F. Andrew Taylor has been a Las Vegas resident for over 20 years, moving to the city by way of New England and Georgia at the age of 28. Armed with a degree in painting from the Swain School of Design, got a job at a Laughlin casino as a caricature artist. After a brief stay in Laughlin and Bullhead City, Andrew moved to Ward I, where his girlfriend, now wife, lived. They soon moved to the Spring Valley area, where Andrew later learned through conversations with neighbors and his own research that the home sat on what was the old Stardust Racetrack. With Andrew’s move to the city came new professional opportunities. He got a job at CityLife as the in-house artist and graphic designer, what was then apart of Wick Communications. After a year, Andrew began reporting, initially working for the Sunrise/Whitney paper, and eventually working the downtown beat. Always feeling the pulse of the local arts and culture scene, he has attended First Fridays since it started, continues his own art,

Chelsie Campbell is a Cuban-American attorney and lobbyist. Born on October 4, 1979, Chelsie is a native Nevadan and grew up in Las Vegas. Her mother, Norah Campbell, came to Las Vegas after the Cuban Revolution and works as an elementary school teacher. Her father, Alan Campbell, was a former teacher and hotel manager. An advocate for the Latino community, Chelsie has dedicated her life to advocacy. Her involvement began at UNLV where she found her voice through the Student Organization of Latinos (SOL). During her time with SOL, she advocated for the elimination of the social security requirement in UNLV’s admission process and lobbied for the retraction of Las Vegas Review Journal’s racist article on Latino students. Her activism in SOL also helped established additional SOL chapters across Las Vegas high schools and at the College of Southern Nevada. After earning her Bachelors in Broadcast Journalism and Spanish Literature from UNLV, Chelsie attended William S. Boyd Law School where she graduated in 2005. Chelsie also attended University of Nevada, Reno where she received her master’s in Management and a graduate certificate in renewable energy. Chelsie worked for Mach One Group as Editor-In-Chief of its two publications, Nevada Family Magazine and La Familia de Nevada. After law school, Chelsie began working at NV Energy as a spokesperson and worked her way up to government affairs. Chelsie is currently working as an independent lobbyist and choses her clients. Her clients include Clark County School District and NV Energy. Her work as a lobbyist includes helping agencies prepare for Nevada’s legislative session, conduct public policy research, and help with educational outreach. Through her activism, Chelsie has worked for former Senate Majority Leader, U.S. Senator Harry Reid. Chelsie is also part of the inaugural class of Emerge Nevada, a political leadership-training program for women in Nevada. Chelsie is on the Board of Trustees for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Southern Nevada, the Chairwoman for the Nevada Advisory Board for CPLC Southwest, Board Member for the Advisory Commission on law-related Education for the State Bar of Nevada and serves on the Governmental Affairs Committee for the Latin Chamber of Commerce. She is the former President for the Boyd Law School Alumni Chapter and the Board of Directors for the Gray Plunkett Jydstrup Living Facility. Chelsie would like to dedicate her oral history to her parents: Without them, I wouldn’t be here.

On March 18, 1978, Gigi Arino interviewed antique shop owner, Mary B. Cooke (born November 13th, 1936 in Watertown, Wisconsin) in her antique shop in Las Vegas, Nevada. During this interview Mary discusses previous jobs, personal family history, education, and the growth and development of the city. She also expresses her opinions on the topic of welfare, healthcare and the condition of the hospitals in Las Vegas.

Count Guido Roberto Deiro, born in Reno, Nevada, in 1938, has had several fascinating careers. The son of vaudeville performer and recording star Count Guido Pietro Deiro, who was the first major piano-accordionist to become popular in the United States, and his teenage wife Yvonne Teresa LeBaron De Forrest, Deiro grew up in and around Las Vegas and Southern California after his parents' 1941 divorce. After attending 13 grammar schools and five high schools, Deiro graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1955. During his youth, thanks to his stepfather Samuel "Baby Shoes" Prezant, Deiro had an early introduction to the Las Vegas gambling scene. Following a brief stint in the U.S. Army, Deiro worked a series of jobs, including parking cars, selling shoes, and driving an ambulance. He transitioned from working as a fitness instructor to being a lifeguard at the El Rancho Vegas hotel, all the while becoming interested in aviation. Deiro entered the gaming industry at the age of 19 and a half, when he began working as a dealer, having been taught by his stepfather. Breaking in at the Nevada Club, Deiro, who became known as "Bobby Blue Eyes," later worked at the New Frontier, Sands, El Cortez, and Holiday casinos. He provides a great deal of detail about the social world of Las Vegas casinos in the 1950s through the 1970s, with insight into many major personalities. While working in gaming, Deiro continued to pursue a career in aviation, acquiring in the early 1960s a commercial pilot license, instrument rating and instructor's certificate. He began working as a flight instructor and charter pilot at Thunderbird Field, now known as North Las Vegas Air Terminal. Deiro flew around the United States promoting Las Vegas and the airfield. After Howard Hughes purchased the airfield in 1967, Deiro stayed, ultimately becoming Director of Aviation Facilities for the Hughes Tool Company. Following his marriage to Joan Marlene Calhoun, Deiro moved to California, where he became Vice President and Director of Administration for Air California and Golden West Airlines, before serving with other companies owned by C. Arnholdt Smith. In 1971, Deiro returned to Las Vegas. Deiro then met artist Michael Heizer, who enlisted Deiro's help in scouting and securing locations for his Earth art installations. This led to Deiro's long involvement with that genre. In addition to these careers, Deiro was also influential in many key developments in Las Vegas, including the construction of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and, with his wife Joan, several philanthropic endeavors. In this interview, Deiro shares his perspectives on his times and his impact on Las Vegas.

Margaret McGhie was a Depression era child who grew up in western Nevada, where her grandparents were ranchers. Her mother, a native Nevadan, married an Italian immigrant, and she recalls moving a lot. Margaret attended a business college in Reno and eventually moved to Las Vegas, where she worked for Basic Magnesium (BMI) in Gabbs, NV and then later for a remanufacturing company where she verified rocket measurements. Only 16,000 people resided in Las Vegas in post World War II days when she moved there for work as her husband returned from military service. At the time lots for homes were selling in the new development of John S. Park. Using the GI bill the young couple became one of the first home owners on the street. The land had formerly been a ranch and orchard making it a beautiful spot. Due to post-war building material shortages it took nearly two years to finish the house construction. To this day Margaret lives in the home where she and husband raised four children. She recalls the neighborhood fondly and describes some of the activities that kept them busy, where they shopped, and how her children attended John S. Park Elementary School and then the local parochial schools. She describes how the town changed from a 10-minute cross-town drive and how the fact of living close to the Strip had little impact on their life. People moved from the neighborhood as the city grew, she says, moving to newer and nicer homes in Spanish Oaks and then Summerlin. The John S. Park neighborhood has changed from a formerly large Mormon demographic to a notable increase of Latino population. She sees the historic designation as a signal of pride in ownership for residents.

Courtney Mooney is the Urban Design Coordinator for the City of Las Vegas. Her job description includes a knowledge of historic preservation, which is her passion. In this interview she shares her professional and personal thoughts about John S. Park Neighborhood. She moved to John S. Park in 2002. As a professional she explains that "how I look at preserving neighborhoods or buildings, is more of a community preservation, not saving the individual building for the individual building's sake..." Courtney offers a big picture of the neighborhood's past, present and future. John S. Park, like so many other Las Vegas neighborhoods, was built during World War II and has been affected by history of segregation and the wave of changing demographics, and the work that went into the plan and requirements to be designated a historic neighborhood. Courtney provides a summary of the story about the land, its ownership and what lead to the foundation of the neighborhood: from John S. Park to George Franklin and John Law, to Mary Dutton and explains how the proposed development of the land differed from other communities being built to FHA standards and specifics that declared Las Vegas a Defense City in the 1940s. She lists the factors that made the neighborhood a logical and important target for the historic designation, a small neighborhood tucked away, that is "a snapshot of the types of people that were coming here," filled with community leaders, entrepreneurs, blue-collar and casino workers. She also mentions about the missed opportunity of the Las Vegas High School neighborhood for preservation while supporting the John S. Park designation.

Rabbi Felipé Goodman was born in 1967 and raised in an established Conservative Jewish community in Mexico City. This community would financially and emotionally support his seminary education was in New York City at the Jewish Theological Seminary. As a young rabbi eager for his own congregation, he became restless in 1998 and began his search for options which lead him to a listing for a rabbi at Las Vegas’s oldest synagogue, Temple Beth Sholom. During this oral history, Rabbi Goodman weaves a fascinating story of chance and good fortune of his interview process and visit to Las Vegas—including the generous parting gift of Snapple—and his surprising decision to take the position. Now, almost two decades later, he reflects on several of his accomplishments in addition to being Temple Beth Sholom’s longest serving rabbi to date. He mentions the opening of the synagogue’s move to a beautiful new building in Summerlin, where they were able to include a mikvah for conversions. He shares how he and Rabbi Jeremy Wiederhorn, formerly of Midbar Kodesh Temple, worked together to establish chevra kadisha for burying Jewish people. As a member of the Rabbinical Assembly he was especially please to help host the 2011 annual conference in Las Vegas after years of persuasion. Israeli political leader Tzipi Livni was the keynote speaker. Rabbi also speaks about his passion for Israel, AIPAC and the Conservative Movement in Judaism.