Dr. Neal J. Smatresk was appointed president of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Aug. 6, 2009. Under his direction, UNLV has hit a number of milestones and academic achievements, positioning the university as a leader in the dynamic Intermountain West.
Gus Mancuso (Ronald Bernard Mancuso), a talented impresario, was born in Spangler, Pennsylvania in 1933. Gus grew up in Hastings, Pennsylvania as the youngest of nine children. His father, an immigrant from Italy, Joseph Mancuso, owned multiple businesses and his mother, Josephine Ceranni toiled as a stay at home mother. Despite his father’s businesses, the family struggled financially. By the eighth grade Gus moved to Rochester, New York, where his mother joined him, after his parents separated.
The Carratelli Family Collection on Gay Rights in Nevada (1992-2002) consists of documents and ephemera from various gay rights organizations and events in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to documents, fliers, and meeting minutes, the collection houses a box of t-shirts from various gay events and campaigns. The collection is especially focused on issues of Gay Pride organizing.
The collection consists of seven numbered art prints, hand signed by Arizona artist, Erni Cabat, with accompanying certificates of authenticity. The prints were created from original gouache paintings of scenes from casino life, and distributed by Nevada Magazine to mark the 50th anniversary of gambling in Nevada in 1981.
The Billie Milton Grace Photograph Collection, approximately 1948 to 1960, consists of twenty black-and-white photographic prints and negatives depicting images of downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, the annual Helldorado Parade, the Marion Hicks family, local labor union dinners, Thunderbird Hotel employees, and various hotels and casinos.
On March 19, 1978, Russell L. Ellis interviewed former postal worker, Ray Christian (born 1927 in Las Vegas, Nevada). The two discuss Ray’s family history and his experiences as a Black man in early Las Vegas. Ray Christian compares the experiences of his childhood with that of his children in Las Vegas. The interview concludes with Christian expressing how Las Vegas has grown and that there are more opportunities available for his children to pursue.
Interviewed by Elsa Lopez. Sam Diaz was born in Los Angeles California, but was raised in Chula Vista, California. He is a police officer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and has worked for LVMPD since 2007. He has served in in the U.S. Air Force Reserves since 2008, and served in the U.S. Air Force from 2001 to 2007. Diaz describes his multi-cultural upbringing and growing up in such close proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border. He describes his passion for serving which he had since a young age. He describes his incorporation within every community he has been a part of and talks about the ways he has worked to serve the Las Vegas community since moving here in 2007. He recounts the tragic night of 1 October, the mass shooting that occurred during the Route 91 Harvest music festival on October 1st, 2017 on the Las Vegas Strip. He talks about the various changes that happened within LVMPD since 1 October, and changes that he has seen in the Latinx community throughout the Las Vegas Valley. Diaz also describes the process of adopting two children and raising a multi-racial family with his wife in Las Vegas.