Jerry Tarkanian, legendary and formidable basketball coach, met his match the day he was called before student court at Fresno State College and had to face as one of his judges Lois Esther Huter. Lois, a no-nonsense military daughter, eventually agreed to date Tarkanian and to marry him. The City of Las Vegas got lucky when UNLV recruited Lois’s husband as basketball coach. After picking cotton in California’s Central Valley Lois earned her Master’s degree in speech pathology and holds national certifications in speech pathology, language, and audiology. In 1969 she opened California’s first private day school for the hearing impaired, Oralingua School for the Hearing Impaired in Whittier. In Las Vegas she taught hearing-impaired children in her home on an individual and pro-bono basis. In this interview Lois recalls her teaching career, debates in deaf education, her 12 years on Clark County School District School Board, and the people and the neighborhoods that make up Las Vegas’s Ward 1, the area she has represented on the Las Vegas City Council continuously since 2005.
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From the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas collection OH-00897. On February 27, 1977, collector Michael K. Ericksen interviewed his uncle, schoolteacher, Jack E. Howard, (born June 18th, 1920 in Dewey, Oklahoma) in his home in Overton, Nevada. This interview covers Mr. Howard’s personal experiences and recollections about Southern Nevada. Mr. Howard’s wife, Mrs. Helen Howard, is also present during this interview, which offers a thirty year local overview.
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Oral history interview with Rory Reid conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee White on July 13, 2017 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. Reid recalls growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada as a Mormon, and his legal and political careers in the Nevada Democratic Party.
Archival Collection
On March 9, 1978, Shirley Dianne Long interviewed Al Lermusiaux (b. 1926 in Corrales, New Mexico) about his work in construction in the Las Vegas Valley. Lermusiaux begins by talking about his move to Las Vegas, his family and what brought him to the city. He shares many anecdotes about the construction of different iconic buildings in Las Vegas, the inner workings of the business, payments to employees and the changes in technology. Lermusiaux, in particular, talks of the telephone system in the fifties and the changes in structures and their regulations. During his interview, Lermusiaux lays out an image of old Las Vegas and Henderson, giving detailed descriptions of the layout of the city, the projects he worked on and the effects of the weather on building structures in Las Vegas.
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Oral history interview with John Gubler conducted by Suzanne Becker on December 29, 2008 for the Voices of the Historic John S. Park Neighborhood Oral History Project. Gubler discusses his parents moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1936 and growing up in the John S. Park Neighborhood. He then discusses becoming a lawyer and moving back to Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Rabbi Mendy Harlig conducted by Barbara Tabach on October 18, 2017 and November 01, 2017 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Harlig discusses the Chabad of Green Valley, the Las Vegas, Nevada Metropolitan Police Department Police Chaplain, and the public Hanukkah menorah at District in Green Valley.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Allison and Hugh Wallace conducted by Claytee D. White on March 17, 2006 for the Hurricane Katrina Survivors in Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, the Wallaces relate their upbringing, families, and educational attainments. Later, they talk about their experiences with Hurricane Katrina, evacuating and then returning to find their neighborhood overrun with looters and their home severely damaged by the flooding. They discuss the extreme difficulty they faced finding money and resources as they faced loss of employment, housing, and access to their bank accounts. They also describe the emergency relief efforts of various state, national, and federal agencies. Finally, they relate that these difficulties led to their decision to move to Las Vegas, Nevada and comment on the difficulty of maintaining contact with friends and colleagues who also left Louisiana.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Claudine Williams conducted by Joanne Goodwin on November 20, 1997 and November 09, 2005 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Goodwin begins the interview by discussing growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana, and how she supported her single mother. She goes on to describe her education and early jobs in restaurants and newsstands in Texas. Goodman then talks about meeting her husband, Shelby Williams, and how she became involved in the gaming industry, including her work with Benny Binion in Dallas, Texas and Jake Freidman in Houston, Texas. She describes moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1963, and how she and Shelby developed the Silver Slipper Casino, which was sold to Howard Hughes, and Holiday Casino, which eventually became Harrah's Hotel and Casino. Williams also speaks about her community involvement, including philanthropic efforts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Marie Horseley conducted by Suzanne Becker on June 13, 2007 for the Voices of Historic John S. Park Neighborhood Oral History Project. In this interview Horseley discusses marrying her husband, moving to Las Vegas, Nevada into the historic John S. Park neighborhood, and the state of the neighborhood when she moved there. She also discusses how she used to know all of her neighbors no matter their background, the changes in the neighborhood, and how she would never relocate to a different house.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Lee White conducted by Claytee D. White on May 18, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Lee White played professional football for the New York Jets, Los Angeles Rams, and San Diego Chargers. A promising career as a first round draft pick resulted in an injury in his first professional game. He retired from football at the age of 28 and moved back to Las Vegas where he had grown up on the Westside. Lee entered the hotel and casino industry as a dealer, retiring twenty-five years later as a Vice President of Casino Operations. His career in the tourism industry included work at the Sands, MGM, Desert Inn, and the Tropicana.
Subjects discussed include: Westside School, Weber State College, and the Sahara Hotel and Casino
Archival Collection