Transcript of interview with Beverly Mason by Claytee White, December 21, 2012. Mason grew up in West Las Vegas and was part of the school integration movement in the 1970s. Her involvement in the Las Vegas School System has continued throughout her life. In the interview, she discusses her family and faith, and working at the Nevada Test Site. Beverly attended Whittier College in California, where she majored in Biology. She later received her Masters in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix. She brought her experience back to Nevada and went to work for the Nevada Test Site as an industrial hygienist. She chose to leave that job to focus on her family, and found a new career in the School Community Partnership Office as a program manager. She focuses on connecting students with professionals in the science, math, and technology fields to bolster interest in those careers. Beverly has always been involved in her community and her church. Beverly attended the Church of God in Christ when she was growing up, and continues to participate in services today. Her family and her faith are extremely important parts of her life. She is married to Marcus Mason and has a daughter named Cassidy.
Las Vegas School Class of 1929, 50th Reunion banquet at the Showboat Hotel, May 5, 1979. Pictured are: Front row: Left to Right: Iris Nay Rester, Catherine Mosbach Phillipe, Jewel French Nolen, Helen Garner Van Waggenen, Frances Martin Donnelly, Doris Kramer Lumsden, Eloda George Lynch, Marjorie Gifford Adams, Emma Jean Potter Schofield. Back Row: left to right: Wendell Bunker, Helen Craner Fuller, Mona Kay Hill, Theo Pockard, Lawrence Higbee, Rowland Haney, Dorothy Buzick Culley, James Down, Lucille McKenzie Down, Elizabeth Von Tobel Zahn, Joseph Phillips, Carol Williams Pierce, Bert Begley, Arlene Stewart Potter, Grace Dimick Barfield, Howard McMullen, Yvonne Lodwick Bartlett, Mary Stockburger Noblittt. Site Name: Showboat Hotel and Casino (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Gordon Smith was born in Utah, but moved with his family to Babbitt, Nevada in 1947. His father, a barber, moved the family to Las Vegas in 1955. In this interview, Gordon recalls school and after-school pursuits; changes in the town; summer jobs; and college. He also talks about his military service and returning to Las Vegas to take up the razor himself - starting a successful barbering business of over 30 years.
Patrick “Pat” Anthony McCarran (1876-1954) was a United States senator who was significant in Nevada’s politics for more than fifty years. He was a supporter of the aviation industry as well, lobbying for the construction of the Nellis Air Force Base. McCarran was one of the few Democrats who opposed President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was also known to be a passionate anti-Communist.
The Hotel Sahara float entry in the Helldorado Parade, May 1958. The float is titled "Hotel Sahara Toasts Wondrous Women." Smaller sections of the float are names "Birth of Venus" featuring a woman seated in a large clam shell that is being pulled by a large seahorse. The main portion of the float features three women seated beneath a large champagne glass, and a fourth woman seated on a large throne made of flowers. A side section of the float is titled "Joan of Arc," but the woman is obscured behind the horse sculpture she is riding. They are in front of the Boulder Club, located at 118 Fremont Street. The Boulder Club was in operation from 1931-1960. A sign on the Boulder Club reads ""Farmer" Page - Enjoy the Old West - Jackpots, Craps, Bar, Keno, Roulette, Twenty-One." They have just passed Joe W. Brown's Horseshoe Club (in operation from 1935-1958), located 128 Fremont Street at the corner of Fremont Street and 2nd Street. The Hotel Apache and the Fremont Casino are visible in the background.