Oral history interview with Magdalena Martinez conducted by Monserrath Hernandez and Barbara Tabach on April 4, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Magdalena Martinez recalls her childhood and growing up in Los Angeles, California. Martinez's parents are from Durango, Mexico, and immigrated to the United States in the 1970s. Martinez describes the generational differences that the women in her family faced and how the feminist movement of the 1970s did not resonate with women of color. Her family moved to Las Vegas in 1986 where she attended Bishop Gorman High School. After transferring to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) from community college and joining a student organization that would later become Student Organization of Latinxs, she became an early member of the Latino Youth Leadership Conference (LYLC) sponsored by the Latin Chamber of Commerce. Martinez describes how the LYLC has evolved over the years, and talks about her role in those changes. She discusses past work for CSN, NSHE, and currently is the Director of Education Programs with the Lincy Institute.

Known for “raising hell and making a difference” in the Las Vegas Valley, Thomas Rodriguez has dedicated more than four decades of his life to the political, educational, and social advancement of the Latinx community. Tom was born in 1940 to Jennie Gomez and Joseph Rodriguez in a Topeka, Kansas neighborhood its residents called The Bottoms. Mexicans, Mexican Americans, American Indians, African Americans, among other peoples lived in this diverse and beloved community. In 1956, the Urban Renewal Program, a program funded by the Federal Government that sought to raze neighborhoods the city considered to be “slums,” forced The Bottoms’ residents to abandon their homes. Rodriguez recalled the effects that this event had on his family and on his educational career. Despite his family’s relocation, he graduated from a high school located in a nearby neighborhood in 1958. Years later, the activism and ideology of the Chicano Movement of the 1960s taught Rodriguez that to overcome the injus

On February 17, 1980, Judith Chavez interviewed Thelma Coblentz (born 1911 in New Jersey) about her experiences in Southern Nevada. Coblentz first talks about her move to Lovelock, Nevada, where her husband provided medical care as one of the first physicians in the small town. She later talks about her move to Las Vegas and some of the services she helped to provide at Nellis Air Force Base. Coblentz later describes Downtown Las Vegas, specifically the development of the casinos and shopping businesses. She later talks about the rainstorms and dust storms that the city would experience before recalling some of the entertainers who would perform on the Las Vegas Strip. The interview concludes with a discussion on the first physicians in Las Vegas and the increasing population of the city.

On March 19, 1978, John (Sonny) Le Jeune interviewed John (born 1904 in Trail Creek, Idaho) and Mabel Dillingham. The two provide many historical accounts of Las Vegas, Nevada, including John’s work on the railroad, the development of the city, and their living conditions when first moving to Las Vegas. The three also discuss prominent members of the community, recreational activities, church membership, and popular attractions around Las Vegas. Other topics include the building of Hoover Dam, the site of the Stewart Ranch, early irrigation systems, flood control, and Block 16.

On March 11, 1978, collector Patty L. Baratti interviewed James Hogan (born April 6th, 1909 in Winton Place, Ohio) at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. In this interview, Hogan talks about his time working with the telephone company in Arizona and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada. He discusses his time working on grazing rights and cattle ranching in Nevada and how planning went to ensure that farms were able to have land to graze their animals. He speaks about dealing with farmers, corporations, and the government and the frustrations he had to deal with before there were set laws about grazing. He also discusses the change from mainly family farms in Nevada to corporations owning much of the farmland.

Twenty years after her birth in Utah in 1924, Marie Horseley met and married her husband who was an engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad. They settled in Las Vegas, his home town and soon purchased a home for $9800 in the new John S. Park neighborhood. Sixty years later Marie, twice a widow, remains in the home. Up the street four doors, one of her granddaughters lives with her three children. Marie recalls the new housing development that appealed to railroad workers. The roads were dirt and there were no streetlights, but soon a community blossomed. Marie is a self-described quiet resident; her life was about raising her three daughters and being a member of the LDS church. However, she knew everyone on her street no matter their religious affiliation. Today the businesses are gone. Homes have changed appearances over the years as owners have changed. Ethnic diversity is apparent and the sense of community closeness has slipped away for her. Yet she loves her place there, feels safe and secure. When asked about the ides of John S. Park being designated a historic district, she is not all that wowed by the idea of restrictions that might be included in that. Nevertheless, she has no intention of relocating from the comfort of the place she has called home all these years.

On February 26, 1979, collector Pete Wahlquist interviewed William McCullough (born May 9th, 1905 in Kansas City, Missouri) at his home in Boulder City, Nevada. In this interview, Mr. McCullough discusses moving to Nevada and working on the building of Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam). He also speaks about Boulder City during the time of building the dam, as well as the growth he has seen happen in Las Vegas, Nevada.