Morton "Mort" Saiger was born July 22, 1903, in Opatov, Poland. He fled Poland in 1920 three days before he was to be inducted into the army. Settling in Denver, Colorado with his father, he showed an early interest in show business, winning awards as a ballroom dancer, appearing in several silent films, and performing as a baritone in a 1939 Los Angeles, California production of Mozart's opera, "Bastien and Bastienne."
Anna Bailey was born May 14, 1921 in Savannah, Georgia. Bailey arrived in Las Vegas in 1955 to perform as a dancer for the opening of the Moulin Rouge Hotel and Casino. Six months later the Rouge closed, leaving both Anna and her husband, Bob, without work, since Bob had been the house singer and emcee at the Hotel. Nevertheless, Anna and Bob decided to make Las Vegas their home, convinced in the growth potential of the city.
Politician Oran Kenneth Gragson was the longest serving mayor of Las Vegas, Nevada, a position he held from 1959 to 1975. He was born February 14, 1911, near Tucamari, New Mexico. In 1919, his family moved to Arkansas, then later to Texas. Gragson came to the Las Vegas area in 1932, and worked at the Hoover Dam for a short time before finding employment in highway construction. He managed the Boulder Inn Casino and Dance Hall for a brief time, and later opened the North Main Furniture Store, followed by the Charleston Appliance Center.
As Chairman and CEO of the Eureka Casino Resort, Gregory Lee’s involvement and impact on the Mesquite community will reverberate for generations. Although he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, his ambitions starting from an early age led him to live with his business-oriented father in San Francisco, California. His journey eventually led him to attend Saint Paul’s School and Harvard College.
"Interviewed by Vanessa Concepcion and Stefani Evans. Twins Estrellita "Estelle" and Julieta "Julia" Elliott were born in Manila and raised in Cebu City by their maternal grandparents. Their lawyer grandfather and Spanish professor grandmother raised them with a tricultural identity (Spanish, Filipino, and American) but with emphasis on their Castilian Spanish heritage. When they were twelve and their grandfather died, they went to live with their parents in Maryland, where their father was an educator and author and their mother was a concert pianist.
"Interviewed by Vanessa Concepcion and Stefani Evans. Twins Estrellita "Estelle" and Julieta "Julia" Elliott were born in Manila and raised in Cebu City by their maternal grandparents. Their lawyer grandfather and Spanish professor grandmother raised them with a tricultural identity (Spanish, Filipino, and American) but with emphasis on their Castilian Spanish heritage. When they were twelve and their grandfather died, they went to live with their parents in Maryland, where their father was an educator and author and their mother was a concert pianist.
"Interviewed by Stefani Evans. Arriving in Las Vegas in 2015 directly from her hometown in Cebu Province, Philippines, Lucela M. Wattin was struck by the dry climate, "like an oven!" But she immediately felt at home in her apartment near Spring Mountain Road and Chinatown, because she could buy familiar food items, and because her new next door neighbor also came from Cebu Province.
Kim You Taing, a Cambodian-Chinese refugee discusses his childhood during the Cambodian Wars, and how his family survived fleeing from village to village to escape the Rouge and gunfire occurring at that time. After a tragic incident where his two siblings died from drowning in the village river. his mother decided they need to get out of Cambodia to get a better life. His father who was Chinese would be captured and killed by the government just for being Chinese.