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Charles Quander oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03285

Abstract

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.

Archival Collection

Clyde F. Merrick Photographic Slides

Identifier

PH-00449

Abstract

The Clyde F. Merrick Photographic Slides (approximately 1971-1979) contain color photographic slides taken by Clyde F. Merrick, longtime resident of Las Vegas, Nevada. The majority of slides in this collection depict signs for different businesses around Las Vegas including the Las Vegas Strip and the Westside. Some of the businesses documented in this collection includes Fong's Garden, Leon's Shear Magic Beauty Salon, Lucas and Son's Antiques, Dick's Tricky Trikes, Mohan's Custom Tailors, the Twenty Grand Club, Owens TV Repair, and Caesars Palace. The collection also documents a variety of different types of businesses around Las Vegas including bars and nightclubs, beauty salons, car washes, gas stations, and restaurants. Merrick was also a car racing hobbyist and a number of slides in this collection depict what is presumed to be the Las Vegas Speedrome racetrack (later known the Las Vegas Motor Speedway). This collection also includes photographs of locations outside of Las Vegas and Southern Nevada.

Archival Collection

Cliff Trenier Papers

Identifier

MS-01137

Abstract

The Cliff Trenier Papers (approximately 1950-1999) document the life and career of Clifton "Cliff" Trenier, who performed with various siblings across the United States beginning in the 1940s. The collection contains photographs of Cliff with his twin brother Claude performing, documents and newspaper clippings relating to the musical group's tours and their numerous performances in Las Vegas, Nevada including at the Moulin Rouge. Also included in the collection are photographs of Cliff's wife, Bedez, and correspondence between the couple up until Cliff's illness and death in 1983.

Archival Collection

Geri Tomich oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03897

Abstract

Oral history interview with Geri Tomich conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Jerwin Tiu, and Stefani Evans on May 15, 2023 for the Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Born and raised in the Philippines, Geraldine "Geri" Tomich recalls life in the city of Manila, where her father worked as an engineer and her mother as a stay-at-home mother. Tomich attended an American school, where she learned how to speak English from a young age, and her extracurricular activities included speedreading and writing letters to her friends. After her parents divorce, her mother took Tomich and her three siblings to the United States to live with their aunt. After a brief period in California, Tomich resumed her college career in a community college in Southern Nevada, getting an associate's degree in paralegal studies before transferring to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to earn her bachelor's degree in business management. During this time, Tomich recalls working her way up in a law firm, starting as a receptionist before moving up to a secretary and then later a paralegal. For law school, Tomich moved to Spokane, Washington, to attend Gonzaga University. Citing her family, she moved back to Las Vegas to practice law, first returning to the law firm where she got her start before moving to Marquis Aurbach in 2003. She also discusses the other organizations she is involved in, including the Nevada Community Foundation and the Baller Dream Foundation. Throughout the rest of the interview, Tomich discusses values, what it has been like balancing a family with a full-time job, and what parts of Filipino culture she has retained.

Archival Collection

Maria LaCavera Papers

Identifier

MS-01139

Abstract

The Maria LaCavera Papers (1947-2017) contain the papers of professional dancer Maria LaCavera. The collection documents the career of LaCavera dancing in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Flamingo Hotel in 1947, and the Last Frontier Hotel in 1949 as one of the Ramona Girls dancing in the Danny O'Neil Varieties Act. Materials include photographs of LaCavera and other Ramona Girls, newspaper clippings, correspondence, LaCavera's American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA) employment contracts, Fabulous Las Vegas magazines, and hotel receipts. Other items of note include photographs of the 1949 Helldorado parade, a Frontier Hotel Ramona Room menu, and Frontier Hotel ephemera. There is also a copy of a self-published biography of LaCavera, written by her daughter-in-law Kristin Meyer entitled From Bon-Air to the Last Frontier. The collection also contains the digital images used to illustrate the book.

Archival Collection

Patricia Lee oral history interview

Identifier

OH-01980

Abstract

Oral history interview with Patricia Lee conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee White on September 19, 2023 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Lee begins the interview by discussing her childhood in Daegu, South Korea, born to a Black American father and a Korean mother. Patricia Lee arrived in the United States with her parents as a young child when the U.S. Air Force transferred her father to Vandenburg Air Force Base in California. Lee was seven when her father left. With her mother speaking no English, Lee was responsible for her family's food stamps and social services even as they endured serial evictions and homelessness that included a stay in a shelter for abused women. In middle school, Upward Bound was Lee's "game-changer." As she had in high school, Lee immersed herself in student life and academics at the University of Southern California, while also working several jobs. After graduation, she worked at the California Science Center Museum before entering law school at George Washington University. She graduated in May 2002, shortly after the legal profession had lost several top law firms that had been headquartered in New York City's Twin Towers. When she accepted an offer from Las Vegas firm Hutchison & Steffen, she became the firm's first woman attorney and first attorney of color; seven years later, she became the firm's first woman partner and first partner of color. Lee was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Nevada in November 2022 by Governor Steve Sisolak.

Archival Collection

Charley Henchis Papers

Identifier

MS-01145

Abstract

The Charley Henchis Papers (approximately 1945-1987) document the career of international cabaret show producer Charley Henchis and the shows he produced in Las Vegas, Nevada and Beirut, Lebanon. Materials include Henchis' business files which includes correspondence, files on specialty acts, photographs, and press about Henchis. Shows represented in this collection includes La Parisienne which was performed at the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas in 1960 before moving to Casino du Liban in Beirut. Other shows represented in this collection that were produced for Casino du Liban includes Mais Oui, S'il Vous Plait, Flash!, and Hello!. Additional materials include press and publicity files, music arrangements and scores, recordings of musical numbers used for the productions, and film footage of shows and production reels. Also included is film footage of the Charley Ballet, Henchis' dance troupe who were featured in his shows.

Archival Collection

Felicia Campbell Papers

Identifier

MS-01173

Abstract

The Felicia Campbell Papers (approximately 1962-2020) contains material documenting the life and work of long-time UNLV English professor, Felicia Campbell. Materials include Campbell's personal and professional papers including correspondence, scholarly journals featuring her published articles, article drafts, newspaper clippings, photographs, personal diaries, and awards. Also included are materials documenting Campbell's discrimination lawsuit against UNLV in the 1970s regarding equal pay for tenured female faculty.

Archival Collection

Julia Lynn Morris and James Stanford Papers

Identifier

MS-01043

Abstract

Julia Lynn Morris and James Stanford Papers (approximately 1990-2024) contain materials from Lynn and James's varied careers in Las Vegas, Nevada. The collection includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, videos, photographs, and ephemera from the Las Vegas arts scene, the Contemporary Arts Collective, Arts Factory, and other projects related to the couple.

Archival Collection

Larry Fotine Music collection

Identifier

MS-01179

Abstract

The Larry Fotine Music Collection (approximately 1940-2017) contains the complete library of composer, jazz band leader, and composer for television Larry Fotine. Materials include manuscript scores, printed sheet music of works by Fotine, ASCAP agreements and contracts, photographs, recordings (both published recordings and archival recordings), correspondence, and books by Fotine, and memorabilia. Fotine directed his own bands beginning in the 1930s, with many million-plus seller recordings. He composed over 300 songs, including collaboration with Duke Ellington (“I Ain’t Got Nothin’ but the Blues”), and arranged music for Sammy Kaye’s band (1940-1945), Blue Barron and Art Mooney (1945-1947), and Lawrence Welk (1958-1960). Fotine composed music for the "Buttons and Rusty" cartoon shows at the end of his career in the 1980s. There is an item-level inventory available upon request.

Archival Collection