Oral history interview with Diane Orgill conducted by Claytee D. White on March 30, 2018 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Diane Orgill, a volunteer with Red Cross, discusses her experience on the night of the October 1, 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. She speaks of her role as a Red Cross representative at the Emergency Operations Center and the efforts of the Red Cross command center to provide a sense of order in the chaos. She describes some of the support provided to the survivors through the Family Assistance Center and the Disaster Action Team, giving an in-depth explanation of how these sections of the Red Cross function.

Oral history with Michael Ciccolo conducted by Claytee D. White on September 18, 2018 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Ciccolo, a doctor at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada, discusses the early morning after the mass shooting on October 1, 2017. He participated in surgery for two victims in the early morning after the shooting. As a doctor trained in Iowa, Arizona, and California, Ciccolo and his family love the city of Las Vegas. He trained at the University of Iowa, University of Arizona, and University of Southern California. His thoughts after the October 1 tragedy include the belief that as a society, we are not grateful enough for everyday things. He also discusses anger, and his conflicting thoughts on gun ownership.

Commencement program from University of Nevada, Las Vegas Commencement Programs and Graduation Lists (UA-00115).

On the corner of 7th street and Clark, and beside the tennis courts of Las Vegas Academy, stands the law office of attorney Eva Garcia Mendoza. Eva has worked in her office since 1982, and in this time she has helped the Las Vegas community work through civil and immigration cases besides aiding in a myriad of other ways. Eva Garcia Mendoza was born in 1950, in the town of McAllen, TX-an environment that perpetuated hatred of Mexican Americans. Eva recalls the racism she endured; for instance, being spanked if she spoke Spanish in school, and her family facing job discrimination because of her skin color or her last name. Being an ethnic and financial minority was difficult, and Eva remembers nights as a child when she would cry herself to sleep. Eva showed resilience in the face of adversity as she states, “you rise to the level of your teachers’ expectations.” With the encouragement of her band professor, Dr. L.M Snavely, she began higher education at Pan American College. She moved to Las Vegas in 1971 and began to work before being accepted at UNLV to study Spanish literature. She graduated in the class of 1973. In 1975, Eva applied to become a court interpreter, a decision that would drastically change the trajectory of her career. She earned the coveted position and began to work beside Judge John Mendoza who was the first Latino elected to public office in the state of Nevada. Several years later John and Eva would wed. Judge Mendoza passed away in 2011. Eva talks about how extraordinary his legacy is-from his professional achievements to a story about his v football days and the 1944 Dream Team, this true story even piqued the interest of Hollywood writers. Through her work, Eva began to notice how she was more than qualified to become a lawyer herself, so she applied and gained a full ride scholarship to the Law School of San Diego University. Eva describes the struggles of attending school in San Diego while her spouse and children were home in Las Vegas. Despite the financial difficulties, being one of few minority students, and becoming pregnant her second year, Eva was able to finish her remaining university credits by returning to Las Vegas and working with Judge Mendoza. Together, they started the Latin Bar Association. Eva began her own practice in 1981 and would later partner with Luther Snavely, who was the son of her band teacher that helped her to attend college so many years back. Today, Eva has a new partner at her office and hired her son to work as a secretary. Eva also tells of the office’s mysterious history, of which includes a ghostly figure many clients claimed to have seen in the reception room. Eva recounts many of her professional achievements, such as petitioning to start the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Nevada Chapter, representing celebrities, winning the unwinnable cases such as against the Nevada Test Site. Eva talks about current events, such as today’s immigration laws, the discriminatory practices of revoking birth certificates from those born in Brownsville, TX., and about the importance of the #MeToo movement. Eva and her family have a great fondness for Las Vegas. The support for the Latinx community in Las Vegas greatly contrasts that which she experienced as a child in southern Texas. She describes wanting to take her children and grandchildren to visit her old home in McAllen, TX where her family grew up on the “wrong side of the tracks.”

Commencement program from University of Nevada, Las Vegas Commencement Programs and Graduation Lists (UA-00115).

Oral history interview with Marietta "Margie" Llorente Gonzales conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Vanessa Concepcion, and Stefani Evans on November 1 and 22, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Margie Llorente-Gonzales discusses her upbringing in Manila, the Philippines and her family history within the country, recalling the lives of her parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. She talks about her childhood, educational pursuits, and courtship with her husband in the Philippines. Margie shares how she and her husband immigrated to the United States, how she adapted to her new life as an immigrant dependent on her extended family, and how she and her husband came to settle in Las Vegas. She talks about her artistic pursuits in the forms of dance choreography and performing, scriptwriting, broadcasting, and publishing newsletters. Margie also discusses her employment at McCarran Airport and her political activism, canvassing, and committee work in the Philippines and the United States.

On March 3, 1979, Norwood Germany Jr. interviewed Daniel A. Moore (b. 1939 in Fort Worth, Texas) about his life in Las Vegas, Nevada. Moore begins by speaking about his move to Las Vegas from Utah at a young age, his education and his work in construction and at the Las Vegas McCarran Airport. Moreover, Moore speaks about his involvement with church and his recreational hobbies such as bowling. Moore also spends time speaking about the African American population in Las Vegas, the jobs available to them, racial tensions in his young adulthood versus his children’s experiences, and the segregation of black communities into the Las Vegas Westside. Lastly, he talks about the city’s growth, tourism and the economy, the development of different shopping centers and malls, and the city’s law enforcement.