On March 9, 1975, Maisie Gibson interviewed Fred Gibson (born 1927 in Golden, Colorado) about his life in Nevada. Gibson first talks about his family’s background, their move to Nevada, and his education in early Las Vegas schools. He also mentions his service in the U.S. Army, his college education, and his occupation as an engineer at various companies. Gibson then talks about the various locations at which he has lived, his membership in clubs and charitable organizations, and his memories of the first properties on Fremont Street as well as those of the Helldorado Parade. The interview then covers the topics of mining, the atomic testing, economic and environmental changes, and social changes. The interview concludes with a discussion on the growth and development of Henderson, Nevada.
Jonathan “Jon” Sparer of Las Vegas, Nevada, is a retired architect who is active in the local Jewish and LGBTQ communities. He grew up on Long Island, New York, in the hamlet of Woodmere, where his father was an importer. After graduating in Architecture from Ohio State University in 1977 Jon moved to Los Angeles, California, where he worked first with architect Jack Chernoff, then with architect Bob Barnett until 1981, when he accompanied his future wife and college classmate who worked for Martin Stern to Las Vegas. Stern sent her to open a field office to supervise the reconstruction of the MGM Grand after it burned in November 1980. Once in Las Vegas, Jon began working for architect Homer Rissman on Steve Wynn’s future project, The Mirage. Although Jon switched firms, he continued working on The Mirage and other Wynn projects with Marnell Corrao, where he would stay until 2001. Ironically, Jon’s original supervisor at Marnell Corrao was his future husband, architect John R. Klai II; Klai’s subordinate in turn was Jon’s Spring Valley neighbor. After Jon left Marnell in 2001, he became a founding principal architect at YWS Design & Architecture. Although he has retired from full-time architecture, Jon has since designed the Temple for Congregation Ner Tamid (pictured above) and The Center (Las Vegas's gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer community center). Jon remains active in the AIA Las Vegas Chapter as the incoming president as well as serving as a board member for Jewish Family Services Agency and The Center.
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Office of the President Records is comprised of documents used in daily matters of the Office of the President from approximately 1950 to 2007. The records in the collection document the expansion of the UNLV campus, and the academic and athletics programs offered by the university.