Joyce Moore's family moved to Las Vegas from Chicago in 1953, when she was eight years old. She attended Rancho High School, married and had three daughters, and currently lives in Las Vegas. Joyce's father was in the gaming industry and her mother was a nurse. Growing up in Las Vegas meant going to shows with her mother, spending summer days in the pool at the Showboat Hotel, and riding horses to the Last Frontier. While a teenager at Rancho High school, Joyce worked at several movie theaters including the Huntridge, went to school dances and marched in the Hellodorado Parade. After her divorce, Joyce returned to work to support herself and her children, first at the Daily Fax then later on the Strip at the Aladdin and Circus, Circus doing a variety of office and accounting jobs. As a lark she and a friend applied to work as cocktail waitresses at the MGM; she was hired and spent the next five years in a job that was by turns interesting, exhausting, frustrating and fun. This interview covers several periods of Joyce's life - her childhood, teen years, and early adult life - and what it was like to grow up, live and work in Las Vegas in from the mid-1950s until the mid-1970s.
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Interviewed by Maribel Estrada Calderón. Farmersville is described as a small town between, Exeter and Visalia, California populated by Mexican American farm workers. It is in this small town, where UNLV History Professor Maria Raquél Casas spent her childhood raised along with her sisters and brothers. In her interview, Dr. Casas describes how growing up in this small town with her traditional Mexican family influenced the person she is today. While working alongside her family in the fields, Dr. Casas decided that she would strive to obtain an education. Through hard work and constant support from her sister, Dr. Casas attended Fresno State, where she discovered her love for history. Upon completing her undergraduate program, Dr. Casas made the decision to further her education by pursuing a master's at Cornell University. At Cornell, she faced discouraging professors who believed she would not be able to complete the master's program let alone pursue a PhD program. Despite these demoralizing professors, Dr. Casas completed her program and was admitted into University of California Santa Barbara's history program. Dr. Casas never forgot her roots or the significance of her presence in the majority white academic spaces she attended during her academic journey. When she arrived at UNLV, she continued to strive for more Latino representation in both the student population and in the school faculty. During her tenure at UNLV, Dr. Casas has served as an advisor for multiple Latino student organizations including MEChA and SoL. Dr. Casas has witnessed much progress in Latino representation at UNLV, but she believes there is still much work left to be accomplished.
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Interviewed by Elsa Lopez. Abraham Gomez is a College Navigator for the Nevada Treasurer's Office where he is responsible for providing and distributing information on post-secondary resources that may enable Nevadans to go to college. Gomez was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada and grew up on the East Side near Desert Pines High School. He received an Associate of Arts from the College of Southern Nevada before obtaining a bachelor's degree in Communication Studies from the University of Nevada, Reno. After graduating he worked as a GEAR UP Ambassador for Nevada State College where he advised a cohort of 46 low-income students on the importance of continuing their education. He has volunteered with various organizations throughout Southern Nevada and continues to work to better his community and make education accessible to students everywhere.
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Jim Hodge describes an active and success filled life in this narrative. Born and raised in the South, Jim enlisted in the Navy at the young age of 17, just as World War II was winding down. His primary job was that of a cook. He became smitten with the life of an entertainer after participating in a play and headed for Hollywood in 1952. It was there that he auditioned for Donn Arden, who organized and directed Las Vegas shows. Though he didn't get the part, he did get hired to be a singer for a show featuring Betty Grable. Thus his career was launched and would span the heyday of Las Vegas entertainment from the 1950s to the 1970s. Jim talks about the people, shows and places that touched his life. He also offers thoughts about the changes in the Vegas entertainment scene as well as shares his relationship with his church over the past 40 years.
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The oral history interview of Lyle and Mary Ann "Timbuck" Rivera begins with the 1915 birth of Frances McNamee, Timbuck's mother, who had the distinction of being the eleventh baby born in early Las Vegas. Frances' father and grandfather who were attorneys for the railroad arrived in 1905 and became part of the historical roots of the community. Timbuck's memories also include landmarks and activities that were integral to the growing town, such as her mother's involvement in organizing the Junior League. Lyle Rivera, a relative newcomer, arrived in the 1940s and experienced what he describes as a life of "bouncing around" and being the only child of a single mother, a cocktail waitress at the Golden Nugget. Lyle would grow to distinguish himself within the community as a lawyer and community activist. He modestly mentions his achievements which included involvement with the UNLV Foundation, professional careers in both the Attorney General's and District Attorney's offices,
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Betty [Rosenthal] Bunch began dancing as a child. By the time she was nine years old she decided she would have a dancing career. At 18 years she began to work in stock theatre productions. Within a short time, she had joined the Moro-Landis dancers. She landed her first job in Las Vegas in 1956 at the Sahara Hotel as part of the opening line for Donald O'Connor. Following the Sahara, she worked as a dancer at the Riveria, and then returned to the Moulin Rouge in Hollywood. In 1961 while vacationing in Las Vegas, she landed a job dancing at the Dunes. She continued to dance, sing and do comedy until after the birth of her second child. At that time, she retired from the Las Vegas showroom, but not from show business. Her involvement in both film and stage has remained rich and varied. This interview focuses on the time Betty spent performing on the Las Vegas strip, including her long involvement with the acclaimed afternoon show Bottoms Up. The interview provides information on workin
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On March 6, 1977, Ronald Robinson interviewed Mary Ellen Campbell (born 1886 in Panaca, Nevada) about her life in Nevada. Campbell first talks about her parents’ move to the United States from England and her own life growing up in Panaca. She also talks about living in Pioche and the conditions of living in these two small Nevada towns. Also present during the interview is Mary’s grandson, Allen Campbell, who sometimes asks a few questions as well.
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On March 2, 1980, Steven E. Pilgram interviewed river runner, Georgie Clark (born on November 13, 1910 in Chicago, Illinois) at Sambo’s Coffee Shop in Las Vegas, Nevada. This interview is an in-depth discussion about the Colorado River area, including changes, and new rules and regulations. Georgie also recalls working as a real estate agent and as a ferry command, civil servant in World War II.
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Gwendolyn K. Walker arrived in North Las Vegas in 1962 from Houston, Texas, as a five-year-old with her parents, two brothers, and her cousins. The Walker family at first moved to a rented house on D Street, and Gwen attended Kit Carson Elementary School for first grade. Her mother enrolled in nursing school, so she sent Gwen back to Delhi, Louisiana, to be raised by her grandmother. In Delhi Gwen picked cotton with her aunt while she was in the second grade. Gwen returned to North Las Vegas to live with her mother and complete elementary school at Jo Mackey before matriculating to J. D. Smith Elementary School for junior high school and then to Clark High School. Later she attended UNLV. Gwen and her mother joined Saint James Catholic Church at H Street and Washington Avenue, but after she returned from Delhi she joined Second Baptist Church, where she became close with a cohort of friends that remained strong even as she experienced racism and bullying and love for the first time.
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The Elizabeth von Till and Claude N. Warren Professional Papers (1916-2021) are comprised of the personal and professional papers of anthropologist Claude N. Warren and historical preservationist Elizabth von Till Warren. The materials in this collection primarily consist of research files, maps, and drawings on various archaeological and historical preservation projects in southern Nevada of which they both were involved. This collection includes field notes and surveys from archaeological projects such as the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort and the Las Vegas Springs Preserve. Records on von Till Warren's involvement with the Old Spanish Trail Association, Southern Nevada Historical Society, and historic preservation work around southern Nevada are represented. Also included are Robert H. Crabtree's archaeological research files, a colleague of Claude Warren who bequeathed his professional files to him upon his death.
Archival Collection