Interviewed by Elsa Lopez. Sam Diaz was born in Los Angeles California, but was raised in Chula Vista, California. He is a police officer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and has worked for LVMPD since 2007. He has served in in the U.S. Air Force Reserves since 2008, and served in the U.S. Air Force from 2001 to 2007. Diaz describes his multi-cultural upbringing and growing up in such close proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border. He describes his passion for serving which he had since a young age. He describes his incorporation within every community he has been a part of and talks about the ways he has worked to serve the Las Vegas community since moving here in 2007. He recounts the tragic night of 1 October, the mass shooting that occurred during the Route 91 Harvest music festival on October 1st, 2017 on the Las Vegas Strip. He talks about the various changes that happened within LVMPD since 1 October, and changes that he has seen in the Latinx community throughout the Las Vegas Valley. Diaz also describes the process of adopting two children and raising a multi-racial family with his wife in Las Vegas.

Ron Current's heart was always in the right place, with respect to social activism and his dedication to empowering the black community in Las Vegas. Inspired by Black Panther Party founders, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, Ron started the Black Panther Party Las Vegas Chapter. He was also the director of public relations for the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression; an organization created to work in tandem with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP, to eliminate racial inequality. Ron describes the overall atmosphere of the Westside community in Las Vegas during the early days, as chaotic, drug infested, and riddled with daily gang related shootings. He also recalls the historic preservation attempts made by leading members of the Westside community, such as Sarann Knight Preddy. Ron recalls working at the University Medical Center while recruiting for the Black Panther Party Las Vegas Chapter. This interview demonstrates the power of love. As the founder and leader of the Black Panther Party Las Vegas Chapter, Ron was named one of the most influential blacks in Las Vegas by the Sentinel Voice. He recalls utilizing his hands-on leadership approach towards capacity building and the successful implementation of community mobilization strategies and methods. He was a champion for educational equity, equal access to employment opportunities, and economic equality in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The first part of this Shakespearean quote perfectly describes the deep admiration and love that Richard Leigon has for his father, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) leader Ralph Leigon. The elder Leigon's major contributions include 39 various positions from the Nevada State American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Nevada State Democratic Party, and the Southern Nevada Building Trades Council. Richard speaks upon the early years of Las Vegas with the allure of atomic testing, going to school with future community leaders Jerome Mack, Shelley (Levine) Berkeley, and Beth Molasky as well as the role of the union in building Las Vegas. After graduating from Las Vegas High School, he attended Somona State University and obtained a degree in humanistic psychology where he furthered his father’s influence on becoming a ‘we’ person. He came back to Las Vegas to start his 40-year career as an active member of Local 357 as executive

Joyce Moore's family moved to Las Vegas from Chicago in 1953, when she was eight years old. She attended Rancho High School, married and had three daughters, and currently lives in Las Vegas. Joyce's father was in the gaming industry and her mother was a nurse. Growing up in Las Vegas meant going to shows with her mother, spending summer days in the pool at the Showboat Hotel, and riding horses to the Last Frontier. While a teenager at Rancho High school, Joyce worked at several movie theaters including the Huntridge, went to school dances and marched in the Hellodorado Parade. After her divorce, Joyce returned to work to support herself and her children, first at the Daily Fax then later on the Strip at the Aladdin and Circus, Circus doing a variety of office and accounting jobs. As a lark she and a friend applied to work as cocktail waitresses at the MGM; she was hired and spent the next five years in a job that was by turns interesting, exhausting, frustrating and fun. This interview covers several periods of Joyce's life - her childhood, teen years, and early adult life - and what it was like to grow up, live and work in Las Vegas in from the mid-1950s until the mid-1970s.

Steven Hart was born on April 7, 1946, and moved to Las Vegas as a one-year-old with his parents Nat and Sylvia Hart. After graduating from Las Vegas High School, Steven Hart went through an apprenticeship program to become a journeyman carpenter as his father wanted him to learn all phases of the hotel, restaurant, gaming, and business. Including hot to build and design them. He then enlisted in the United States Navy and joined its construction battalion during the Vietnam War. Upon his return to Las Vegas, Steven followed in his father?s footsteps working in the casino industry. Nat Hart was one of the city?s original celebrity chefs and corporate vice president of food and beverage for Caesars World. Well-known for his restaurants at Caesars Palace and the Desert Inn, and for his popular gourmet cooking school. During his long career as a successful gaming executive, Steven worked at several properties, including the International Hotel as food and beverage controller. He was the vice president of food and beverage for the Del Web Corporation. The assistant corporate food and beverage director at the Argent Corporation as well as the Casino Credit executive and Junket Representative for Caesars World. He worked as executive casino host at Bills Gamblin Hall and Hotel in addition to working as the hotel gaming consultant with Hart Gaming LLC. Steve?s wife and dad also owned Kazuku Yakitori, Ichi Ban Japanese steak house, Ringside Bar and Grill and the World Boxing Hall of Champions Museum. In 1985, Steven married Texas-born Wendy Stark Hart, who is also present during this oral history interview. Wendy Hart also pursued a career as an executive in the food and beverage industry. Together, Steven and Wendy Hat reflect at length about Nat Hart?s successful career, particularly as longtime corporate vice president of food and beverage for Caesars World Inc., and opening many of the company's restaurants at Caesars Palace locally and in Atlantic City. Steve and his dad also put in many restaurants for many of the Las Vegas Strip hotels. They discuss both Nat?s relationships with infamous industry figures, like Frank Rosenthal and Hy Goldbaum, and Nat?s dining endeavors with other industry leaders such as like Kirk Kerkorian and Stu and Cliff Pearman. They also highlight the innovation and creativity that Nat brought to his work. Steven also talks about his own career path, from working small jobs at the hotels while in high school, to his military service and developing construction skills, to learning various aspects of the gaming industry management. He reminisces about his childhood in Las Vegas and involvement with Jewish community, including being the first bar mitzvah at Temple Beth Sholom and later serving as president of Jewish War Veterans, Post 711.

On December 30, 2015, a few months after her 100th birthday celebration, Gertrude Rudiak, with the help of her son Richard Rudiak and granddaughter Dani Ramage, reminisced about living in Las Vegas since 1946, nearly eighty years. They explore the ancestral roots of Gertrude (n?e Rightman) and of her deceased husband George Rudiak. Their courtship and marriage at the brink of World War II and George?s enlistment in the US Army Corps is what brought the couple to Las Vegas and the gunnery school which is now Nellis Air Force Base. After his tour of duty, George settled into a law practice where he specialized in quickie-divorces, but also carved out a reputation supporting civil rights and working for legislation to eliminate working and living discrimination of blacks in Nevada. Gertrude was an active member of Las Vegas. She played the pipe organ, hosted large Seders at Passover and managed the Rudiak household that grew to include five children. Over her long life, Gertrude embraced many positions on community boards, including being Temple Beth Sholom?s first female board member. She was also a teacher in both secular and Jewish education. Her efforts have been recognized by the Jewish National Fund, the United Jewish Appeal, and the Anti-Defamation League. Additionally, Mayor Carolyn Goodman presented Gertrude with the distinguished honor of a key to the city of Las Vegas in 2014. The city declared August 2, Gertrude's birthday, Gertrude Rudiak Day in recognition of her long-standing commitment to Las Vegas.

Interview with Irwin Molasky by David G. Schwartz, April 23, 2014. In this interview, Irwin Molasky discusses arriving in Las Vegas in the 1950s, and building the Pyramids motel on the Strip. He talks about the entertainers in various hotels on the Strip, the concept of the "star policy," and bringing Parisian shows to Las Vegas. He goes on to discuss his real estate developments, including Paradise Palms, Boulevard Mall, and Sunrise Hospital, and donating the land for the development of UNLV.

Irwin Molasky came to Las Vegas in 1951, during a time when "everyone knew everyone else," and there was a small, but strong Jewish community. An Army veteran, Irwin and his wife moved to Las Vegas after living in California for a short time. Irwin soon built The Pyramids, a Strip motel next to the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. The Pyramids opened the same day as its northern next-door neighbor, The Sands Hotel and Casino, on December 15, 1952. Irwin used his newly acquired contractor's license to become on the city's most important real estate developers. Over the next 60 years, he built everything from residential housing, including Paradise Palms to commercial properties. Projects included Sunrise Hospital and the surrounding medical buildings; Sunrise City Shopping Center and other power centers; Bank of America Plaza and much other downtown development; and golf courses. When the recession hit, Irwin began bidding on government projects across the country, successfully shielding his business and employees from the economic downturn. Irwin's real estate ventures not only had a tremendous impact on Las Vegas' economic development, but a substantial effect in social programming. Irwin donated 40 acres of prime real estate to the University of Nevada - Las Vegas (UNLV) so that university could expand. Additionally, he was the Founding Chairman of the UNLV Foundation and received an honorary doctorate in humanities.