Born December 10, 1929, Carmella Antoinette Rickman lived in the Washington, D.C. area for much of her professional career as a burlesque dancer. Her promotional material claimed she was discovered while working as a hostess at a restaurant. She used the stage name Carmella: The Sophia Loren of Berlesk. Under her agent, Sol Goodman, she performed in Washington D.C. and travelled extensively for engagements along the east coast. She also performed internationally in Panama and Canada.
William Carl Geagley was a civilian observer at the Nevada Test Site during Operation Plumbbob from June 8, 1957 to June 30, 1957. Born July 21, 1890, Geagley graduated from Michigan State College in 1913 with a B.S. in Sciences and Agriculture. A high school science and agriculture teacher, he later worked as a chemical researcher and Chief of the Clinical Laboratory Division of the Michigan Department of Agriculture. In the 1950s he was appointed as a regional Civil Defense Coordinator for the Lansing, MI area.
Musician Hyman Gold was born in Cleveland, Ohio on August 26, 1914. A cellist since the age of twelve, Gold attended the Cleveland Institute of Music. He performed with many major symphonies and opera companies throughout the country. He was president of the Gold 'N' Cello Recording Company and performed on many albums.
Dell Ray Rhodes was born February 26, 1947 and was raised in Louisiana. When her grandmother fell ill in 1950, Rhodes’ mother wanted to nurse her and made a temporary visit to Las Vegas, Nevada. She remained, and this is how three-year-old Rhodes came to live in the Las Vegas area. The family resided on the Westside where she attended Westside Elementary School, Madison Elementary School, Jim Bridger Middle School, and graduated from Rancho High School. Rhodes married young and worked a variety of jobs between the births of her seven children.
Louis Wiener, Sr. ( -1946) was a tailor and prominent community member in Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1930s and 1940s. He moved to Las Vegas from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1931 and established a tailor shop on Fremont Street. Wiener died of a heart attack in 1946. His son was prominent attorney Louis Wiener, Jr.
Wiener, Jr., Louis. Interview, 1990 February 23. Transcript. OH-01974. Oral History Research Center, Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mirna Preciado was born July 21, 1956 and raised in Tijuana, Mexico. When her family decided to immigrate in 1980, she decided to reach for her American dream. Preciado’s husband wanted her to be a stay-at-home mom, but the idea of working and buying her own bread intrigued her. She became a waitress at the new Margarita’s Restaurant in the Frontier Hotel. Though she liked her work, she was bothered by the other workers with requests to join the Culinary Union Local 226. Soon, those workers became her guardian angels.
Wendy Starkweather was born July 1, 1949 and was raised in rural Ogdensburg, New York. She attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York and became a teacher and librarian in New Hampshire. She married her husband, Peter, on August 26, 1972 in Schenectady, New York and the couple moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1978.
Dr. Darville Knowles was born September 11, 1948 in Miami, Florida. His mother and father were schoolteachers in Dade County, Florida. After their divorce in 1962, Knowles’ mother relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada with her two sons and took a teaching position there. Knowles graduated from college and attended Howard University and Stanford University Medical School and completed his internship at the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, Missouri. Dan Wilkes, a family friend and pathologist in Las Vegas, convinced Knowles to look at Las Vegas for job opportunities.
Sidney Roxton Whitmore is the son of Roxton and Adella Whitmore. He was born in St. Thomas, Nevada on December 31, 1921. He graduated from Overton High School and served in the Army during World War II. He met and married his wife, Suzette Fortune Ziza, in 1946 while stationed in Algeria. After the war, the couple returned to the United States and Whitmore earned his law degree at George Washington University. He practiced law in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas City Commission appointed him city attorney in 1960 and he was later reelected.