Oral history interview with Anna Sipl Meyers conducted by Leita Kaldi Davis on twelve separate occasions from February 12, 2012 to December 07, 2012 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Meyers discusses her life in great detail, from living in concentration camps to owning Las Vegas, Nevada casinos, including the Casbah Hotel and the Queen of Hearts Hotel (now the Four Queens Hotel and Casino).
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Patricia and Lamar Marchese conducted by Claytee D. White on January 16, 2008 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Patricia Marchese discusses her work as a budget analyst and a chief lobbyist for Clark County, as well as creating numerous art and cultural programs in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lamar Marchese discusses creating public library programs for southern Nevada and the first public broadcast radio station in Nevada.
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Oral history interview with Helen Joy Stadler conducted by Claytee D. White on August 21, 2012 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Stadler begins the interview by talking about moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1942 with her boyfriend who purchased a beverage distribution company on the Strip. Stadler recalls their apartment on 7th Street and Fremont and working at nearby hotels. She discussed the nightlife, shows, and performers at the El Rancho Hotel and Casino and the Frontier Hotel. She also details the fashion in Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1950s and 1960s, as well as Helldorado Parades. Stadler also describes organized crime members and their relationships to the Strip, and her perceptions of the individuals.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Stella Kalaoram conducted by Kristel Peralta and Cecilia Winchell on August 2, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Stella Kalaoram discusses her childhood in Singapore, the occupations and ethnic diversity of her family, and the four languages she speaks: English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. She shares her immigration journey to the United States with her husband, from Singapore to San Bernardino, California in 1990, and their move to Las Vegas in 2000. Stella also shares her employment experiences as a dental assistant, a housekeeper for the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino, and as a shop steward for the Culinary Workers Union. She also talks about contracting COVID-19 and her hospital experience, her family's differing religious faiths, and her translation work to empower the Asian-American community. Subjects discussed include: insurance benefits; Volunteer Organizer (VO); mask mandates; vaccine hesitancy; food traditions; language barriers; Baba and Nyonya cultures.
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Oral history interview with Dr. Carolyn Reedom conducted by Kristina Knebl on November 22, 2006 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Dr. Reedom reflects upon her 28 years as a principal in Nevada’s Clark County School District (CCSD). She discusses the process by which she became an elementary school principal, and compares it with when she served as a high school principal. She discusses her approach to school administration, and how her experience as a 27-year old principal of Red Rock Elementary School shaped her career. She also describes her experience with school desegregation, and explains why she believes it was desegregation instead of integration.
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Oral history interview with Robert and Janice Spurlock conducted by Claytee D. White on June 17, 2010 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview Janice and Robert Spurlock discuss their individual histories in Las Vegas, Nevada. Janice talks about how her family moved to Las Vegas in the 1930s, going to school in Las Vegas, and the Helldorado Days. Robert discusses moving to Las Vegas in 1953, working in construction, and being accidentally exposed to radiation from the Nevada Test site.
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Oral history interview with Steve Riback conducted by Barbara Tabach on December 12, 2017 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Steve Riback is a detective sergeant for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. He has been with the police force for nearly twenty years. He reflects on his overwhelming pride of the police on October 1, 2017. Riback recalls what he heard on his police radio, seeing the rush of police cars being dispatched, and watching a body camera video later. Sgt. Riback’s squad was assigned to Spring Valley Hospital where they worked tirelessly to identify victims, both injured and deceased. His reflections stir the image of medical professionals and police officers urgently fusing together to handle the situation at hand. Riback shares a myriad of emotions, and talks about the options available for officers to deal with their personal trauma.
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Oral history interview with Charles Quander conducted by Claytee D. White on October 27, 2005 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Quander, who served as a flight officer in the Army Air Corps first all-Black fighter and bomber squadrons known collectively as the Tuskegee Airmen, talks about his upbringing in Washington, D.C., his early interest in flight, and his decision to train as a pilot at the outset of World War II. Quander talks about his training and reflects on both the process of learning to fly and the discrimination that the cadets experienced from the predominately white senior officers. He then talks about his post-military education and his career with the federal government, working as an investigator for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and the United States Attorney's strike force on organized crime. He ends the interview describing his retirement and travel, his move to Las Vegas, Nevada, and his views on war, the Department of Homeland Security, and his perceptions of Las Vegas' growth.
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Oral history interview with Joan Olson Griffith conducted by Sharee Schrader on April 12, 2005 for the History of Blue Diamond Village in Nevada Oral History Project. Griffith begins by discussing why she moved to Blue Diamond, Nevada with her family due to job opportunities at the Blue Diamond Plant, where they manufactured wallboard, in 1956. She describes life in Blue Diamond and rural Nevada, the education available in the village, and Blue Diamond's proximity to Bonnie Springs Ranch and structures made for the filming of Western themed media. Griffith concludes by discussing how Blue Diamond has changed since the 1950s and being a Sunday school teacher for eighteen years.
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Oral history interviews with Lloyd George conducted by Claytee D. White on June 15 and 28, 2005 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In the first interview, George discusses being a lawyer in Las Vegas, Nevada and Chief Judge of the Nevada District Court, as well as having The Lloyd D. George United States Courthouse in Las Vegas named after him. In the second interview, he talks about growing up in Las Vegas, his education, favorite teachers, and early jobs as a schoolboy, his experiences in Wisconsin and Illinois as a Mormon missionary, and his college education at Brigham Young University. He continues discussing the history of Las Vegas, and his desire to pursue a career in law. He also discusses a great many notable individuals in the state.
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