On March 8, 1980, Gary Wood interviewed Carl Ciliax (born 1941 in Las Vegas, Nevada) about his experiences living in Nevada. Ciliax first describes his family history, his early interests in wildlife, and his background and education in artwork. Ciliax then discusses his early experiences in hunting and his eventual interest in conservationism and preservation, including his involvement with organizations that sought the protection of desert bighorn sheep and the protection of wildlife in general. The two talk more about wildlife, the early development of Las Vegas, and the effects of the atomic testing. The interview concludes with Ciliax’s recollection of recreational activities and some of his thoughts on conservationism.

On March 3, 1978, Monica Lehman interviewed Clark Crocker (born 1920 in Westfield, Massachusetts) about his experiences while living in Nevada. Crocker first talks about his family and educational background before describing his experiences from going to school in both California and Massachusetts. Crocker then describes what he knows about the building of Hoover Dam and later talks about his career as a teacher and school principal. The two also discuss Crocker’s hobbies and volunteer work, including that for the fire department in Pahrump, and they later discuss Crocker’s experiences as both a frogman and navigator for the United States Navy during World War II. The interview concludes with some of Crocker’s thoughts and philosophies on how curriculum should be structured in schools.

On March 7, 1981, Elisabeth McLaren interviewed blackjack dealer, Roger H. Dudley (born August 10th, 1940 in Las Vegas, Nevada) in his home. This interview covers Roger’s recollections on growing up in Las Vegas. During the interview they further discuss Roger’s childhood, his parents, grade school, World War II, the atomic testing, the Mesquite Club, the development of the Strip, rodeos, Howard Hughes, Paradise Valley and changes in Las Vegas, Nevada.

When Shirley Mudra arrived in Las Vegas in 1966, she came tearfully. But as the wife of a Nevada Test site manager and mother of three young children, she was accustomed to adapting. Indeed, she adapted and remains a Las Vegas resident. Shirley and her husband Paul (above photo) met while both were in the Air Force. She was the daughter of a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, homemaker and railroad worker and describes her upbringing. She also talks about her joy of enlistment in the Air Force and the transition to being a wife, mother and her employment at the Department of Energy. Shirley's narrative includes details of early Las Vegas life, raising children here and becoming part of the changing community through friendships.

In this interview, Fiol discusses her experience as a a hidden child in the Holocaust and her family's history. She also talks about her involvement with the Las Vegas Holocaust survivors group.

Raymonde "Ray" Fiol is president of the Holocaust Survivors Group of Southern Nevada. A Jewish Holocaust survivor whose parents were killed in Auschwitz, Fiol was hidden by a Christian family of Resistance fighters during her childhood in Nazi-occupied Paris, France. She married American serviceman Phil Fiol and left Paris in 1957. The couple lived in New York City where she worked in inventory control. She retired to Las Vegas, Nevada around 2003 and became active in the local Holocaust Survivors Group. In 2007, she became president of the organization, which provides essential services to Holocaust survivors and helps them share their stories. Fiol is also a member of the Nevada Governor?s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust and the coordinating council of Shoah International. Her dedication to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and caring for survivors earned her the Nevada Senior Citizen of the Year award from the Nevada Delegation of the National Silver Haired Congress and the Aging Services Directors Organization in 2014, and in 2013 she was named Mensch Volunteer of the Year by the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas. In this interview, Ray reflects upon her traumatic childhood experiences, and shares how she learned details of her family?s history from a woman in France who had researched the destiny of the local Jewish community. She also discusses her involvement with the survivors group, and the positive impacts of its outreach activities, as well as goals to ensure future generations learn about, and from, the Holocaust.

In this oral history, the long married couple Henry and Anita Schuster recall the history of the 1930s and how they eventually met and created a life together. Their childhoods were distinctively different, but charter a future where they would inevitably meet. Born in Germany in 1926, Henry recalls the dawn of Hitler and the Nazism. His mother would arrange for his evacuation to France, where he would not know her fate or that of his two sisters for a number of years. Along with hundreds of other displaced children, he escaped to America and lived with relatives in Louisiana where he finished his schooling and joined the US Army. Anita on the other hand grew up with her family in New York. They share the story of meeting when she was 16, falling in love and marrying in 1948. They had four children and moved several times before settling in California. They retired to Las Vegas in 1993. Henry's recollections include childhood memories of the Holocaust and its affect on his family, including the loss of his mother and one of his sisters. Finding his surviving sister Bertel (Betty Kale) after the war is a heartwarming tale of survival. The Schusters are part of the approximately 300 members of the Holocaust Survivor Group that has settled in southern Nevada and Henry was President Emeritus of the group. He published his memoir, Abraham's Son-the Making of an American, in 2010.