Oral history interview with Cathrine Abrigo conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on July 20, 2022 for the Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Abrigo describes her early life in the Philippines, where she attended Catholic school and briefly studied medical technology in college. She describes immigrating to Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband and the difficulty of leaving her immediate family behind. She discusses working for the Cosmopolitan in 2011 and becoming deeply involved with the Culinary Workers Union Local 226. Throughout the interview, Abrigo talks about religion, food, and her activism with the Culinary Union.
Elmo C. Bruner came to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1947 and established himself as an architect and appraiser. Born in Texas, he grew up in Oklahoma and attended Oklahoma State University. He graduated in 1931 with a BA and BS in architecture and engineering. He married Lucile Spire that same year. The couple went on to have four children: Elmo, Allen, Jerry, and Janice. After graduation, he worked for the Oklahoma State Highway Department and for several oil companies. From 1945 to 1947, he worked as an architectural engineer on the Los Alamos Project.
Florence J. Murphy was a pilot and developer of commercial aviation in Nevada. She was born on December 13, 1911 in Fernley, Nevada as Colanthe Jones, but later changed her name to Florence after her favorite aunt. She attended the University of Nevada, Reno before marrying John Murphy. They moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1936 where Murphy began working as a legal secretary and had her first experience piloting an airplane. She later took piloting lessons, and received a piloting and instructor's license by 1941.
Thomas "Bob" Patrick was born in Los Angeles, California on November 26, 1934. He was the founder of the first Las Vegas, Nevada television production company, The Production Company, and was the producer for many commercials across the country. He got his start in entertainment when he joined his mother's band at age eight.
A street on the Westside is named for Elgin Holbert's grandmother, Viola Cunningham, who was an early land owner. It is believed that in 2002 she donated the property for Madison School now renamed Wendell P. Williams Elementary School. Although from Eudora, Arkansas, a few miles from Mississippi, his parents are a mixed couple, mother is White and father, Black. His mother was treated well in the Westside community but was very private concentrating on rearing her children with little community interaction.