Oral history interview with José Luis Meléndrez conducted by Laurents Bañuelos-Benitez on November 20, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Meléndrez discusses his family background and early life in Baja California. He talks about his father's decision to migrate to the United States, and attending Catholic schools in California, Nevada, and Texas as the family moved around the country. Meléndrez recalls moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1990, enrolling at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and his involvement with the Boy Scouts of America affiliated program, Learning for Life. Later, Meléndrez describes attending the University of Michigan, earning a master's degree in social work, and becoming executive director for the office of Community Partnerships in the UNLV School of Public Health. Lastly, Meléndrez discusses the future of the Las Vegas Latinx community, and becoming a founding member and chair for the Nevada Minority Health and Equity Coalition.

Coming from humble beginnings, Elaina Blake grew up in Port Orchard, Washington, where her father was in the logging industry and she involved herself in the love of horseback riding. After becoming engaged at age 16, she married the following year at 17 and moved to Las Vegas where she started as a statistical typist at the Sahara Hotel and Casino. This led to a position her to become an executive secretary at the Thunderbird where she dealt with the rampant sexual harassment that was typical of the executive office environment in the industry at the time. The rejection of those advances led her to start her career in real estate with Roberts Realty where she sold her first group of homes off of Nellis Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue. In 1976, she made the entrepreneurial move by buying into Roberts Realty, becoming an owner, and eventually buying out Young American Homes. She started giving back to the community through her service as being the first woman elected to president elect for the Chamber of Commerce in 1984 and also served on the Clark County Planning Commission for four years serving as vice chairman and chairman. She did such a wonderful job running the chamber, she was approached to run for Lieutenant Governor. Her involvement with the community increased during this time as she got involved with the United Way, saved the YMCA from closure and started the Focus School Project in 1989 with former superintendent Brian Cram where businesses adopt schools and provide money and volunteer. This project is still in operation today and has given back $8 million dollars to CCSD in volunteerism. During her time with the Chamber, she continued to work with major local builders such as Pageantry Homes, Heers Brothers, and Christopher Homes, which led to her taking another entrepreneurial milestone by taking a small team to create Blake and Associates. In 1996, Blake leveled up to become a developer starting with office buildings. As a champion for the inclusion of women, she never felt held back because of her gender and she always encouraged women in the Chamber to give more of themselves, even if it was for ten minutes because the men did so. In a male-dominated industry, Elaina Blake has been a trailblazer for women in business and the housing industry in the valley.

Interviewed by Elsa Lopez and Barbara Tabach. Cuban refugee family by way of Spain and then to the US; arrived in Las Vegas in 1973 when Nora was 9 years old. Struggled in youth but rises up as embraces educaton. Currently is Assistant Director of Academic Partnership at CSN.

Flo Mlynarczyk began life in Fort Morgan, Colorado. Her parents divorced and she moved with her mother first to Loveland and eventually to Los Angeles. Her mother started the first Red Cross in Bell Gardens, oversaw the building of their home, and raised money for various charities. Flo remembers when the Japanese were rounded up and interred during WWII. She was in grade school and recalls that one day they all just disappeared. Upon graduation from high school in 1943, Flo moved to Kodiak, Alaska, to live with friends. She recalls total blackouts on the streets of Kodiak due to the war, the Short Snorter Club, and her return to California after a bout of pneumonia. Back in Bell Gardens, Flo worked for a department store, married and divorced in 1945, gave birth to her son Michael in 1946, and ended up in Tonopah, Nevada, with a sister who ran a cafe there. After a second marriage ended, Flo moved to Las Vegas and began working at Phelps Pump and Equipment as a bookkeeper.

In this interview, Burton Cohen discusses his involvement in the Las Vegas casino industry, including booking entertainment for various hotels.

Burton Cohen's long casino executive career began in the mid-1960s when he accepted a proposition to become involved with the transformation of the Frontier Hotel. He left his south Florida roots and law practice to become a co-owner/general manager of the Frontier Hotel. Thus, began his highly regarded Las Vegas presence. For nearly four decades he served in the management of some of the Strip's most famous casinos: Flamingo, Dunes, Circus Circus, Caesar Palace, Thunderbird and the Desert Inn, which remains his favorite. In this interview, Burt reflects on the positions he held, the celebrities he hired and befriended, and offers a unique look at the behind the scenes marketing and entertainment strategies that he helmed. He shares stories of becoming entrenched in casino operations, his reflections of union experiences, and even anecdotes about moving his mother to Las Vegas.