing, immigrated to the United Sates in 1939 to live with uncles. They worked as cooks in Las Vegas and established the first Las Vegas Chinese restaurant, Silver Café. Wing was merely thirteen years old and spoke no English. These were not to be obstacles. He would go on to graduate from Las Vegas High School, earn a college degree in business, have a successful career in commercial real estate and banking, building the notable Fong’s Garden. Ken calls his father his most influential mentor. Today Ken is also a successful in real estate management, active at Grace Presbyterian Church, involved in Rotary Club, and a proud father of two daughters.
Interview with Bess Rosenberg by Jerry Masini on November 12, 1975. In this interview, Rosenberg describes coming to Las Vegas in 1942, and the desert landscape. She gives an in-depth recollection of the first atomic test, and talks about different weather and the seasons in Las Vegas. Rosenberg describes several clubs and hotels around downtown and the recreation at Lake Mead and Mount Charleston.
The Aplin Family Scrapbooks (1927-1971) consists of four handmade scrapbooks compiled by Hilda Aplin. The scrapbooks contain photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and handwritten captions. The majority of the collection focuses on Hilda and Charles Aplin’s involvement in the Fraternal Order of Eagles and Las Vegas Eagles Auxiliary #1213. Also included is a photograph album that details the family’s activities from 1927 to 1959, including notable locations around Las Vegas, Nevada such as Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, Mt. Charleston, and annual Helldorado parades.
"The goal of this 2014-2015 project is to build a web and mobile resource that will connect researchers from around the world to thousands of historical items—photographs, brochures, scrapbooks, letters, drawings, videos, and more—detailing the lives and contributions of Jews in Southern Nevada. It will include carefully researched biographies, timelines, and histories of institutions, events, and prominent themes showing the integral roles Jews have played in the history of Southern Nevada.
The Walking Box Ranch Collection (1917-2011) includes material collected by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Public Lands Institute on the Searchlight, Nevada ranch. Materials include a maps related to the construction and operation of the ranch, a pair of chaps owned by Rex Bell, Jr., and color slides of the ranch. Also included are photographic prints of Rex Bell and Rex Bell, Jr., and newsclippings related to the film and political career of Rex Bell. A small number of newsclippings pertain to the career of Rex Bell, Jr.
Flora Dungan Papers (1929-1974) contain high school and university records, certificates, newspaper clippings, press releases, notes, correspondence, and booklets about her life and political activism in Nevada. Also included are Legislative materials, an audio cassette tape, a copy of the Nevada Constitution, and an oil painting of Flora Dungan.