Oral history interview with Lee H. Lisby conducted by Glen E. Davis on July 10, 1975; Rita O'Brien on April 10, 1978; and Elizabeth Patrick on May 10, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In 1942, Lisby moved from Tallulah, Louisiana to Las Vegas, Nevada. Lisby talks about living conditions and work opportunities for African-Americans in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Dick Sheridan conducted by Mike McGuire on March 18, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Sheridan discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1945. Sheridan discusses the growth of the city as well as the development of multiple hotels and casinos. Sheridan also discusses gambling and the gaming industry.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Jeff Ju conducted by Jennifer Sui on November 17, 2021 for the Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Ju recalls moving to the United States with his family at the age of ten. He discusses his relationships with his parents, how it has changed, and experiencing discrimination and racism at work and as an individual. While he lives in New York, Ju visits Las Vegas, Nevada regularly and shares how he finds it more inclusive and welcoming compared to New York or Korea.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Katherine L. Rankin conducted by Claytee D. White on June 16, 2014 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In the interview, Rankin discusses her childhood, her move to Las Vegas, Nevada, and her career as a librarian. Rankin talks about how she began her library career on the Gila River Reservation in Arizona before accepting a position as an audio and visual materials cataloger at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in the 1970s. Rankin later describes her work with the American Library Association, getting tenure at UNLV, and her role as a map cataloger in UNLV Special Collections and Archives.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Bertha Gresh conducted by James M. Greene on November 01, 1974 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Gresh discusses the early mining days, her personal history, and the history of Nelson County, Nevada. She also discusses her art, social activities, and the prizes she won as a visual artist in Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Lester Earnest conducted by David Schwartz on August 8, 2017 for the Competitive Video Gaming Oral History Project. In this interview, Earnest discusses the beginning of his career in computing, speaking at length about the military SAGE project the he believes was designed to fail. He then talks at length about his work with the Stanford University Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL) and the development of the computing environment through the 1960s and 1970s. He also talks about his development of the FINGER protocol and the role of artificial intelligence in the early development of video gaming, as well as various individuals who got their start with SAIL before developing modern computing and software systems.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with William McLeod conducted by Valerie McLeod on March 16, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. McLeod begins by speaking about his career as a contractor, the growth of Las Vegas in the 1960s and the city’s population. Moreover, he speaks about recreational activities such as riding motorcycles and exploring mines around Nevada. McLeod also spends time going over Indian reservations around Nevada and neighboring states, the Lost City in Nevada, boomtowns and ghost towns. Lastly, McLeod talks about the history of water and springs in the state of Nevada, what he would consider to be the Old Ranch and the stagecoaches that passed through Gold Point, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history panel composed of University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) students Lisa McAllister, Larry Sampson, John Grygo, and Ashley Smith along with community narrators Jerrie Merritt, Geraldine Kirk Hughes, Keith Brantley, and Hannah Brown, moderated by Julia Lee and Claytee White on March 30, 2016 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. The group discusses working with each other during the collection of oral histories for the project, the value of the interchange for both narrator and interviewer, the value of oral histories as repositories of individual and collective memory, and related stories about their experiences.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Ray Merrill conducted by his son, Rick Merrill, on March 14, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Ray Merrill describes how Las Vegas, Nevada has evolved and expanded over the years since he moved to Southern Nevada in 1942.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Do Stiver conducted by Irene Arambula on March 17, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Stiver discusses arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1946 with her husband and recalls their involvement in numerous businesses. She then describes the Huntridge neighborhood and its development. Stiver later recalls the pollution emitted from the factories and the increase of smog in Henderson, Nevada.
Archival Collection