Oral history interview with Rossi Ralenkotter conducted by Claytee D. White on August 4, 2022 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Ralenkotter describes migrating to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1951 with his parents at the age of four. He shares early memories of the city, and talks about how it brought him to be president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA). Ralenkotter is responsible for marketing and branding Las Vegas and Southern Nevada as the world's most desirable destination for leisure and business travel. Under his leadership, the LVCVA launched the most successful branding campaign in tourism history, "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas." In 1971, Ralenkotter earned a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and in 2008 was selected as Alumni of the Year. In 2009, he was honored with UNLV's Distinguished Nevadan Award. Throughout the interview, Ralenkotter recalls his many memories of the city throughout his life, including cruising Fremont Street, swimming at Lorenzi Park, participating in Helldorado parades, and watching the transformation of sports in the city.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Sigrid Capel conducted by Michael McKenna on February 10, 1980 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Sigrid Capel (b. 1915 in Ely, Nevada) discusses growing up in Southern Nevada and serving in several civil service positions. She begins by talking about her experiences of growing up in Ely, Nevada and then describes going to business school in San Diego before returning to work as a secretary for the Agricultural Extension Service. Capel goes on to describe her experiences working for the Nevada Gaming Control Board and eventually becoming assistant city clerk for Las Vegas, the jury commissioner for the county clerk, and executive secretary for the Clark County Board of County Commissioners.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Elbert B. Edwards conducted by Dennis McBride on November 12, 1986 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. A Nevada native, Edwards recounts the development of the school system in Nevada, with specific details on Las Vegas and Boulder City. He discusses state education law, early school districts, difficulties with establishing primary and secondary education in Boulder City while it was a federal reservation and the number and quality of students who were bussed from Boulder City to Las Vegas to attend high school. He continues describing the effects of The Six Companies departure from Boulder City after Hoover Dam was completed and the efforts to establish a permanent school district in that community after 1937 and through the war years that followed.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with James A. (Jimmy Gay) Gay III conducted by Joyce M. Wright in 1973 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Gay recalls details about his education in Arkansas and his training in mortuary science in Chicago, Illinois and discusses the nine-year delay in obtaining his license to practice as a mortician in Nevada because of racial discrimination. He recounts his move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1946, his experiences as a recreation director and as a personnel and communications director for the hotel industry, work that he took while waiting for his licensure to practice. He also talks about his career as a mortician with Palm Mortuary in Las Vegas, the atomic testing of the 1950s and 1960s, and his long involvement with the NAACP and the Freedom Fund. He closes by reciting two poems that have inspired him and express his philosophy.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Dorothy and Don Tomlin conducted by Joyce Marshall on April 3, 2002 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. Don Tomlin relates his early life in Los Angeles, California, military service during World War II, returning to California and working as a bartender. He then talks about moving to Alaska and meeting Dorothy, who was there as choreographer and manager for her professional dance troupe. The couple then talk at length about moving to Las Vegas, Nevada. Dorothy describes the long hours involved in running her dancers for the El Rancho Vegas Hotel showroom. Both talk about the hotel's owner Beldon Katleman and Don describes opening a men's clothing store near the Moulin Rouge Hotel, catering to both the Westside community and the professional bands that played at the hotels. Finally, the couple describe retiring to travel, buying a resort hotel in California and selling it after repeated flooding, returning to Las Vegas and settling down to help their son run his photography business.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Chelsy Carter conducted by Jerwin Tiu and Stefani Evans on October 17, 2022 for the Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Chelsy Carter recalls her childhood growing up on a Norfolk, North Virginia military base in a predominately white community. Carter recounts becoming pregnant and getting married at a young age, and later divorcing and moving back with family. After moving back with her parents, Carter began working as a piano instructor, and as Carter gained a bit more flexibility she moved in the technical industry for small company in the Navy. After obtaining a masters degree in Humanities, Carter went on to work for the first digital weather website companies, and eventually became Vice President of Services and Support and Knowledge Management at Gannett. Carter discusses encountering both discrimination as someone with Filipino heritage and as a woman in her industry. After retirement, Carter and her husband moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where they now volunteer in many organizations, including the Jazz Outreach Initiative and Three Square.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with William O'Neill McCurdy Sr. by Claytee D. White on January 26, 2022 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, McCurdy describes his childhood gorwing up in Las Vegas, Nevada, graduating from Valley High School, and attending Western Nevada College in Carson City, Nevada. He worked for many years for the Parks and Recreation department, and has served on numerous boards including the Citizens' Advisory for Regional Transportation (RTC), Habitat for Humanity Board of Director, Mineral County Economic Advisory Committee, City of Las Vegas Community Block Grant Advisory Board, and Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority Commission. Currently, McCurdy owns McCurdy & McCurdy Media Group, a political consulting and advertising firm which has assisted numerous political candidates in fulfilling their dreams of helping to govern Las Vegas, Clark County, the State of Nevada, and even in the United States Congress.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Geraldine Kirk-Hughes conducted by Larry Sampson on November 28, 2014 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview Kirk-Hughes relates her birth and upbringing in Simmersport, Louisiana, becoming a teen mother, earning a GED and earning her first college degree before marrying and moving to Greece and Dubai. She then explains how she returned to the United States to earn her masters degree before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1978. She discusses her second marriage, her decision to attend law school, and her decision to go into private practice instead of working for a law firm. She talks about cases she worked on, people in the community she knew, and the effects of discrimination on her work and career. She ends by talking about her third marriage and sharing thoughts on how the Las Vegas African American community has lost some of the cohesiveness and unity of earlier decades.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Clarence Ray conducted by Eleanor L. Walker in 1991 for the African American in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Ray provides details of his ancestry and upbringing, his education, and race relations in the western United States before 1930. He then moves on to his first visit to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1922, and his movements before settling permanently in the 1940s. He explains that the main source of employment for the relatively small Black population during the 1920s and early 1930s was the railroad, but a number were also in business. Mr. Ray provides thumbnail sketches of many of the early residents, and is particularly informative about "Mammy" Pinkston, Mary Nettles, the Stevens family, and the Ensley family. Systemic racial discrimination against Blacks developed in southern Nevada during the 1930s, and Mr. Ray provides some useful details on this along with his discussion of his career in gaming and his social and political activities.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Ronald Marshall conducted by Barbara Tabach on March 14, 2012 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Marshall talks about living and working on the Walking Box Ranch outside of Las Vegas, Nevada when it was owned by Rex Bell, Sr. and Clara Bow. He discusses moving with his mother, younger brother, and step-father from Tucson, Arizona when his step-father was hired as ranch manager by the Bell's, the kind of work they did on the ranch, from building fences and a windmill to herding and branding cattle. He also discusses his friendship with Rex Bell, Jr. and how the Bureau of Land Management's decision to reduce cattle grazing impacted the business. Fianlly, he spends time identifying and discussing various cattle brands and farming implements for the interviewer.
Archival Collection