Ron Lurie is a product of Las Vegas. Ron Lurie knows Las Vegas. The Los Angeles native arrived in Las Vegas with his parents when he was twelve years old; his father opened Market Town next to White Cross Drug Store. Lurie graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1958 and attended Nevada Southern, where he played baseball and basketball before joining the United States Army Reserves. Returning from training, he began working at a new store, Fantastic Fair. Soon the owner, builder Lloyd Whaley, asked him to manage a new Fantastic Fair. At 24 years of age, he managed the entire Fantastic Fair store, which later became Wonder World. Over time, Lurie would manage three of the four Wonder World stores. In this interview, the former mayor of the City of Las Vegas and former Las Vegas City Council member talks about running for City council because he wanted more parks and ball fields downtown and about his political career, which coincided with the years of explosive growth in the 1970s and 1980s. The current vice president and general manager of Arizona Charlie's also v discusses his careers in the grocery business and in gaming; he speaks to giving back to the community and the changing demography of the area surrounding Arizona Charlie's; he talks of the ways Steve Wynn pioneered an aura of glamour that helped to upgrade Downtown Las Vegas; he recalls the challenges of public safety, regional transportation, flood control, and the Monorail and of civic dreams of a magnetic levitation train that would connect Downtown Las Vegas to Cashman Field. He remembers his parents and his wife; he talks about his children, and he shares vignettes of, among many others, Ernie Becker IV, Bill Briare, Al Levy, Steve Miller, and Bob Stupak. Throughout, Mayor Lurie especially beams when he talks about his family, his friends, his work, Las Vegas, the Boys and Girls Clubs, and baseball. This man loves baseball.

Multicultural advancements in Las Vegas cannot be mentioned without speaking on the monumental contributions of Dorothy Eisenberg. From 1971 to 1998, she was involved with over 25 local organizations and committees and had the honor of having an elementary school named after her. Eisenberg’s beginnings start in the midst of the all American melting pot experience though immigration. Her mother came to the United States from Russia at age twelve and her father from Austria at age sixteen to go upholstery school. Upon marriage, they settled down in Philadelphia after the World War II. They raised Dorothy and her siblings to contribute to the community despite the anti-Semitism that was displayed there on a regular basis. Signs that said, “No dogs and Jews allowed” were common place. After her first husband died, leaving her as a single mother of four little girls, she didn’t allow herself to be trampled by her circumstances by enrolling in Temple University to be a teacher at a time when the university had stigma towards older students. Upon her marriage to her second husband, the family moved to Las Vegas where she found a spiritual home for her family at Temple Beth Sholom, where her children went learned to deeply appreciate their Jewish heritage and attended Hebrew school. Having always been involved with politics in Philadelphia, she faced personal discrimination due to her religion when she was searching for organizations to involve her time. She eventually found a home with the League of Women Voters in 1965 and became involved with the Observers Corp and became aware of what was going on with the African American community from community based research and dialogue. She played a key role as president of the organization and faced heat for her involvement in the desegregation of sixth grade centers with the Kelly vs. Guinn decision in 1972 and was involved with the Welfare Rights Movement. She met Ruby Duncan and Jane Fonda, and she even showed up to the march with her daughters. Eisenberg was heavily involved with her namesake school through meetings with principals at least once a year, reading to students in the classroom, and bringing latkes to the school on Hanukkah. She continues the intergenerational legacy of educational involvement set forth by her parents with supporting her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren in the school as well. Dorothy Eisenberg is a true role model for Nevada and a pioneer for equal education in Las Vegas.

“My very first car… Oh, boy, I can't remember the year. It was old. But it was a [Chevrolet] Monte Carlo. Oh, my gosh, I was so excited. . . . It was my pride and joy. I'm a teenager, right? It was freedom. That's what it was.” It might seem incongruous that the aviation director for the nation’s eighth busiest airport ranked by passenger volume would begin an oral history rhapsodizing over the freedom her first car represented. But despite the powerful role she occupies professionally, Rosemary Vassiliadis remains true to her Chicago upbringing in a tight-knit Italian family, in which she was the first female on both sides to go to a four-year college. Rosemary attended nearby DePaul University, where she earned her degree in accountancy. Shortly before she graduated she was a bridesmaid for an Italian friend whose Greek Orthodox groom had asked Billy Vassiliadis to be his groomsman. Over the three days of the wedding Rosemary and Billy became acquainted and began a long-distance courtship that continued for nearly nine years before Rosemary finally agreed to marry Billy and make Las Vegas her home. This oral history chronicles Rosemary Vassiliadis’s Las Vegas career from financial analyst with the City of Las Vegas under Myron Leavitt to working with Randy Walker at Clark County to working with him again as deputy director of aviation at McCarran Airport; she shares how both men mentored her, and how their teaching has in turn inspired her to mentor younger women leaders. She talks about managing the airport in the six days after the Nine-Eleven (9/11) Terrorist Attacks, during which time Walker, who had been attending a conference in Montreal, was grounded there when all North American airports closed; she talks about working cooperatively with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to transport tourists once the other airports opened, and she confides her determination to get her New York passengers home first so they could learn the fates of, comfort, and draw comfort from their loved ones. She walks listeners through the process of planning for Terminal 3, including financing it during the downturn, selecting its art, and seizing the opportunity to thank President Obama in person for making Terminal 3 possible-a “thank you” that resulted in an autographed photograph of the aviation director with the President as they stood on the tarmac in front of said terminal. While Rosemary’s ideas of freedom and transportation have likely matured since she bought her first gas guzzler in Chicago, she has acquired a firm grasp on what it takes to run the eighth-largest passenger airport in the U.S., which in 2017 serves the second-most popular U.S. travel destination (after New York City, according to TripAdvisor). Las Vegas is lucky that Rosemary agreed to serve as her friend’s bridesmaid and to eventually say “yes” to the persistent (and patient) Billy Vassiliadis. In 2017, Clark County School District recognized the couple’s many contributions by establishing the Billy & Rosemary Vassiliadis Elementary School.

When looking back on his legacy in the Latinx community of Las Vegas, Otto Merida (1945 - ) takes great pride in being a Latin Chamber of Commerce [LCC] co-founder with Arturo Cambeiro. With the LCC, they forged a powerful economic entity that continues to provide the local Latino community with social and political influence. Growing up during the 1950s in Havana, Otto Merida fondly remembers his childhood despite living under the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. There were the murmuring sounds of explosions from afar on the way to baseball games, but also the warm Sunday family meals of Cuban soup with fideos. In this interview, he talks about the rising communist powers inspired by revolutionary Fidel Castro and the events that led his family to place him in the Peter Pan Program in 1961. The Peter Pan Program sent unaccompanied Cuban children to the United States to avoid potential instruction by Castro’s government. Merida still holds on to his mother’s final request upon leaving Cuba-“I want you to remember the address where we live and the phone number: Josefina 68-entre primera y segunda-La Víbora, Havana con el teléfono X4304.” As a part of the Peter Pan Program, Merida experienced a nomadic childhood living in barracks in Miami and a three-story home in Wilmington, DE. The only connection he had to his family were a series of letters he exchanged with his mother, until they reunited years later in Miami. For Merida, life on 79th Street and Biscayne Boulevard in Miami was defined by the values of his family and other Cubans and African Americans in his neighborhood. v Merida earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Florida. He credits his sister-in-law with a pivotal role in his decision to pursue a higher education. His engagement in politics continued through his involvement with the Cuban Circle, the first Hispanic community to be involved with politics in Las Vegas. He describes the migration of Cubans to the casino scene of Las Vegas and the presence of Cubans in the community. His work with the Cuban Circle inspired him to develop a political presence for Hispanics in the community. While travelling across the United States before settling in Las Vegas, Merida made many significant relationships while working with associations such as the Fitchburg Chamber of Commerce and Volunteers in Service to America [VISTA]. Living in Las Vegas, Otto Merida worked as an educator and community organizer. In the late 1970s, Merida and Arturo Cambeiro collaborated to create the Latin Chamber of Commerce of Las Vegas. For Merida, the Chamber consistently goes above and beyond the vision he and Cambeiro had created when they first opened their doors. From the creation of the Latino Youth Leadership Program at UNLV to their work alongside political figures such as Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto, Merida is extremely proud of the various accomplishments of the Chamber. Now as President Emeritus, Otto Merida continues to dedicate himself to the Chamber as a volunteer and serves as one of the many Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada that have shaped the greater Las Vegas community.

On the corner of 7th street and Clark, and beside the tennis courts of Las Vegas Academy, stands the law office of attorney Eva Garcia Mendoza. Eva has worked in her office since 1982, and in this time she has helped the Las Vegas community work through civil and immigration cases besides aiding in a myriad of other ways. Eva Garcia Mendoza was born in 1950, in the town of McAllen, TX-an environment that perpetuated hatred of Mexican Americans. Eva recalls the racism she endured; for instance, being spanked if she spoke Spanish in school, and her family facing job discrimination because of her skin color or her last name. Being an ethnic and financial minority was difficult, and Eva remembers nights as a child when she would cry herself to sleep. Eva showed resilience in the face of adversity as she states, “you rise to the level of your teachers’ expectations.” With the encouragement of her band professor, Dr. L.M Snavely, she began higher education at Pan American College. She moved to Las Vegas in 1971 and began to work before being accepted at UNLV to study Spanish literature. She graduated in the class of 1973. In 1975, Eva applied to become a court interpreter, a decision that would drastically change the trajectory of her career. She earned the coveted position and began to work beside Judge John Mendoza who was the first Latino elected to public office in the state of Nevada. Several years later John and Eva would wed. Judge Mendoza passed away in 2011. Eva talks about how extraordinary his legacy is-from his professional achievements to a story about his v football days and the 1944 Dream Team, this true story even piqued the interest of Hollywood writers. Through her work, Eva began to notice how she was more than qualified to become a lawyer herself, so she applied and gained a full ride scholarship to the Law School of San Diego University. Eva describes the struggles of attending school in San Diego while her spouse and children were home in Las Vegas. Despite the financial difficulties, being one of few minority students, and becoming pregnant her second year, Eva was able to finish her remaining university credits by returning to Las Vegas and working with Judge Mendoza. Together, they started the Latin Bar Association. Eva began her own practice in 1981 and would later partner with Luther Snavely, who was the son of her band teacher that helped her to attend college so many years back. Today, Eva has a new partner at her office and hired her son to work as a secretary. Eva also tells of the office’s mysterious history, of which includes a ghostly figure many clients claimed to have seen in the reception room. Eva recounts many of her professional achievements, such as petitioning to start the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Nevada Chapter, representing celebrities, winning the unwinnable cases such as against the Nevada Test Site. Eva talks about current events, such as today’s immigration laws, the discriminatory practices of revoking birth certificates from those born in Brownsville, TX., and about the importance of the #MeToo movement. Eva and her family have a great fondness for Las Vegas. The support for the Latinx community in Las Vegas greatly contrasts that which she experienced as a child in southern Texas. She describes wanting to take her children and grandchildren to visit her old home in McAllen, TX where her family grew up on the “wrong side of the tracks.”

Interviewed by Claytee White. Rodrigo Vazquez also participated in the questioning. Guadalupe Redmond lived a wonderful life in Mexico while growing up. When Guadalupe was 17, her mother decided to immigrate the family to Las Vegas, Nevada, Guadalupe did not want to move but reluctantly did so. She taught herself English by watching TV. Then she decided she wanted to work and became a guest room attendant working downtown and on the Strip - Sundance (Fitzgerald's, now the D), Stratosphere, Aladdin, Planet Hollywood, Riviera, Hacienda - to name a few. As she moved about, she began to understand the importance of the Culinary Union Local 226. She is now an organizer who in 1989 participated in a 10-month Work and Walk strategy that was successful.

Santo was born in the Bronx, New York in 1937. Santo’s family includes his father who was a butcher, and his mother who mostly stayed at home to raise the children, as well as a brother who currently lives with Santo. Santo recalls that it was great growing up in the Bronx, and he spent most of his life there until he joined the Air Force when he was 17. Santo’s immediate family was not musically oriented, but he learned to play the drums from a cousin. Music came easy for Santo, and he started getting paid for playing when he was 12. At 17, Santo joined the Air Force with a group of friends. He auditioned for and was accepted into the Air Force band where he played drums for four years. Santo was married with a child and another child on the way when he ended his military career and moved to California. After jobs working as a security guard and on an assembly line, Santo knew he just wanted to play and came to Las Vegas in 1960 to play with a band. It took several years before Santo was able to get on with a permanent band. Once Santo broke into the scene in Las Vegas, he played for six years at the Flamingo. Following that he was on the road for a couple of years with Paul Anka. Upon returning to Las Vegas, Santo worked for 14 years at the Sahara. Santo talks about when “the boys” had the hotels before the corporations came in and how everything changed. Currently, Santo does a lot of work with trumpet player Carl Saunders, frequently traveling to Los Angeles to do recordings together.