Oral history interview with Jonathan S. "Jon" Sparer, FAIA conducted by Barbara Tabach on March 04, 2015 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Sparer discusses his career as an architect of many major Las Vegas, Nevada hotels and casinos. He also talks about designing the Congregation Ner Tamid and The Center for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) community.
Archival Collection
The "Las Vegas: Snapshots of History" Photograph Collection is comprised of photographic prints and slides as well as digital surrogates of photographic prints and ephemera representing architecture and events in Las Vegas, Nevada from approximately 1960 to 2017. Materials were donated by members of the Las Vegas community as part of a community scanning day sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities' Common Heritage grant. The majority of the collection documents landmarks in Las Vegas including the Stardust Resort and Casino, The Mint Las Vegas, Fremont Street, and the Desert Inn.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Paul Sarno conducted by David G. Schwartz on July 13, 2007 for the Remembering Jay Sarno Oral History Project. Sarno begins by discussing the Sarno family, his grandparents, their Jewish heritage, and the early life of his uncle, Jay Sarno, and his father. Sarno then describes how his uncle married a lot later than his older siblings and he was the only one who had personal hobbies such as golf. Sarno then chronicles his uncle’s role as a businessman in Las Vegas, Nevada and how he only visited Las Vegas once because his father was a gambling addict. Lastly, Sarno discusses everything he knew about his uncle’s relationship with Allen Dorfman, the Teamster’s Union, and his legal troubles with the Internal Revenue Service.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Therese Thomas conducted by Dennis McBride on March 13, 1995 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. In the interview, Thomas discusses her early life in Thistle, Utah before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in approximately 1931, where her father worked on the Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) construction. Thomas then talks about her early schooling in Boulder City, Nevada, her experiences as a swing and dance band musician, Block 16 in the Clark Las Vegas Townsite, and her memories of Las Vegas hotels and casinos. Other subjects Thomas covers include Las Vegas entertainers, entertainment venues, and women in the music industry during the 1930s.
Archival Collection
Alan Clancy grew up in Sydney, Australia, the second son of famous ballroom-dancing parents. He recalls that he had incredible energy as a child, and, therefore, his parents enrolled him in the Shirley de Paul Studio to learn gymnastics, tap, ballet, and jazz. He also became a soprano singer. This training did well for him for as he went through high school he won trophies in sports and participated in musical productions. Eventually, because of a neighboring friend, Kay Dickerson, Alan moved to the Rudas Acrobatic Studio where he received further training and eventually contracted with Tibor Rudas to participate in an entertainment group called “The Las Vegas Dancers”. He was only seventeen when the group boarded a ship for Hong Kong in an enterprise which would eventually allow the dancers to entertain around the world for approximately two and a half years. When the group returned, Alan auditioned for the Tommy Leonetti television show and then for Les Girls in Sydney. Eventually Tibor Rudas appeared with a contract for Alan, when he had just turned twenty-one, to fly to Las Vegas to work in the Folies Bergere at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino. When he arrived in Las Vegas, he was surprised at the size of the city and the hotels but was overly impressed by the neon signs, the showrooms with their nude dancers, the costuming, magnificent sets, the choreography, and the dress of the patrons. He remembers his first night performing in the Folies and the amount of stars in the audience, for example, Elvis Presley, Liberace, and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Alan goes on to describe the many people that he met in Las Vegas, working in various shows, and the many friendships made over the years. However, he eventually became interested in opening his own vintage clothing store, Vintage Madness, near the Strip. He talks about his many customers, the stores around him, his creative ways of acquiring items to sell and the success that was made. Unfortunately, during the middle of one night the store burned to the ground which left Alan devastated. Eventually, however, he purchased three buildings on Fourth Street and opened an art gallery, a coffee shop, and a small stage. His mercantile interest allowed him to leave show business and briefly open a store in Laguna Beach, Southern California. It wasn’t long until Barclay Shaw asked him to work in “Splash” at the Riviera Hotel in Vegas and, therefore, he returned to show business. However, Shaw, his friend, died and so did his mother and he lost interest in his stores, renting them out. Consequently, he returned to live in California and began working with Aids patients. Alan returned to Las Vegas for the reunion of the cast of Folies Bergere and noticed the many changes made in Las Vegas from when he first arrived to perform at the Tropicana Hotel.
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The by-laws of the Nathan Adelson Hospice establish the purpose and organization of the program, founded in 1978 in Las Vegas.
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On March 26, 1981, Matthew A. Carr interviewed Morgan Mills (b. July 27, 1914 in Grand Junction, Colorado) about his life in Boulder City, Nevada and his work at the Boulder (Hoover) Dam site. Mills speaks primarily about his time working on the dam as a mechanic with the United States Bureau of Reclamation, as a tourist guide with the Boulder City Tourist Bureau and as a musician in local bands. Moreover, Mills speaks about attending the University of Nevada, Reno and playing music there. Lastly, he talks about the Great Depression, how it affected Las Vegas and Boulder City, the development of different infrastructure and the speakeasies in Boulder City during the Prohibition era.
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On March 25, 1978, Kim Geary interviewed Joan Johnson (born 1911 in Oklahoma) in her home in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two discuss Joan Johnson’s personal history and her reasons for originally moving to Las Vegas. Johnson recalls early Las Vegas entertainment, as well as the development of businesses and their unions.
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