On March 19, 1978, Philip John Mile interviewed former chef, Harold R. Hunter (born 1901 in Norwich, Kansas) about his life in Southern Nevada. Hunter discusses his different experiences working in early Las Vegas restaurants during the thirties and forties. Hunter also discusses the rapid growth of the Mormon community during this time.
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Interviewed by Layne Karafantis; Genevieve "Gene" Segerblom contributed in a multitude of ways to her home of more than fifty years--Boulder City, Nevada. She is a third-generation Nevadan and was born in Ruby Valley, Nevada, in 1918. Gene and her future husband Clifford moved from Reno where they both had attended the University of Nevada, Reno to Boulder City in 1940. After they came back from Panama in 1948 where Clifford had a photographing assignment, she ran a day care center and did freelance writing of articles about the Nevada landscape with her husband providing the photographs. Gene taught high school in Boulder City. She was elected city councilwoman in Boulder City in 1979. Gene served four terms in the State Assembly from 1993 to 2000. Her grandfather was a state senator and her mother was an assemblywoman. Today her son Richard "Tick" Segerblom serves in the State Assembly, so they are the only family to have had four generations serve in the Nevada legislature. She was involved in the creation and restoration of the Boulder City Hotel and Museum and was involved in the American Association of University Women, the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce, and the Community Club. Gene did charity work for other groups. too. The theater in the Boulder Dam Museum was named the Segerblom Theatre in her honor. She passed away on January 4, 2013, at the age of 94.
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On February 12, 1975, collector Marilyn Swanson interviewed housewife, Mrs. Helen H. Holmes (born Helen Hanson on February 24th, 1906, in Harrison, Nebraska) in her home in Boulder City, Nevada. This interview covers the social, economic, and environmental changes that occurred in Boulder City from 1931 to 1975. Mrs. Holmes also discusses home and family life in Nevada.
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In this interview, Mike and Susan Baller reflect upon their lives in Las Vegas, from growing up as teenagers amongst the tight-knit Jewish community, to mob influence on the city, and the impact of the city's growth. Mike shares stories about first arriving in Las Vegas to live, being a teenaged busboy at Binions Horseshoe to being related to Moe Dalitz -- in Michigan Mike drove a truck for the Dalitz dry cleaning business.
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On June 24, 1975, collector Donna Mattson interviewed native Nevadan mechanic, Stephen La Thair Hawley, (born October 15th, 1936, in Ely, Nevada) in his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. This interview offers a historical overview of early Las Vegas including gambling and an in-depth discussion on local economic, environmental, and social changes.
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Oral history interview with Benilda Long Somes conducted by Vincent Long on November 29, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Benilda discusses her life in Magalang, Philippines and her immigration to Saipan, part of the Northern Mariana Islands, as a young woman. She talks about meeting her partner, airman Robert Long, the birth of their son, and Robert's untimely death in an air crash less than a year later. Benilda shares how she and her child immigrated to the United States to be with family and their move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2009.
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Oral history interview with Jeanettee L. Del Rosario conducted by Alessandra Del Rosario on December 6, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Jeanettee Del Rosario talks about her family life with nine siblings and her upbringing in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan province, Philippines. She shares her educational background in hotel and restaurant management and, after immigrating to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2006, the different hotel positions she has held in the city. Jeanettee Del Rosario discusses the process of immigration, language barriers, and missing her family in the Philippines. She also talks about Filipino traditions of respect, barangay fiestas, cultural foods, and religion.
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Oral history interview with Isaac Barrón conducted by Maribel Estrada Calderón and Claytee D. White on March 27, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Isaac Barrón was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. His father entered the United States as a Bracero. Barrón attended Rancho High School and earned his bachelor's degree in secondary education from UNLV. He currently teaches history at Rancho High School and serves as North Las Vegas' Councilman. In this oral history, Barrón recalls his youth in North Las Vegas, navigating the presence of gangs, and his path to being a community activist and advocate for North Las Vegas youth. He has led volunteer efforts for community improvement projects, including the plans for a new public library. He holds the distinction of being the first Latinx member of the North Las Vegas City Council and Southern Nevada's first Hispanic Mayor Pro Tempore. In 2013, he was elected to represent Ward 1 and was reelected for a second term in April 2017. He discusses being Mexican American, the Coalition of Pan American Organizations, the Hispanic Student Union, the Bracero Program, and Rancho High School.
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Liliam Lujan Hickey is best known in the state of Nevada for being the first Hispanic woman elected to the State Board of Education as well as for the enormous contributions she made while serving from 1998 to 2000. For this, an elementary school in Clark County bears her name. Despite many obstacles, Liliam has continually dedicated herself to standing up for the causes she believes in, such as providing preschool education to the underprivileged, preparing youth to enter the workforce, helping other Hispanics run for office, and proving that with enough courage anyone can accomplish their dreams. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1932, Liliam led a sheltered life that revolved mostly around her studies at a French Dominican school. She met her first husband, Enrique Lujan, when she was only sixteen and they wed soon after. Enrique was twelve years her senior, owned many casinos on the island, and provided a luxurious existence for Liliam and their three children. However, this lifestyle abruptly changed when Castro assumed power in 1959 and Liliam and her family were compelled to relocate to the United States. In Miami, Enrique assisted other refugees financially, hoping that his wealth would remain secure in Cuba. He was wrong. This left the family destitute. In addition to casinos, Enrique had been Cuba?s coach for the Olympics. He moved the family to York, Pennsylvania, where he hoped to find work at the York Barbell Company. Liliam, who had been accustomed to having maids and nannies in Cuba, found herself doing all the housework while she also worked in a factory. The change could not have been more dramatic and the living conditions became unbearable. The family chose to move to San Diego in a Volkswagen Minivan with the hope for a better life. The next few years brought many transitions. Things did turn around in San Diego, and Liliam she recalls her years in southern California as some of the happiest of her life. Liliam found a job working at the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla. After a few years, Enrique found a job in Las Vegas and the family moved again. In Las Vegas, Liliam gave birth to her fourth child, Mary, and life once again became financially difficult for the family. In 1972, the situation grew worse with Enrique?s untimely death. Liliam was a widow at forty years of age. She had to teach herself how to drive a car, write checks, and perform financial tasks that Enrique had insisted on managing while he was alive. Determined not to give up, however, she worked tirelessly to keep the family together. Amidst all this, a friend introduced Liliam to Tom Hickey, and after a brief courtship they were married in 1981. Within a few years, Liliam became active in politics, running for the State Board of Education. Her campaign manager advised her that voters would not be receptive to photos of a Hispanic woman on billboards, and to capitalize on the name “Hickey,” which was a recognizable name because her husband was an assemblyman. She took the manager?s advice and was elected in that campaign and for two more terms, the maximum limit for the office. After the first race, she proudly displayed her face on billboards across the state. During her time at the State Board of Education, Liliam dedicated herself to helping all children receive a better education in Nevada, not only Hispanics. She co-founded the Classroom on Wheels [COW] program, which brought buses to poor neighborhoods to provide pre-school education. She established Career Day, which pairs high schools students with business professionals in an effort to help them make the transition into the workforce. While the COW program is no longer running, 8 Career Day still operates and awards scholarships in Liliam?s name annually, which helps youth receive the educational opportunities they need to succeed. And she involved Hispanic youth in Boy Scouts by bringing ScoutReach to the Las Vegas valley. Lujan Hickey worked in a wide array of other community organizations. In the 1970s, she began to work with Circulo Cubano, which later became the Latin Chamber of Commerce, and she would later belong to the National Chamber of Commerce. A longstanding member of the League of Women Voters, Liliam saw the need to get Hispanics more involved in politics in the state. Her story is one of great inspiration, and when asked why she does it, she simply replies with a smile, “I love life.” Hickey?s narrative offers the reader a glimpse of the experiences of the Cuban refugee experience in the U.S. in general. Specific to Las Vegas, it provides a rare story of the experiences of early Latinas in the political and economic development of Las Vegas in the last half of the twentieth century.
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Oral history interview with Krystal Ramirez conducted by Monserrath Hernández and Barbara Tabach on October 30, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Krystal talks about her personal history growing up in Texas and spending summers with her family in Mexico. She shares her thoughts about how Las Vegas has changed and how she has contributed to the city's art scene as a staff photographer for Vegas Seven (a local magazine), the New York Times, and the Marjorie Barrick Museum. Subjects discussed include: Texas; Chihuahua, Mexico; Latinx Identity; Vegas Seven; Beat Coffee House; Downtown Las Vegas.
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