In this interview, Andy Katz discusses his family, his childhood growing up in Las Vegas, and attending UNLV. His parents, Mike and Bea Katz, established Manpower, an employment agency, which Andy served as president.
Andy Katz is the youngest of four children born to Michael and Beatrice Katz. When Andy was a little over one-year-old his family moved from New York City to Las Vegas. During this oral history Andy highlights his family?s background and the entrepreneurial spirit of his father that inspired the move in 1963. By 1964, Mike Katz, Andy?s father, was well-known in Las Vegas for providing an answering service and subsequently for opening the Manpower franchise to serve the growing town. In time, this family business grew and the eldest sons, Bob and Mel opened franchises in Salt Lake City and San Diego, respectively. Andy recalls his steps to joining Manpower in this interview. With great humor and fondness, he describes the friendships he formed in public school, Hebrew school and Jewish youth organizations. Andy easily slipped into active leadership roles; it was a role he would continue during his years at UNLV, where he earned a Business degree and was active with the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. Born Andrew Scott Katz on January 9, 1962, Andy, as everyone knew him, passed away suddenly on February 23, 2016. It was exactly one week after this oral history interview. The scheduled next session was not to occur.
In this interview, the Straus? discuss the joys of growing up in Las Vegas during the 1960s and 1970s, and the changes within the community over time, especially in educational opportunities. Both talk about Joyce Straus? career as artist and art educator, and the influence she had on their lives. They also remember Heidi?s father, Jay Sarno, and the impact he had on the local gaming industry. There is also discussion of the founding of Congregation Ner Tamid, the role of Jewish women?s philanthropy within the community, as well as the establishment of The Meadows School.
Oral history interview with Marta Sorkin conducted by Claytee D. White on March 02, 2009 for the UNLV @ 50 Oral History Project. In this interview Marta Sorkin discusses her family and her experience moving to California, and then to Las Vegas, Nevada. Sorkin talks about working at the James R. Dickinson Library at University of Nevada, Las Vegas and later in Lied Library, and helping to implement and update various databases. She briefly discusses her involvement with Hillel and the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas.
Muriel Stevens discusses her early life in Las Vegas, including her experience as a Jewish woman and as a former newspaper columnist, author, chef, and radio and television host.
Claude Black describes his family's escape from Germany to Santiago, Chile, and eventually settling in Chicago, Illinois. The essay is illustrated with images of his family and documents from their journey.
The Bulletin is the monthly newsletter from Temple Beth Sholom. This issue includes columns by the Temple President and the Cantor, religious school news, announcements and calendars, event photographs, and advertisements.
Oral history interview with Priscilla Schwartz conducted by Barbara Tabach on June 16, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview, Schwartz discusses her passion for compassionate hospice care, particularly her broad involvement with the Nathan Adelson Hospice. She explains her roles with the hospice, from volunteering, to serving on the board, to philanthropic giving and the opening of the Walter Schwartz Center for Compassionate Care.
In this oral history, the long married couple Henry and Anita Schuster recall the history of the 1930s and how they eventually met and created a life together. Their childhoods were distinctively different, but charter a future where they would inevitably meet. Born in Germany in 1926, Henry recalls the dawn of Hitler and the Nazism. His mother would arrange for his evacuation to France, where he would not know her fate or that of his two sisters for a number of years. Along with hundreds of other displaced children, he escaped to America and lived with relatives in Louisiana where he finished his schooling and joined the US Army. Anita on the other hand grew up with her family in New York. They share the story of meeting when she was 16, falling in love and marrying in 1948. They had four children and moved several times before settling in California. They retired to Las Vegas in 1993. Henry's recollections include childhood memories of the Holocaust and its affect on his family, including the loss of his mother and one of his sisters. Finding his surviving sister Bertel (Betty Kale) after the war is a heartwarming tale of survival. The Schusters are part of the approximately 300 members of the Holocaust Survivor Group that has settled in southern Nevada and Henry was President Emeritus of the group. He published his memoir, Abraham's Son-the Making of an American, in 2010.
Oral history interview with Shelley Bristol conducted by Barbara Tabach on November 10, 2015 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Bristol recalls moving from California to Las Vegas, Nevada to attend UNLV, returning to California and then back to Las Vegas in the 1980s. She discusses people and places, the Culinary Union, her podcast, and her parents' involvement in B'nai Brith in Southern California, as well as her own activities in efforts to control the spread of HIV/AIDS through education and outreach.
Oral history interview with Joanna S. Kishner conducted by Barbara Tabach on January 10, 2017 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Kishner discusses being born and raised in both the Jewish and secular worlds of Las Vegas, Nevada. She discusses the importance of the Jewish tradition of Tzedakah, and what it was like to work on a Kibbutz in Israel after her freshman year at Claremont McKenna College. Kishner also discusses desegregation of Las Vegas schools.