Oral history interview with Arlene Blut conducted by Barbara Tabach on May 28, 2015 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Blut discusses her involvement in local and national arts, being an actor and promoter/director of theater events, and recalls her experiences in Las Vegas, Nevada’s Jewish community.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Craig Palacios conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee White on September 27, 2016 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. Palacios discusses his childhood in Las Vegas, Nevada and his early career in construction. He also talks about working as an architect, forming Bunnyfish Studio, and the Maryland Parkway architectural project.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Harold R. Hunter conducted by Philip John Mile on March 19, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Hunter discusses his different experiences working in early Las Vegas, Nevada restaurants during the 1930s and 1940s. Hunter also discusses the rapid growth of the Mormon community during this time.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Byrde Rafael conducted by Cheryl Stewart on February 14, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Rafael describes the Stewart Ranch and "Grandma Stewart's" collection of Native American baskets. Rafael also discusses the crash of Carole Lombard's plane, nuclear testing, and the development of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Burton Cohen conducted by Claytee D. White on July 9, 2013 as part of the UNLV Boyd Law School project, UNLV Gaming Law Journal. In this interview, casino executive Burton Cohen begins with his early life in Miami, Florida where he “fell in love with the hotel business” while working in his father’s hotel as a boy. He recounts how he abandoned his law career to return to the hotel business and how he came to Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1960s to build up and manage operations at The Frontier. Cohen discusses his long career as a chief operating officer, touching briefly on some of the hotel/casinos that he helped launch and oversee in Las Vegas, including The Frontier, Circus Circus, Flamingo, Caesars Palace, the Desert Inn, and the Dunes. Cohen discusses some of the major changes that have occurred over the years in hotel/casino management and expresses respect for some of his contemporaries in the hotel industry such as Kirk Kerkorian, Billy Weinberger, and Gary Loveman.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Bruce Isaacson conducted by Barbara Tabach on March 24, 2017 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Isaacson talks about growing up in Oakland, California, being the son of a secular Jewish father and Pentecostal mother. He also discusses his career in finance, real estate, and as a published poet in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Carol Harter conducted by Claytee D. White on June 18, 2021 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project.
Carol Harter is the longest-serving President of UNLV, from 1995 until 2006. The campus experienced unprecedented growth during that time, including the addition of a new, very large library. Harter grew the campus from 19,000 to 28,000 students, added 23 new or completely renovated buildings to the campus, and with a student-centered focus, added more than 100 new degree programs. Two professional schools, the Dental School and Boyd School of Law, added greatly to the prestige and academic Top Tier status of UNLV.
Her partnership with Glenn Schaeffer, former president of the Mandalay Resort Group, assisted in the early work of the Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Modern Letters program. BMI is an international think tank dedicated to advancing literary and cross-cultural dialogue. This was an important goal to Harter and Schaeffer, who were both literature majors. Harter also discusses many community members who made an impact on UNLV including Joe Crowley and Dr. Juanita Fain.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Blair Hale conducted by Emily Powers on June 16, 2008 for the Heart to Heart Oral History Project. Hale discusses practicing dentistry in Las Vegas, Nevada for over thirty years, teaching at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas dental clinic one day a week, and the future of health care in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Robert A. Lynn conducted by Lisa Gioia-Acres on January 29, 2007 for the UNLV @ 50 Oral History Project. In this interview, Lynn discusses his background, education in Las Vegas, Nevada, his parents and siblings, his military career, and his professional and work training that prepared him for his first position as a groundskeeper at UNLV in 1986. He continues to discuss his career at UNLV as he rose from groundskeeper to Ground Facilities Supervisor, mentioning various project highlights, construction projects, and his supervisory style that helped create a close-working team.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Maila Aganon conducted by Kristel Peralta, Cecilia Winchell, and Stefani Evans on June 10, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Maila Aganon discusses her childhood, family upbringing, and immigration to the United States from the Philippines when she was a college student. She shares how her parents moved to Las Vegas first and Maila followed a decade later, investing in real estate and eventually taking up permanent residence. Maila talks about her employment history with Allstate Insurance, Bank of America, AAA, Caesars Entertainment, and finally Aon as a Senior Vice President. She also shares her thoughts on the growth of Las Vegas and the growth of the Asian community and cultural influence within the city.
Subjects discussed include: anti-Asian violence; Filipino grocery stores; Filipino foods; remote work.
Archival Collection