Oral history interview with Juliana Chen conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on March 21, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
In this interview, Juliana Chen shares her upbringing in Hunan, China and her experiences as a teenager training to become a professional ballet dancer. She discusses her rigorous training and troupe career that ended when Chen sustained a knee injury. With a desire to try something new while still being able to perform, Chen immigrated to Vancouver, Canada and began practicing magic. Chen shares that although she didn't know anyone or speak English, she practiced her craft and broadened her knowledge by joining professional organizations including the International Brotherhood of Magicians. After winning several magic competitions, Chen performed on the Las Vegas Strip at Caesar's Palace and the Riviera Hotel and Casino. She shares her current professional pursuits, her connection to the Las Vegas magician community, and her thoughts on Chinese culture and cuisine.
Raya Meron was born July 08, 1935 in Tel-Aviv, Israel. She joined the Israeli Defense Force after completing her education. Following rigorous boot camp training, she was assigned to the Mixed Armistice Commission. After her military service, Meron worked as Secretary at the Foreign Office where she met her first husband who was an Israeli diplomat at the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey and shortly after her marriage, she moved to Istanbul.
The Graglia Family was one of the first non-indigenous families to move to Las Vegas, Nevada at the beginning of the twentieth century. Joseph and Frances Graglia moved to Canada from Italy, and then made their way to the United States in 1890. They settled in Southern Nevada sometime before 1913. Parish records at Las Vegas’s first Catholic church, St. Joan of Arc, document their church activities.