Kevin T. Orrock, president of Summerlin and vice president of Master Planned Communities for The Howard Hughes Corp., has come full circle. Born in Pioche, Nevada, he spent his early years in the San Francisco Bay area and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Graduating from a small liberal arts college, he arrived in Las Vegas in 1974 with a degree in accounting and a teaching credential, finding work in the Desert Inn accounting department. Howard Hughes owned the Desert Inn, so from 1974 Orrock has consistently been in the employ of Howard Hughes, Summa Corporation, and Howard Hughes Corporation. Orrock later earned his M.B.A. at UNLV. In this interview, Orrock focuses on Summerlin, the 22,000-acre, award-winning, master-planned community on the west side of the Las Vegas Valley. He discusses Summerlin’s physical layout, its history, its development, and its future. He specifically credits Summa Corporation’s early visionaries John Goolsby and Will Lummis for having the foresight to sell some of the company’s land in order to build the financial foundation that, in turn, permitted Summerlin’s fifty-year development plan. He also talks about the development and future of Downtown Summerlin; its balance of private, charter, and public schools; and the ways the company selects its residential builders.
Mirtha Rojas is originally from La Habana, Cuba and came to the United States to join his brother that had lived in Miami since Mirtha was a child. Mirtha describes her childhood as many happy moments where she learned and enjoyed musical instruments from a young age, and became a music teacher in Cuba as well. Mirtha states after her parents had died, she faced some difficult times and her brother invited her to come to Miami where she arrived in 2009 along with her nine year old daughter.
The Charles Duncan (C.D.) Baker Papers (1951-1972) consist of clippings, correspondence, and political brochures related to the life and career of Las Vegas, Nevada Mayor Charles Duncan (C.D.) Baker. The collection also contains several scrapbooks of clippings and a mayoral plaque of appreciation from the City of Las Vegas.
The Geneva Stark Merwin Photograph Collection features photographic prints and negatives of locations throughout Pahrump, Nevada between 1941 and 1942. Primary locations include a Pahrump school and Pahrump Ranch, as well as locations in local fields and mountains. The photographs capture candid scenes of people walking to school and feeding animals.
The Anthony J. Franchini Papers date from 1915 to 1996 and contain the personal and professional papers of Anthony Franchini, a musician and composer. The collection contains newspaper clippings, personal correspondence, Franchini's United States Army records, sheet music, personal photographs, and a scrapbook compiled by Franchini.
The Ned V. Bearden Sr. Collection (1958-1966) consists of the Rolodex for Desert York Inc., Bearden's air conditioning equipment business that operated in Las Vegas, Nevada beginning in 1946. The Rolodex contains customer names and addresses, along with installation dates and model numbers for the air conditioning equipment installed.
Oscar Baylin Goodman (1939- ) is the former mayor of the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, serving 12 years until 2011, when he swore in his wife of over 50 years, Carolyn Goodman. Oscar Goodman is the official ambassador of Las Vegas, and the chairman of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) Host Committee. He is also known as one of the best criminal defense attorneys in the United States, and spent 35 years defending alleged Mob figures such as Meyer Lansky, Frank Rosenthal, and Anthony Spilotro. Goodman is the primary visionary and a member of the board of directors of The Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas, which opened in 2012. Goodman was born June 26, 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He earned his undergraduate degree from Haverford College in 1961 and his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1964. That same year he moved to Las Vegas and in 1965 he was admitted to the Nevada State Bar. He served as Clark County?s chief deputy public defender from 1966 to 1967. Goodman was elected as mayor of Las Vegas for the first time in 1999. During his three terms (the legal limit), he contributed to the economic and cultural development of the downtown area by supporting projects such as the arts district and Union Park, a high-rise residential and business project he helped to secure 61 acres of land for. He helped to begin what he called the ?Manhattanization? of downtown, which included the construction of taller buildings for better use of the area?s prime real estate. In this interview, Goodman discusses the role of Judaism in his life, from childhood to adulthood to parenting his own four children. He touches on his involvement with Temple Beth Sholom, including serving as its president, as well as in local development projects like the Lou Ruvo Cleveland Clinic Brain Health Center, Smith Center for the Performing Arts, and Mob Museum. In addition, Goodman discusses the impact of Jewish residents on the city and its development, and mentions leaders in the gaming industry, legal profession and in politics.
Gus Mancuso (Ronald Bernard Mancuso), a talented impresario, was born in Spangler, Pennsylvania in 1933. Gus grew up in Hastings, Pennsylvania as the youngest of nine children. His father, an immigrant from Italy, Joseph Mancuso, owned multiple businesses and his mother, Josephine Ceranni toiled as a stay at home mother. Despite his father’s businesses, the family struggled financially. By the eighth grade Gus moved to Rochester, New York, where his mother joined him, after his parents separated. As a youngster Gus Mancuso learned to play the trumpet by ear. By age 11 he was encouraged to learn to play the drums so he could help earn money for the family. After two weeks of training, Gus Mancuso was earning $5 dollars as the replacement for his older brother Joe in musical performances in places like Moose Hall and the Elks Club in Pennsylvania. His performances were so legendary that an article was written about Gus entitled the “Eighth Grade Drummer”. He continued to demonstrate tremendous musical versatility even after moving from Hastings to Rochester where he received first chair trombone honors after impressing his high school band teacher. After graduating high school, in 1951, Gus went on the road with the Don Manning Trio. Shortly thereafter, a bass player position opened in his brother’s group the Ray Brand Trio. Despite the fact that Gus did not know how to play bass, when he received the offer to become a member of Joe’s band, he went on to learn yet another instrument and joined the Ray Brand Trio. However, while with his brother’s group, Gus was drafted into the army. He packed his trumpet, and despite initially receiving flack for playing in the latrine, the lieutenant exempted Gus from duty so he could perform in the morning and at night for his fellow troops. Shortly thereafter, Gus served in the army band as a piano player. His instrumental capabilities and proficiency helped pave the way for more opportunities. After the army he moved to Nevada and played trombone with Tony Pastor in Reno. He found his way to Las Vegas in 1955 when he opened at the New Frontier on Halloween night. Gus went on to open at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, playing bass, with Sarah Vaughn. They went on to tour Europe together. He also played bass for Billy Eckstine and Les Brown as well as worked in the music department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Gus Mancuso met Lauri Perri, a singer and his first wife, while playing for the Mary Kaye Trio in Lake Tahoe. They were married at the Little Church of the West in 1960. However, Gus is now married to Maggie Peterson an actress who worked on the Andy Griffith Show. He lives in Las Vegas and currently works three nights a week playing piano at the Bootlegger owned by his first wife and getting the job from his son Ronald.