The front view of El Portal Theatre, "Nevada's Finest Theatre" on Fremont Street, Las Vegas, Nevada. The sign in front reads, "Paramount Week", "El Portal. Shirley Temple-Gary Cooper-Carole Lombard 'Now and Forever'", "Manufactured Weather Carrier Refrigeration System", and "El Portal Nevada's Finest Theatre".
On February 8, 1977, Mark Lucas interviewed Edmund “Ed” Fleming (born 1915 in Virginia, Minnesota) about his experience in Southern Nevada. Fleming first talks about his moves to and from Nevada before describing the mining practices within the small towns in Southern Nevada. He also talks about his experience as a teacher in Pahrump and Goodsprings and his eventual move to Las Vegas, where he continued in the educational field. Fleming also talks about religion, transportation, funding for education, inflation, and cultural arts as they all relate to Las Vegas.
Jacque Dvorak was born in London, England, in 1944. Two years later, her family immigrated to Canada and then in 1953 they fulfilled their dreams to reside in the United States. The Dvorak family settled in Long Beach, California where Jacque?s brother was born. In 1957, the Dvorak family relocated to Las Vegas when Jacque?s father, Sam, opened a 24-hour barbeque restaurant in Market Town with his brother Harry. While growing up in California, Jacque enjoyed dancing and being on stage. She found herself drawn to performance much like her mother, Irene, who was an entertainer in Great Britain. This enthusiasm served her well in her future retail career which included the opening of the MGM. Jacque attended Las Vegas High School and graduated in 1962. Taking full advantage of being a teenager in Las Vegas, Jacque remembers the days when the need to lock your doors didn't? exist. Though, Jacque describes being keenly aware of being Jewish and forming strong bonds within the Jewish community through BBYO and other Jewish organizations. She also recalls protesting during school prayer recitations in the 1960s. In this interview Jacque gives an insider?s perspective of growing up in Las Vegas and Jewish life in the city. Her stories range from tales of teenage fun to dealing with modern anti-Semitism in Las Vegas to the joy she has found in friendships in the community. Jacque has two children, Harry Fagel and Lisa Sokoloski.
Cynthia "Cindy" Goussak is the President of Midbar Kodesh Temple and is married to Greg Goussak. Together they worked on the creation of Midbar Kodesh.
David Torjman was born March 4, 1939 and raised in Fez, Morocco and was educated in trades at the ORT Vocational School. He then studied at Sunderland Talmudical College in England before immigrating to the United States. In 1964, he was recruited to teach at Temple Beth Sholom. Soon after, Torjman met Iris Schwartz who had moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to live with her aunt. Less than two years later, they had a New York wedding and then a local wedding thrown by the Sisterhood at Temple Beth Sholom. Torjman was a Hebrew school teacher until 1975.
Oral history interview with Charles Salton conducted by George Green on April 23, 1976 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Salton discusses the early history of Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, prohibition, politics, the El Rancho Hotel, and events he experienced while living in Las Vegas.