“I decided to just keep going, and I devoted my career to higher ed. I wanted to continue putting back into this system that I felt I got a lot out of. Again, repaying a debt.” What began as a passion for playing school sports would later lead Dr. Len Jessup on a path to lifelong service in the area of higher education. From his California childhood he would soon find himself across different U.S. states performing various higher education duties from professor to university president. In this interview, Jessup talks about his grandparents’ decision to emigrate from Italy to the U.S. and how grateful he feels towards his family as a result. He recalls playing baseball in college. In his eyes, being part of several sports teams helped him develop into the person he is now. He describes doing research during at the University of Arizona and speaks to what it was like moving from one university position to the next. Ultimately, his colleagues would recommend that he move to Las Vegas to

Interviewed by Maribel Estrada Calderón. Barbara Tabach and Laurents Banuelos-Benitez also participate in the questioning. Erika Castro was born in Mexico City in 1989. At the age of three, she migrated with her family to the United States. She remembers entering Kindergarten without knowing how to speak English. She graduated from the College of Southern Nevada. Castro has since been a political activist. Subjects: PLAN, Planned Parenthood, Environmental Justice, UndocuNetwork, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DREAM Act

As a youth, contractor Louis Richardson followed opportunities that would take him across the U.S. and to Sierra Leone, Africa. Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, Richardson attend Hampton Institute, in Hampton, Virginia, a historically black college/university (HBCU); there, he majored in construction and engineering and joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). After graduation and U.S. Army service in Vietnam, he received an offer from U.S. State Department to teach young adults math and construction in West Africa. That experience led him to work for various Housing Authorities in New Jersey, Los Angeles, and finally, in 1978, to Las Vegas. In this interview, Richardson talks about how his early experiences shaped his vision of the types of projects he would undertake. He speaks about his focus on engineering how he came to Las Vegas and of the public works projects in schools, parks, and libraries that came to define his body of work. He explains the bid proces

On March 3, 1975, Kamal Wilhelm interviewed Eldon G. Cooper (born 1922 in Overton, Nevada) about his experiences in Southern Nevada. Also present are Cooper’s wife and several unnamed adults in the background. Cooper first talks about his background and his eventual move to Las Vegas before describing the recreational activities in which he and his family took part. He later describes the atomic testing, environmental changes, modes of transportation, social changes, and tourism in Las Vegas. Cooper also discusses the Stewart Ranch, and his wife describes the setting of multiple photographs taken of properties in the Downtown Las Vegas area.

Irwin Kishner (1933 ? 2017) was a noted real estate developer, attorney and longtime community leader. In this oral history interview conducted in 2013, he briefly shares his childhood growing up Jewish in Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn, New York. He often speaks of himself in the third person, as he brings to life his roots, his family?s move to Miami where he graduated from high school and the tale of his relocation to Las Vegas to work with his uncles Herman and Maury Kishner. He describes his entrance to Las Vegas as that of a bon vivant. And truly, Irwin, fell in love with the city from the moment he arrived in 1960. Irwin was a graduate of University of Florida (1954) and University of Miami Law School (1958). Both his daughters, Sharon and Joanna, were born in Las Vegas and he reminisces about becoming a Jewish bachelor father to them. In June 2013, shortly before this interview, Irwin celebrated his 80th birthday. He was a proud father, grandfather and energetic businessman who left an indelible mark on everyone he knew. As a developer, he was known for the Somerset Apartments, Somerset House Motel, Somerset Gardens apartment complex, and the Somerset Shopping Center. He enjoyed reflecting on the many community organizations he dedicated himself to, from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to Opportunity Village to the original Las Vegas Rotary Club to the Community Concert Association?and that?s just to mention a few.