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.
The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Theta Theta Omega (AKA TTO) Chapter records (1965-2020) are comprised of organizational records, conference programs, digitized copies of the chapter's scrapbooks, and copies of Ivy Leaf, the organization’s national newsletter. The records include chapter and committee agendas and meeting minutes, Far Western Regional Conference reports, and fliers for events hosted by AKA TTO. Also included are archived web captures of AKA TTO's website and digital audio and video files for the chapter's oral history project interviewing Charter, Golden, and Silver members from 2019 to 2020.
The Wilson Family Papers (1875-1918) document the personal and professional lives of James B. Wilson Sr., James B. Wilson Jr., and George Twison "Tweed" Wilson, early pioneers in Southern Nevada. The collection is comprised of personal correspondence, invoices and advertisements from the Wilson family business, the Sandstone Ranch, and photographs of the extended Wilson family.
The Strutt Hurley Collection on the Southern Nevada Pride Association, Inc. (SNAPI) and Las Vegas Pride (1989-2000) contains materials collected and produced by Strutt Hurley during her tenure as Director of Entertainment of SNAPI. Materials include meeting minutes, advertising contracts, Las Vegas Pride programs, and ephemera collected from Pride celebrations in Las Vegas, Nevada and other parts of the United States and the world.
Architect Paul Senzaki, and artist-illustrator Charlie White III recall their experiences of working in Las Vegas: Paul on Treasure Island, The Palms, Fremont Street Experience, and World Market Center and Charlie on Treasure Island and its successor, TI; New York New York. Architectural historian Alan Hess, who is an expert on Las Vegas architecture, offers historical context and asks pertinent questions. While this interview touches on several iconic Las Vegas buildings, the conversation mostly details why and how Steve Wynn's Treasure Island involved the labors of artists, illustrators, art directors, and designers of stage and screen as well as the those of architects, contractors, planners, and subcontractors.
Joanna Kishner epitomizes the native Southern Nevada who was raised in both a Jewish and secular world of Las Vegas. A daughter of Ellen Neafsey Jobes and Irwin Kishner, she was born in 1964 and graduated from Clark High School in 1982. As she recalls, the halls of Clark High School witnessed a stellar cast of characters in the early 1980s, from future casino executives, to additional judges, to comedian Jimmy Kimmel. Judge Kishner earned a double major in Political Science and Psychology from Claremont McKenna College (1986) and graduated from UCLA School of Law (1989.) She remained in California and worked as senior counsel for Warner Brothers, a division of Time-Warner Entertainment Company and was also an associate with the multi-national firm Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker. In time, she felt the tug to return to her childhood roots in Las Vegas. She and her husband were married at Temple Beth Sholom, where she had her bat mitzvah and raises her own children in the Jewish tradition. Judge Kishner has been recognized for her legal work throughout the years, this includes pro bono work for disadvantaged children through the Children’s Attorney Project. When she set her sights on becoming a judge, she was joined by her young family as she knocked on thousands of doors to introduce herself and her passion for justice. In 2010, she was elected to Department XXXI of the Eighth Judicial District.