Oral history interview with Pearl Busch (born 1936 in Winona, Minnesota) conducted by Laura Busch on March 20, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Pearl first describes her original move to Southern Nevada and a wide range of topics including the first hotels on the Strip, the growth and expansion of the city, recreational activities such as skiing, and her family. She also discusses gambling and its impact on the city, the clubs and organizations to which she belonged, and her appreciation for the mild Las Vegas climate. The interview finalizes with her thoughts on the biggest excitement Las Vegas offers, her input on the high crime rate in Las Vegas, and her thoughts on the energy crisis and the future of solar energy in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
This collection contains the original drafts of the thirteen essays that Elizabeth Harrington wrote about her life in early Las Vegas, Nevada. These articles were written from her memory and experiences of life in Las Vegas beginning in the early 1900s, and were published in the Nevadan section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal from 1975-1979.
Archival Collection
Interview with Charles Salton by George Green on April 23, 1976. Salton discusses arriving in Las Vegas in 1929, after his family had moved from New Jersey to Huntington Beach, California. His father sold real estate, and expected a boom after the authorization for the construction of Hoover Dam. His father was involved in bootlegging and then owned Al's Bar, a drinking and gambling establishment, on the alley at South First Street. Salton describes the area around Fremont Street and Las Vegas Boulevard with businesses and grocery stores, the grammar school and high school, and the hospital. Salton talks about his social activities, including involvement in the Jewish Community Center (Temple Beth Sholom), and several of the bars, clubs and casinos in the area. He briefly discusses the mob influence in the casinos versus corporate ownership and then speaks about the education system in Clark County.
Text
The Boulder City, Nevada maps, drawings, and brochures series (1930-1998) depicts Boulder City's early planning and development in the 1930s as well as the later development between the 1950s and 1980s. The series also includes maps of Boulder City after its incorporation in 1960 and advertisement posters from Boulder City organizations.
Archival Component
The Lake Mead National Recreation Area maps, drawings, and brochures series (1947-1977) includes topographic and rendered maps and brochures of Lake Mead and its vicinity. These maps and brochures typically depict local points of interest, geological survey information, and artists' depictions of the region's natural environment.
Archival Component
Ragnald “Rags” Fyhen was an original member of the Nevada Central Labor Council. He was a labor organizer in the Clark County area. Fyhen was born in Tromso, Norway on August 1, 1884.
Fyhen was a machinist by trade. He came to Clark County in 1934 to work on the Hoover Dam and founded the Central Labor Council with some colleagues, which was instrumental in negotiating the labor agreement with Six Companies, Inc. to complete the dam. He served as the secretary-treasurer for the Central Labor Council from 1934 to 1947.
Person
John Thomas Kizziar Jr. was born in Cleburne, Texas on May 10, 1910 to John Thomas Kizziar Sr. and Mattie Lee Tarter. He was a worker employed by Six Companies Inc. during the contruction of Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) in the early 1930s, where he resided in Boulder City, Nevada. He married Barbara Leona Myers on October 1, 1937. Kizziar died on July 21, 2000 in Fullerton, California.
Source:
Person
Murl Emery was born June 07, 1903 in Colton, California. In the 1930s and 1940s, Emery wandered and boated in previously unexplored areas of the Colorado River. During this time, he started a ferry company that brought Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) workers to construction sites and also gave tours of Cottonwood Cove, a recreation area which he helped develop. Murl Emery passed away in March 1981 at his home in Boulder City, Nevada.
Person
Therese Courture Thomas was born July 5, 1917 in Thistle, Utah. Her father, Earnest "Earl" Courture, worked as a railroad worker, a steel worker, and a building contractor as her family moved around Utah. After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Thomas's father moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to work on Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) construction, later moving the rest of the family with him in approximately 1931. Thomas worked as amusican in swing and dance bands. She died October 26, 2001.
Source:
Person