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Transcript of interview with Michael Tell by Barbara Tabach, January 6, 2018

Date

2018-01-06

Description

Michael Tell, the youngest son of Jack and Beatrice Tell, is the publisher of the Las Vegas Israelite newspaper and the second generation of ownership. He briefly traces his Jewish ancestral roots back to Eastern European grandparents who settled in New Jersey and New York. He became a bar mitzvah in a conservative Jewish synagogue in New York City. At age sixteen, he accompanied his father, Jack Tell, westward to Nevada. The elder Tell was in pursuit of owning a newspaper and Mike was a perfect companion as Jack took over ownership of the Territorial Enterprise. Mike recalls it was a short lived venture and the family settled in Las Vegas, where his father went to work for Hank Greenspun at the Las Vegas Sun and then for Henderson Home News, owned by Morry Zenoff. In 1965, Jack Tell opened the Las Vegas Israelite. Meanwhile, Mike explored the lucrative business of concert promotions and opened a teen nightclub 1961 called the Twin Lakes Twist. He hired such talents of the era as Bobby Darin and Wayne Newton. Soon his business acumen grew and he moved Mike Tell Productions to Los Angeles. He tells the story of his last concert, booking Al Green, and being held at gunpoint. Then in 1979, he returned to work at the Israelite, which had a circulation of about 2000. The Jewish community was beginning to show signs of growth. He recalls running an ad in 1992 for High Holy Days services to be held at the Aladdin hotel. He used the word “Lubavitvh” in the ad and this sparked an interest in Las Vegas from the Chabad movement. He also recalls anti-Semitic episodes in Las Vegas, such as Ralph Englestad’s Hitler birthday parties and the presence of Skinheads. And he reflects on the changes in the community that he has observed over the decades.

Text

Chris Davis, Debbie Davis, and Mynda Smith oral history interview: transcript

Date

2018-05-24

Description

Oral history with Chris Davis, Debbie Davis, and Mynda Smith conducted by Claytee D. White and Barbara Tabach on May 24, 2018 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Debbie and Chris Davis and Mynda Smith discuss the murder of their daughter and sister (respectively), Neysa Davis Tonks, at the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival on October 1, 2017. They discuss plans to form Fifty-Eight Loved and Never Forgotten, a foundation to help educate the children of the 58 families affected that night. Neysa, a single mother, left behind three sons, 24, 18, and 15 years of age. The family members recall how they were first alerted to Neysa's death, and having to locate and identify her body at the coroner's office twenty-four hours later. Chris, David, and Mynda reflect on Neysa's life, her work, and legacy. Debbie, Chris, and Mynda believe that "darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. Neysa's light will shine forever."

Text

Jones, Judy Lee (Johnson)

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Copa Room at the Sands Hotel and Casino featured
glamorous showgirls. For a few years, the Houston Chronicle sponsored a contest that
added the Texas Copa Girls to the line. In 1958, one of the winners was 17-year-old
Judith Lee Johnson. For the "wild" but "naive" Judy, the experience was a period of funfilled
freedom, followed by relentless encouragement of others to attend college, which
she reluctantly did. To her surprise, she embraced the college life, took her studies

Person

Givens, Barbara, 1937-

Barbara Givens was born September 13, 1937 in California. She grew up in Reno, Nevada and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1952 with her family when she was 14 years old. Givens graduated from Las Vegas High School and enrolled in the first matriculated teacher's program at the Southern Regional Division of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV).

Person