Oral history interview with Casiano Corpus Jr. conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on February 14, 2023 for the Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Corpus Jr. details a difficult childhood in the Philippines, where society is highly socioeconomically stratified. He recalls his parents working a number of jobs to support their large family, and as soon as he finished his primary schooling, he also started working in construction. When his father was finally petitioned by his uncle to move to the United States, Corpus was at first reluctant to go, since he had a familiar life in the Philippines, but has come to love the United States and the life he created for himself. Immediately after moving to the United States, their family landed in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Corpus began working a number of jobs. He started out as a busboy at a Chinese restaurant before deciding that he wanted to work in a casino and moved to Union Plaza. His current job is as a porter at Palace Station, where he has been for the past 31 years. He has also been working to unionize Palace Station and Station casinos with the Culinary Union for the past twelve years. He talks about the hunger strike he organized, why he organizes with no fear, and what he hopes to see out of his efforts throughout the interview.
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Oral history interview with Pam Hawkins conducted by Tarsha L. Hillmon on March 12, 2005 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In her interview Hawkins discusses her experiences as a middle school and high school principal in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Minnie Logsdon conducted by Eugene George on March 08, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Logsdon talks about the early history of Las Vegas, Nevada. She specifically talks about the railroad towns, and the construction of the Boulder (Hoover) Dam.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Keith West conducted by David L. Snyder on March 12, 1981 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, West discusses the lumber industry in Southern Nevada. West also discusses Las Vegas, Nevada business, and residents, including Ed Von Tobel.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Wanda Mann conducted by Gordon Reno on February 03, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Mann talks about Southern Nevada history, beginning in 1943. She specifically talks about the city's development in early Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
After serving as a nurse in World War II in Hawaii, Okinawa and Japan, Dorothy returned home to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. She experienced a particularly bad winter and she set out for California but stopped in Las Vegas to visit the family of her traveling companion, a girlfriend from her home town. The girlfriend returned to Wisconsin and George applied for a nursing license and got it within three days. She never left. Dorothy met her husband while working the night shift at Clark County Hospital. He would come in regularly to assist his patients in the births of their babies. Their occupations and their service in World War II drew them together in a marriage that has lasted over fifty years. From 1949 to this interview in 2003, Dorothy George has seen Las Vegas grow from a town that she loved to a metropolitan area that is no longer as friendly. She reminisces about the Heldorado parades, family picnics at Mount Charleston, watching the cloud formed by the atomic bomb tests, raising six successful children, leading a Girl Scout Troop, and working in organizations to improve the social and civic life of Las Vegas.
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Oral history interviews with Leva Beckley conducted by Bernard Timberg of KLVX Channel 10 on January 20 and 31, 1974. In this interview, Buckley talks of moving to Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband in 1910, setting up her husband's clothing business at the Hotel Nevada, the construction of the family home at 120 South Fourth Street, and the birth of her two children. She discusses raising her children, the various amusements the community offered to young families, and her activities as a charter member of the Mesquite Club. She also responds to questions about changes in the culture of the city, particularly in regard to crime and illegal activities. Finally, she shares family photographs with the interviewer.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Helen Naugle conducted by Irene Rostine on October 31, 1996 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Naugle opens her interview by discussing moving to Las Vegas, Nevada after she visited the city on a family vacation. She then talks about attending the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in order to obtain her real estate license. Naugle describes opening her own real estate office, the types of properties she brokered, and her participation in the Las Vegas Board of Realtors. She ends her interview by discussing her international business work and vacations.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Marion Allen conducted by Dennis McBride on April 14, 1986 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Allen discusses the construction of the Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) and his father’s employment on the dam. He talks about becoming a dam construction worker and the working conditions during the early stages of the dam. Allen recalls the labor strike in 1935 and the opening of the dam. Lastly, Allen talks about engineer Frank Crowe’s involvement with the the project.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Richard Ronzone conducted by Terrence R. Black on October 20, 1972 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Ronzone discusses his upbringing in Manhattan, Nevada and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1929. He talks about his involvement in local politics, campaigning for Clark County Commissioner, and political changes in Southern Nevada. Ronzone describes recreational activities he participated in, above ground atomic bomb testing, and the increase of tourism to Las Vegas.
Archival Collection