Oral history interview with Ralph Cadwallader conducted by Jane Kurakazu on October 15, 2001 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In the interview, Cadwallader discusses his family and upbringing in Massachusetts. He then discusses how he came to Las Vegas, Nevada in the late 1960s to teach at Garside Junior High School. He discusses his appointment as assistant principal at Western High School and Basic High School during the 1970s before being appointed as Associate Superintendent of the Clark County School District in 1978. He discusses his duties as Associate Superintendent and changes that he implemented at Valley High School, Clark High School, Bonanza High School, and Chaparral High School. He also discusses his philosophy as a school administrator, and how this philosophy influenced his interactions with educators and students. He briefly discusses his role as Associate Superintendent in Tempe, Arizona, but then discusses his 1999 return to Las Vegas as part of the Nevada Association of School Administrators.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Edward Baca conducted by Claytee D. White on January 28, 2016 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Baca opens his interview describing his parents and his youth in Wyoming. He then discusses moving to Bryce, Utah in the 1940s, his career in coal mining, and the process of removing coal from the mine. Baca describes his brief time working for the federal government, going to trade school to learn morse code, and working for the railroad. He then talks about switching careers to to work as an air conditioning insulator, and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1969. Baca then describes how he found religion, his efforts to learn more about Christianity, and forming a ministry where he preaches. He discusses his Christian radio program, his singing ministry, and his efforts to save a Christian radio station from closing. Lastly, Baca discusses his religious music albums, touring in a religious music group, and faith healing.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Tyrone Levi conducted by Veomia Hopkins on an unknown date in the 1970s for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project. Levi discusses the segregation African Americans faced in the areas of housing, education, and employment in Las Vegas, Nevada. He also talks about being the Director of State and Equal Rights Commission and a member of the Congressional Fellowship Program. Levi lastly recalls the above ground atomic tests and how Las Vegas, Nevada changed throughout his lifetime.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Mustafa Richards conducted by Claytee D. White on March 10, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. He discusses working as the only black bellman at the time for the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino and became the first African American bell captain. He also discusses his wife working for the Las Vegas, Nevada Clark County Library District for thirty years. Mustafa then discusses becoming a Muslim in the early 1990s and being appointed to be an Imam, a mosque officer, soon afterwards.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Donald Baepler conducted by Suzanne Becker on April 23, 2007 for the UNLV @ 50 Oral History Project. Dr. Donald Baepler discusses his career as a biology professor and administrator at Central Washington University, and various appointments at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) including Academic Vice President (1968), acting President (1969), President (1973), and Chancellor of the university system (1978). He also discusses becoming director of the Majorie Barrick Museum in 1981, and working as a professor of biology at UNLV.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Hazel Geran conducted by Claytee D. White on August 30, 2000 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Geran gives insights into the black experience in Las Vegas, Nevada. Geran describes her perspective of living on the Westside and the businesses that thrived there in the past, and why she remained in west Las Vegas. She also gives a peek into her family life including Catholic schools, family outings and an insightful story regarding racism and the difficulty of getting a housing loan in the 1950s.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Mabel Rhea conducted by Patricia van Betten on April 09, 2011 for the History of the Blue Diamond Village in Nevada Oral History Project. Rhea discusses her birth in Fairmont, West Virginia, as well as her nursing education. She describes serving in France during World War II as a nurse. She details moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1949, and then to the Blue Diamond, Nevada in approximately 1952. She describes the post office, shopping locations, and her neighbors in the Village.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Glenn Shaw conducted by Shirley Leavitt on February 05, 2004 for the History of the Blue Diamond Village in Nevada Oral History Project. Shaw discusses moving to Blue Diamond, Nevada in 1977, where he purchased an acre of land for $4,000. He also discusses his role in funding the construction of Avery Road in Blue Diamond Village in 1978. He highlights the changes in the Village between the 1980s and 2000s, namely the changes to the Blue Diamond mine, the library, and telephone lines.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Ken Hanlon conducted by Claytee D. White on November 29, 2006 for the UNLV @ 50 Oral History Project. Hanlon, a trombonist, discusses being on the road with Si Zentner's orchestra and playing in many of the Las Vegas Strip hotels. He also discusses getting hired as chair of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Music Department in 1970. Hanlon then discusses the Las Vegas, Nevada Chapter of the International Trombone Association and the Arnold Shaw Popular Music Research Center.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Elbert B. Edwards conducted by Dennis McBride on November 12, 1986 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. A Nevada native, Edwards recounts the development of the school system in Nevada, with specific details on Las Vegas and Boulder City. He discusses state education law, early school districts, difficulties with establishing primary and secondary education in Boulder City while it was a federal reservation and the number and quality of students who were bussed from Boulder City to Las Vegas to attend high school. He continues describing the effects of The Six Companies departure from Boulder City after Hoover Dam was completed and the efforts to establish a permanent school district in that community after 1937 and through the war years that followed.
Archival Collection