Oral history interview with Ronald (Ron) Tomlin conducted by Claytee D. White on December 20, 2022 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Tomlin recalls growing up as child with his mother, Dorothy Dalton Tomlin, who started the Dotty Dee Dancers in 1952. Ron recalls spending much of his childhood with his grandmother while his mother toured the country with the Dotty Dee Dancers. In 1955, his father, Donald Sherwood Tomlin, opened a clothing store, Scottie's Clothing Store, in the Moulin Rouge shopping strip on the Westside of Las Vegas, where he sold the latest fashion trends to Black men. Ron traveled across country with his parents after high school, helped them run a small resort on the Russian River called the Bohemian Grove, and then began his photography career. Throughout his career as a photographer, he has photographed Mike Tyson, Naomi Campbell, and Elvis. Tomlin also talks about having a passion for dancing, like his mother.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Stanley Paher conducted by Claytee D. White on March 20, 2023 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Paher recalls his childhood, being born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. His family built and owned the Gateway Auto Court, now the Gateway Motel, at the corner of Las Vegas and Charleston Boulevards. After a brief period serving in the United States Navy and obtaining a bachelor's degree, Paher entered the master's program at the University of Nevada, Reno. Paher discusses his love of researching and writing about Nevada ghost towns, including writing his first book on the subject in 1970. He recalls seeing the physical book on the printing press, and talks about the profound impact that moment had on his life. It led to the founding of Nevada Publications, and his involvement with 59 Las Vegas and northern Nevada authors from 1970 through 2023. Paher has written fifteen books on Nevada, Arizona, and California.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Frances Faye on December 30, 1974 with an unknown interviewer for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection.
In this interview, Frances Faye shares memories of performing as a cabaret singer in the 1930s. She talks about her entertaining career at several clubs in New York and various other locations including the Yacht Club, the Hickory House, Club Calet, and other venues. Faye recalls songs she wrote and performances across the United States including those in Chicago, Illinois; Boston, Massachusetts; Las Vegas, Nevada; and various locations within California. Faye reminisces with the interviewer about people they know in show business and briefly recounts a hip injury she sustained at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, causing her to stop performing for over nine years.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Jesse Scott conducted by Claytee D. White on June 29, 2009 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Scott describes growing up in Louisiana and his initial involvement with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as vice president of the youth council. He recalls positions he held beginning in the 1970s with the Las Vegas NAACP branch as an executive director, executive director of the Equal Rights Commission, and later, president of the Las Vegas NAACP.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Viki Richardson conducted by Chuck Williams on July 3, 2013 for the Friends of Red Rock Canyon in Nevada Oral History Project. Richardson begins the interview by talking about her family life and childhood in Oliver Ranch. She describes what her family did at the ranch as caretakers and tells stories when she lived in Blue Diamond Village, Nevada. Lastly, she describes what the town of Blue Diamond was like, and the history and layout of the Oliver Ranch property.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Robert H. Barrett conducted by Robert B. Grzywacz on February 22, 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Barrett discusses the history of early Las Vegas, Nevada in terms of prostitution, education, Carole Lombard's plane crash, and atomic testing at Yucca Flats, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Kit Waldman conducted by Claytee D. White on October 09, 2000 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Waldman begins by describing her early life in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the Great Depression, which forced her family to move to Las Vegas, Nevada due to financial reasons. She discusses life in Las Vegas during the 1930s and 1940s and how the city has changed since then. Waldman also talks about her career working as an assistant at her brother's law firm and being a member in the Jewish community of Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Von Eisinger conducted by Marilyn Eisinger on February 13, 1972 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview Von Eisinger discusses weather conditions of Las Vegas, Nevada, the Hoover Dam, political representation of the different regions within Nevada, hunting, fishing, and labor unions in Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Mahlon Brown conducted by Claytee D. White on December 16, 2003 and January 13, 2004 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Brown discusses his career as a policeman in Washington, D.C., during the 1960s, an attorney in Las Vegas, Nevada along with Jack Anderson in the Las Vegas Welfare Rights Movement, and as a Justice of the Peace.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Archie Curtis conducted by Lawrence R. Biggs on March 07, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Curtis discusses athletics in Nevada, racial discrimination on the Las Vegas, Nevada Strip, social and environmental changes, and the local health effects of the early atomic tests.
Archival Collection