Oral history interview with Juanita Gusewelle conducted by Nita Kreuzer on March 06, 1976 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Gusewelle discusses life during World War I and II, the effects of the Great Depression, Nellis Air Force Base, Helldorado Days, and political changes in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Arlone Scott conducted by Glen Ette Davis on July 03, 1975. Scott discusses her experiences in inter-racial relations carried on by various Black and White churches in Las Vegas, Nevada. Scott then talks about job opportunities for minorities and the importance of the Culinary Workers Union. She also talks about how segregation and discrimination affected entertainment for Blacks and limited them to seeking recreation in West Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Charles Hunsberger conducted by Ann Langevin in 2010 for StoryCorp. Hunsberger was a former director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. Also included with the interview are notes of support and encouragement to Hunsberger from former colleagues and friends in honor of his 90th birthday. Digital audio available; no transcript available.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Robert W. Maichle conducted by Jeff van Ee on April 17, 2010 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project.
In this interview, Robert Maichle shares details of his childhood growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada, the openness of the valley before major city development, and the animals and flora that inhabited the region. He talks briefly about his education at Nevada Southern University (now the University of Nevada, Las Vegas) in the early 1960s and his accolades and environmental engagements in Las Vegas serving the Resource Advisory Council to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Southern Nevada Conservation Council, and the Nevada Wildlife Federation, among other organizations. Maichle discusses how he helped draft the first map outlining public lands for sale, his involvement in establishing wilderness protection for Las Vegas lands, and his work to keep the MX Missile System out of the state of Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history presentation by Clement "Clem" Bernier for an unidentified audience of students, approximately 1977. In his presentation, Bernier identifies himself as a "hotel man" and explains that he has been general manager of the Hacienda Hotel and Casino for a year and considered it a very different challenge to his earlier years in hotel management. He discusses how he became a hotel general manager, the work involved in learning the trade, and the differences between managing a regular hotel and managing a hotel and casino. He also asks and takes questions from the audience.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Lee Washington conducted by Aleya Ford Wheaton on November 30, 2014 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Washington discusses his personal history, moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1963, and his initial reactions to the city. He talks about his employment at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino as well as joining the Culinary Workers Union in 1974. Washington then describes church activity that he and his family were involved in at Most High Church and his church's significance to the West Las Vegas community. Lastly, he talks about the development and growth of businesses on the Westside.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Francisco Miranda conducted by Claytee D. White on January 28, 2022 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, describes his large family and growing up on the Eastside of Las Vegas and spending summers in Mexico on the family farm. Miranda is an organizer, business agent, and political coordinator for the Teamsters Union. He describes coming from a "union family" - his mother in Culinary and father in the Laborers Union. He shares how despite not completing high school, he started at the Teamsters in 2014, soon became a shop steward, and in 2016 when a 10-week stike was called, he worked as strike captain coordinating the line of picketers. Afterwards, he became Chief Steward and was then hired to work with the Teamsters.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Kelly Benavidez conducted by Maribel Estrada Calderón on January 29, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Laurents Bañuelos-Benitez also participates in the questioning. Kelly Benavidez is originally from San Francisco, California. Benavidez arrived in Las Vegas after her family spent two years in Mexico so her and her brother could learn Spanish. Benavidez and her family have remained in Las Vegas ever since. Kelly attended Area Technical Trade School for hotel management, and was then recruited by Mesa State College in Colorado. She currently works for Commissioner Lawrence Weekly. Her list of community involvement is extensive: Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Board, the Fernando Vargas Foundation, Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce, Hispanics in Politics, Latina Network, among others. Subjects discussed include: Las Vegas, Commissioner Weekly, New York New York construction accident, and Spanish Language.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with John Pocock conducted by Jeffrey J. Wild on March 08, 1976 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Pocock describes his history as an Irish immigrant, his move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1950, and life in the city during the 1950s. He discusses housing availability in Las Vegas and the development of the city, including the construction of casinos which he claims encouraged the growth of Las Vegas. He talks about working in a casino that eventually became the Sands Hotel and Casino, organized crime in Las Vegas, and the future of the city. Pocock concludes by discussing how Las Vegas and the quality of its customer service in casinos has changed, his recreational activities, and nuclear weapons testing.
Archival Collection