On December 15, 1975, Patricia Kohlman interviewed Mary Kreuzer (born 1923 in Las Vegas, Nevada) in her home in Las Vegas. The two discuss Kreuzer’s childhood, as well as the different addresses that she’s lived at in Las Vegas. The interview concludes with a discussion on entertainment and small businesses before the population boom in Southern Nevada.
Text
Oral history interview with Rocio Rodríguez-Martinez conducted by Elsa Lopez and Monserrath Hernández on June 21, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Rocio shares her personal history growing up in Bogotá, Colombia and how she immigrated to the United States. She talks about motherhood, her Latina identity, and her experiences raising her daughter in Los Angeles and Las Vegas with her husband. Rocio also discusses her employment history and how she was able to achieve her professional goals of becoming a Spanish and English teacher for the Clark County School District (CCSD)'s Family and Community Engagement Services (FACES) program. Her interview is conducted in Spanish. Subjects discussed include: Bogotá, Colombia; El Salvador; Family and Community Engagement Services (FACES).
Text
Oral history interview with Jessica Hutchings conducted by Barbara Tabach on March 21, 2018 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Jessica Hutchings discusses her experience flying to Las Vegas, Nevada on the night of the October 1, 2017 mass shooting. She speaks of her flight's detour to Phoenix, Arizona, and her discovery of the shooting. Hutchings explains how Congregation Ner Tamid, where she is a cantor, contributed to the community healing after the tragedy, including their organization of vigils, a music fundraiser called "Vegas Strong in Song," and discussing the event with teenage Hebrew School students who had questions and concerns about the shooting.
Text
Sandra Peña’s story begins in East Los Angeles, where she spent her first fifteen years with her parents (both from Michoacán, Mexico), and her younger sister. The father's managerial position at Master Products allowed the family to live rent-free in a company-owned house behind the main factory, because he collected the rents for the company's two other dwellings. In this interview, Peña recalls the family move to Porterville, in California's Central Valley, her return to Los Angeles at nineteen, and her work with Parson’s Dillingham, a contractor for the Metrolink rail system. She draws the link between the Los Angeles and Las Vegas construction communities by describing her husband's move to Las Vegas to find work; a chance Las Vegas encounter with a friend from Chino, California; her ability to gain employment in Las Vegas at Parson’s, a company that had joint ventured with Parson’s Dillingham, and her move from there to Richardson Construction, a local minority-owned company. As Peña says, "It's kind of all intermingled. Even if you go here and you go there, it's like everybody knows everybody." Throughout, Peña weaves her family story into the narrative as she describes her youth, the birth of her son, the illness and death of her father, and her family's participation in her current employment with Richardson. As she remembers the people, places, and events of her life, Peña speaks to the ways one woman of color built on her interstate construction connections and rose in a male-dominated industry.
Text
A resident of Southern Nevada from the age of three, Susan Watson shares her memories of growing up and living in Las Vegas. After a year in Boulder City, Susan's father bought an old army barrack and converted it to a home in North Las Vegas; Susan remembers playing in the desert with her siblings and attending elementary and middle school before starting at Rancho High. Watching her mother design costumes for Strip performers and beautiful dresses for her own high school dances no doubt helped Susan develop her own sense of taste and style - something that she would put to good use over many years as an interior designer. Before that though, Susan shares her memories of what life was like in the Las Vegas of the 1950s and 1960s: cruising Fremont Street; movie nights; after-school work; favorite teachers; lunches on the lawn; and dance club. All combine to paint a vivid picture of a smaller town and a simpler time in the Las Vegas valley.
Text
On March 16, 1975, David P. Wiser interviewed former hair dresser and dealer, Darlene Kelly (born December 1st, 1942 in San Francisco, California) in the collector’s home in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two discuss how Kelly first arrived in Las Vegas, as well as her occupational history. Kelly goes on to describe the Stewart Ranch, as well as the social environment of the forties and fifties in Southern Nevada.
Text
Full interview audio with Mike and Sallie Gordon in March 1977 in which they discuss arriving in Las Vegas and their business enterprises.
Sound