Search Results
Boom days in Tonopah: photographic print
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Archival Collection
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Darwin Lamb oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Darwin Lamb conducted by David Blanton on October 25, 1972 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In the interview, Lamb discusses his early life living in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and various United States presidents who visited Las Vegas. Lamb also discusses his involvement in politics as a Clark County Commissioner, Las Vegas economics, and the growth and change of the hotel and casino industry over time.
Archival Collection
Delon Potter oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Delon Potter conducted by Eleanor Christoffersen on February 3, 1972 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this brief interview, Potter, a Mesquite, Nevada native, talks about his birth in 1909 and his move to Las Vegas in 1933. He describes the early town and some of the more notable inhabitants including "Pop" Squires, working at the Winterwood Ranch at the base of Sunrise Mountain, as a sheep herder near Kaolin, Nevada, and later as a construction worker at the Hoover Dam. After the war, Potter explains that he tried running his own ranch in Utah before moving back to Henderson, Nevada, working for U. S. Lime and trading horses throughout Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.
Archival Collection
Transcript of interview with Edward Gregory by Jonathan Bellingar, March 2, 1977
Date
Archival Collection
Description
On March 2, 1977, Jonathan R. Bellingar interviewed Edward Gregory (born July 28, 1922) about his life in Nevada. The interview takes place at Nellis Air force Base; also present during the interview is an unidentified man. Gregory was born and raised in Nevada; he discusses leaving Nevada to serve in the Army during World War II before eventually returning to Nevada in 1950. The interview concludes with a brief overview of how Nellis Air force Base has changed since the 1950s.
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Transcript of interview with Bud Weil by Claytee White, December 9, 2003
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Archival Collection
Description
Bud Weil worked as a disc jockey in Mexico after serving in the military during World War II. In 1947, he moved to Las Vegas to work at KLAS but after two days he was job hunting. His search landed him at KENO, a radio station owned by Max and Laura Belle Kelch. His was an interview show that afforded him entree to stars performing in town. The list of his favorite interviews includes Sophie Tucker, Sammy Davis, Jack Benny, The Mills Brother, Rosemary Clooney, Leno Home, Joey Lewis and many others. In 1955, he became restless, left the career in broadcasting, and joined Max Kelch as a partner in a new venture for Las Vegas - Musak. This enterprise took him to the doors of every business in town and shortly, he knew everybody. He uses that knowledge in this interview to talk about all aspects of life as the town grew over the years. Today he is a senior statesman of our town, enjoying everything about Las Vegas except the traffic.
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Transcript of Interview with Barbara Kirkland
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Archival Collection
Description
On a sunny day in 1946, the train from Shreveport, Louisiana, stopped at The Plaza hotel in downtown Las Vegas like it always did. But on this particular day, Atha Toliver and her only child, twelve-year-old Barbara, stepped off the train and onto the dusty Western street of Fremont. Narrator Barbara Bates Kirkland recalls that event and living in Las Vegas for most of the next seven decades during this 2004 interview. Like many others who migrated from the South, Barbara Kirkland’s mother would find employment as a maid. A friend who already lived in Las Vegas had told her of the good paying jobs as private maid. So Atha who was determined that her daughter would get an education and a finer future saw this as her opportunity to achieve this for her daughter. Later, the entrepreneurial and creative mother opened Eva’s Flower Basket, a floral shop that Barbara operates in her retirement from teaching. Barbara returned to Louisiana for her senior year in high school, attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, and then returned to Las Vegas to teach first grade at Westside School. Barbara was active in the community, was a founding member of Les Femmes Douze, involved with Zion United Methodist Church and was friends with many of the early African American community leaders at the time. She talks about these, describes various neighborhoods where she lived and about raising her own two children in Las Vegas. Barbara was a founding member of Les Femmes Douze. AKA/Akateens.
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Dennis W. James oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Dennis W. James conducted by Wayne Bennett on April 05, 2006 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, James reflects upon his 30-year career as a teacher and administrator in New York’s Sachem Central School District. He discusses the process by which he became a teacher and eventually an administrator, his regular responsibilities and challenges as principal, and his approach to school administration. He also discusses his experience being at school the day of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Archival Collection
Lois Bell oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Lois Bell conducted by Sam Cusimano on unknown date for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Bell discusses her time as a cocktail waitress in various casinos, including her experiences of waiting on various celebrities. Bell also describes the changes of the Las Vegas Strip, her account of witnessing atomic testing events, and her position at Roxie’s, a brothel that existed during the early days of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Rozita Lee oral history interviews
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Oral history interviews with Rozita Lee conducted by Stefani Evans, Cecilia Winchell, Kristel Peralta, Vanessa Concepcion, Jerwin Tiu, and Su Kim Chung on June 1, 2021, April 12, 2022, and May 18, 2023 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Rozita shares her experiences growing up on a sugar plantation with her family in Hawaii. She talks about the benefits her family received and the "privileged" life she led with her father as the plantation boss, allowing her household to have electricity, plumbing, and a telephone. Rozita discusses her use of Pidgin English amongst her peers and "good English" in her household, and the roles and responsibilities her parents had working on the plantation. She shares what life was like day to day and what she remembers growing up during World War II including hearing air raid sirens and hanging blackout curtains in her home. Rozita also talks about meeting her husband, Clifford Lee, in high school, their marriage in 1979, and how the couple came to move to Las Vegas. In the second interview, Lee discusses pursuing a bachelor's degree at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), working with Governor Miller and Bob Bailey, and her involvement in a Polynesian show at Imperial Palace for eighteen years.
Archival Collection
Oneil Madden oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Oneil Madden conducted by Yasmine Shahar and Taylor Burk on March 31, 2016 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Madden discusses his upbringing in Montreal, Canada. He talks about his religious family background, being involved in church activities, and his involvement with church youth programs. Madden describes food banks organized by the churches, tutoring services for children, and explains the significance of the Sabbath. Lastly, Madden discusses his role as pastor of Abundant Life Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection