Janis Rounds is a travel agent and real estate agent who has lived in Las Vegas since 1963 and has been involved with the Las Vegas Jewish community in many important ways. This includes serving as a chairwomen of Women’s Philanthropy for the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, serving as secretary for the Board of Directors for the Federation, and serving on many other committees and board for the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas. She has also worked with Congregation Ner Tamid where she was a board member from 1993-1998 and President of the Sisterhood Congregation of Ner Tamid.
Temple Beth Sholom organized and led a bus tour of parts of Las Vegas that are significant in local Jewish history. Stops on the tour included Woodlawn Cemetery and the former Temple Beth Sholom campus on Oakey Boulevard. Narrator Arlene Blut gives the overview of the Jewish community, and Rabbi Felipe Goodman talks to tour participants at the cemetery. Former Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman speaks at the old synagogue along with Josh Abbey, whose mother created the stained glass windows at the temple.
In this interview, Milton Schwartz discusses his life in Las Vegas and his business investments. He worked at the Flamingo Hotel right after World War II, and he started Valley Hospital as an investor in 1970. Schwartz has a Hebrew academy named after him in Israel, and owned the Yellow-Checker-Star Cab Company. He was active in the Republican Party.
Milton I. Schwartz was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He enlisted in the Army the day after Pearl Harbor (age 20) and did a five year stint in the Pacific as a repeater specialist. After the war he returned to his job as a refrigeration mechanic in Brooklyn and was soon offered a job out in Las Vegas at the Flamingo Hotel, which was owned by Bugsy Siegel. After three months in Las Vegas, during which time he had several conversations over dinner with Beldon Cattleman, Milton returned to New York to work with his father in the fixture business. After ten years he sold that business and bought into Design Equipment Construction, which brought him back to Las Vegas. Milton started or bought many businesses over the years, but the one he's proudest of is Valley Hospital. He and his partners brought the first medical helicopters into Nevada and he feels that many lives were saved because of that. He also invested in Yellow-Checker-Star Cab Company, which he still owns. Two on-going concerns that are important to Milton are his involvement with the Republican Party and the Milton I. Schwartz Hebrew Academy in Israel. Of the many awards and plaques he has earned over the decades, he is proudest of the birthday acknowledgements from the Academy. He believes strongly that the most important achievements of his life revolve around his religion and the children being educated in it. Milton shares many stories, facts, descriptions, and anecdotes about Las Vegas in the decades since 1946. He built a house in the Scotch 80's, contributes to UNLV, and approves of city growth and the proposed changes in the downtown area. He has contributed much to the growth and stability of the Las Vegas valley.
Oral history roundtable video with members of Temple Sinai: Jack Kaufman, Meera Kagemai, Sue Rhodes, Amy Stein and Jeff Klein. The participants discuss the creation of Temple Sinai from the merger of Temple Beth Am and Adat Ari El Congregation, and their experiences serving on the board of directors of the temple.
Oral history interview with Kathleen Kahn Mahon conducted by Barbara Tabach on December 03, 2018 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview, Mahon discusses her family’s upbringing in New Mexico and talks about her Jewish education as a child. Mahon describes her family’s role in the founding of Congregation Albert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She then talks about moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1980, taking on a pediatric ophthalmologist position, and being involved in the pediatric community. Mahon recalls becoming the first female president of the Nevada Chapter of the American College of Surgeons and her involvement with the Junior League of Las Vegas. Lastly, Mahon discusses the Ronald McDonald House, the Pediatric Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and being a founding member of the Children's Discovery Museum.