Oral history interview with Patricia Lee conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee White on September 19, 2023 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Lee begins the interview by discussing her childhood in Daegu, South Korea, born to a Black American father and a Korean mother. Patricia Lee arrived in the United States with her parents as a young child when the U.S. Air Force transferred her father to Vandenburg Air Force Base in California. Lee was seven when her father left. With her mother speaking no English, Lee was responsible for her family's food stamps and social services even as they endured serial evictions and homelessness that included a stay in a shelter for abused women. In middle school, Upward Bound was Lee's "game-changer." As she had in high school, Lee immersed herself in student life and academics at the University of Southern California, while also working several jobs. After graduation, she worked at the California Science Center Museum before entering law school at George Washington University. She graduated in May 2002, shortly after the legal profession had lost several top law firms that had been headquartered in New York City's Twin Towers. When she accepted an offer from Las Vegas firm Hutchison & Steffen, she became the firm's first woman attorney and first attorney of color; seven years later, she became the firm's first woman partner and first partner of color. Lee was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Nevada in November 2022 by Governor Steve Sisolak.
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Oral history interview with Dick Franco conducted by Su Kim Chung on July 14, 2021 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Richard Francis or Dick Franco, his stage name by which he is more commonly known, has been juggling for over 50 years, having learned the art while he was still in high school. Taught by prominent juggling legends in Vaudeville and Las Vegas, Franco would go on to perform all over the world. He began as an opening act with the Harlem Globetrotters in the US, but he then traveled Europe and was featured in variety and production shows in Blackpool, London, Monte Carlo, and Berlin among others.
Franco won specialty awards in Monte Carlo and Paris for his juggling prowess. In the US, Franco performed extensively in Las Vegas at the shows Hallelujah Hollywood, Lido de Paris, Folies Bergere and Jubilee. He then performed many shows in Branson, MO before becoming an entertainment agent and producer in Las Vegas. His wife and daughter traveled all over the world with him and both would perform in his acts.
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Oral history interviews with Ida Pinckney conducted by Claytee D. White on August 23, 2012 and November 05, 2012 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Pinckney discusses her personal history and life in Las Vegas, Nevada after moving there with her family as a child in 1942. She begins by talking about her family and living in a tent house in the Westside community of Las Vegas. Pinckney describes how she feels Westside development has been stunted by an overabundance of churches in the area not paying taxes, life in the Westside during the 1940s, and her experiences as an African American woman in Las Vegas. Other topics of discussion include Pinckney being a member of Culinary Workers Union Local 226, her father and brother working at the Nevada Test Site, and various aspects of Las Vegas history. Willie Jean Beatty also participates in the interview, helping Pinckney expand on topics such as the presence of organized crime in casinos and her involvement in the Sisters Network: An Afro-American Breast Cancer Survivors Organization.
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Oral history interview with Claudine Williams conducted by Joanne Goodwin on November 20, 1997 and November 09, 2005 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Goodwin begins the interview by discussing growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana, and how she supported her single mother. She goes on to describe her education and early jobs in restaurants and newsstands in Texas. Goodman then talks about meeting her husband, Shelby Williams, and how she became involved in the gaming industry, including her work with Benny Binion in Dallas, Texas and Jake Freidman in Houston, Texas. She describes moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1963, and how she and Shelby developed the Silver Slipper Casino, which was sold to Howard Hughes, and Holiday Casino, which eventually became Harrah's Hotel and Casino. Williams also speaks about her community involvement, including philanthropic efforts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
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Oral history interview with Kevin Chung conducted by Cecelia Winchell, Stefani Evans, and Jerwin Tiu on December 18, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Kevin Chung discusses his upbringing in Southern Vietnam and how he and his family were forced to leave the country during the Vietnam War. Chung talks about his family's migration to Minnesota and how they adapted to American culture. He shares his educational background, his professional pursuits as a teacher, and the reasons he and his wife decided to move to Las Vegas. Chung reflects on the importance of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) in education with an emphasis on the arts and shares his teaching philosophy. He also gives details of his family's lives and talks about the importance of bringing together his Vietnamese and American cultures to connect the different generations of his family.
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Oral history interview with Jackie Boiman conducted by Barbara Tabach on March 27, 2015 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Boiman discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1985, working in administrative and youth programs positions at local synagogues, and her administrative position at Touro University.
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Oral history interview with Steven Eisen conducted by Barbara Tabach on September 14, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Eisen talks about growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada and being of Jewish ancestry. He also discusses being the CEO of Children’s Heart Center Nevada.
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