The Harrah’s Entertainment Corporate Archives (dating from 1811 to 2004 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1940 to 2000) contain the promotional and corporate files of Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. and its predecessors, as well as Bill Harrah’s personal papers and card game collection. The materials were compiled and developed as a corporate archive by Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.’s Corporate Communications Department. The collection is primarily comprised of casino and employee periodicals, reports, manuals, promotional files, ephemera, and newspaper articles that document Bill Harrah’s casinos in Reno, Nevada and Lake Tahoe as well as Harrah’s Inc., Holiday Inns, Inc., Holiday Corporation, the Promus Companies, and Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. Also included are photographs that document the construction of Harrah’s properties, business operations, the people who worked and performed at Harrah’s properties, and Bill Harrah’s automobile collection. The collection also contains Bill Harrah’s collection of playing cards and card games. Also included are photographs of the Harrah family.
I've known Christie Young for many years and was grateful she agreed to be interviewed for the Las Vegas Gay Archives Oral History Project. Not only is she frank in what she says, but her background as a researcher in sexual issues and as a straight woman involved in the gay community give her a unique perspective. Ancillary to her donation of this interview transcript to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Christie has generously donated her personal journals which detail more than a decade of her life including the years she worked with Las Vegas's gay community . Christie shares the project's concern that documentation of the gay community is ephemeral and vanishes rapidly; her determination that her contribution to that community be preserved greatly enriches our knowledge and will benefit future scholars.
On November 20, 1975, C.A. (Robin) Ducharme interviewed Nellie Bunch (born 1902 in Chariton County, MO) about her life in Southern Nevada. Bunch first talks about her settlement into the Whitney Ranch area and her knowledge about the building of Hoover (Boulder) Dam. She also talks about the early utilization of water resources from Lake Mead, early sources of power, and the early use of evaporative coolers. Bunch also speaks about her experience as a postmaster and later discusses telephone technology and the early churches of Las Vegas.
On February 24, 1979, Keri Wright interviewed Verna Chadwick (born 1931 in Lehi, Utah) about her life in Las Vegas, Nevada. Chadwick first talks about her early life in Utah and some of the activities in which she would take part when first moving to Las Vegas. She also talks about her family and living in several homes throughout the city, including some of the steps taken to build those properties. She also talks about her involvement in Cub Scouts, her church membership, political involvement, recreational activities, atomic testing, and the first stores and casinos that opened in the city. The interview finalized with a discussion on social changes and the changes in prices of goods over the years.