Personal history of Las Vegas through the eyes of a public servant. Growing up in Las Vegas during the 1940s. Education history and childhood memories. Downtown. Experiences in the US Air Force: flying B-47s loaded with nuclear bombs; training. NV Test Site. Family jewelry business in Las Vegas. Election to the board of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. Election to the Las Vegas City Council and the beginning of a career in politics. Jam auction. Tussle with the Clark County Commission over wastewater in the valley: details of the dispute, extended to the state and Environmental Protection Agency. Move to the County Commission and why? The Mob during the 1950s and 60s. The Mormon community in Las Vegas. Howard Hughes. Experiences sitting on the County Commission. Chairman of the Convention Authority. Remarks on Las Vegas' future water supply. Election defeat. Corruption on the County Commission (Erin Kenny). Distinguished Nevadan award. County Hospital. Quick Care Centers. Opinion on the growth of Las Vegas. Speedway Children's Charities. Dina Titus. Experiences with African Americans. Lucy Stewart. Beaver, NV.
Frances Harelik interviews IBM computer engineer Paul Bowerman in Las Vegas at Harelik’s home. Born in Wolforth, Texas in 1929, Mr. Bowerman relocated to Nevada in 1954. Other places Mr. Bowerman has lived include: California, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Illinois, New York, Minnesota, England, and Japan. From Mr. Bowerman’s perspective this interview provides insight into life in Las Vegas from 1954 to 1976.
Meghan Boyle interviews her father John Boyle (born 1924 in Risen, Arkansas), who at the time was Chief Pilot of Operations for Republic Airlines. The two discuss changes in air travel over the years and John’s profession as a pilot. They also discuss improvements in Las Vegas roads over the years, the rise in crime rates, and the impacts on changes in the economy.
An oral history statement conducted by herself. Lucile Whitehead Bunker (b. 1907 in Overton, Nevada), at the request of Doreen Day, provides an oral history statement about her experiences growing up and living in Southern Nevada. Bunker recalls her first experiences in Las Vegas and Overton and talks about her family, specifically about her mother, an ice cream maker, and father, the first assessor of Clark County. She then speaks about her various positions, including being a secretary at a school and law firm, a schoolteacher, and a deputy county clerk. She also describes her experiences as the wife of former Senator Berkeley Bunker, particularly living in Washington, D.C. where she met several presidents and attended several events with other lawmakers’ wives. Bunker additionally talks about her missionary work in her church and the various locations to which she travelled. She concludes the statement by talking about her interests in china painting, the early above-ground atomic testing, and the building of Hoover Dam.
As she ponders a possible run for Nevada State Governor in 2018, former Nevada State Assemblywoman and current Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani recalls her first vacation to Las Vegas in summer of 1978 with some girlfriends from Johnson County, Kansas. After visiting the Special Education department at UNLV, Chris decided to stay. In this interview, the special education teacher talks of her experiences finding an apartment, enrolling in the Master’s in Education program at UNLV, tending bar, finding a teaching job, and entering union politics, where she met future husband Gary Gray. Chris also discusses campaigning for the Nevada State Assembly, where she served 1991 to 2006, and for Clark County Commission, where she began representing District E in 2006 and is now serving her third and final term. She speaks to the politics of a publicly funded stadium for professional football; she describes plans for the revitalization of the Maryland Parkway corridor, and she ruminates on the UNLV Medical School and the breakup of the Clark County School District, currently the sixth largest school district in the United States. She also shares her thoughts on her future political plans—but not entirely.
Jacob David "Jay" Bingham carries the Lincoln County town of Alamo, Nevada, in his heart. The former North Las Vegas City Councilman (1981-84) and Clark County Commissioner (1984-96) presided over fifteen years of Southern Nevada’s explosive urban growth, but he learned about small-town values when he got out of line at Rancho High School with some friends and was sent to live with an uncle in Alamo for his sophomore year. What began as a short-term placement blossomed into a life-long attachment to a rural Nevada place where no gap separated generations; where people looked out for one another; where small classes allowed teachers to accommodate his Attention Deficit Disorder and let him learn at his own pace; where he acquired rodeo skills and became a cowboy, and where he met his wife. But it was in urban Clark County where Bingham spiritually reconnected with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and crafted successful careers in politics and construction that significantly and mutually contributed to the way Southern Nevada looks and the way it works. In this interview, he discusses Alamo, his faith, his learning disability, Southern Nevada’s political landscape, his learning curves at the North Las Vegas City Council and the Clark County Commission, comprehensive planning, the Southern Nevada Water Authority, and his construction and development business. He recalls heated competition between political kingmakers Kent Oram and Big Jim Joyce; telling Pat Mulroy she was not "tough enough," and the corruption that seemed to define Southern Nevada politics before, during, and after his terms in office.
On March 17, 1981, Niki Rodriguez interviewed Kathleen Bryan Gaston (born 1949 in Las Vegas, Nevada) about her experience living in Southern Nevada. Gaston first talks about her father who moved to Las Vegas and eventually became a justice of the peace, and she also describes how her parents eventually moved to Las Vegas. Gaston later describes how Las Vegas looked as she was growing up and how it has developed since, specifically mentioning the schools she attended and the growth of the Las Vegas Strip.
On February 25 1979, collector, Carol A. Semendoff interviewed cashier, Marguerite Goldstein, (born on May 1925 in Oberlin, Kansas) in the library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. This interview covers early Las Vegas, from 1950 to 1979. Also included during this interview is discussion on local dignitaries, the growth of Las Vegas, gambling as the major industry in Las Vegas, Strip hotels, and housing developments.
On February 26, 1979, Christina Oda interviewed Toshiyuki “George” Goto (born 1922 in Huntington Beach, California) about his life in Nevada. Goto first talks about his move to Nevada in 1951 before talking about his family, church activities, politics, and recreational activities. He then discusses the building, economic, and environmental changes in Las Vegas. Goto later talks in depth about his profession in landscaping, including the work he completed for some of the hotels and resorts built on the Las Vegas Strip. The latter part of the interview includes discussion about Goto’s Japanese ancestry and his perceptions as a minority when first moving to and living in Las Vegas. The interview’s conclusion covers the topics of social activities and Goto’s organization of a local chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League.
Heidi Swank interview on July 28, 2014: Nevada Assemblywoman, Founder of Nevada Preservation Foundation, Founder of the Flamingo Club; Scott and Heidi Swank Interview on October 13, 2014: Talks about the John S Park Neighborhood, being an independent professional in Las Vegas, and the Flamingo Club.