Oral history interview with Gerry Gauthier conducted by an unknown interviewer on June 23, 2004 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Gauthier talks at length about his experiences as an Army infantryman in the Philippines and as a survivor of the Bataan Death March and subsequent internment at camps in the Philippines and Japan. He first describes his upbringing and education in Michigan and his desire to enlist in the Army in 1940. He then describes his experiences of war, capture, and internment and his release after three years and five months of captivity. He also talks about his life after the war, from the extensive period of hospitalization and rehabilitation to his marriage and thirty-five year career in the U. S. Postal Service. Finally, he discusses his retirement and move to Henderson, Nevada in 1997.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Pat Feaster conducted by Claytee D. White on July 1, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Feaster relates how her mother made the decision to leave Fordyce, Arkansas for better economic opportunity and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1942. She describes travelling across the country, living in a one-room structure in the Westside of Las Vegas, and attending the Westside School. She discusses her mother's employment at the Red Rooster Restaurant and then at the Algiers Hotel. She talks at length about her own educational journey after leaving school at fifteen, then returning for her GED and later, a college degree after the birth of her fifth child. She discusses how the decision to improve her education helped her develop a twenty-six year career at the Clark County Health District. She also discusses the Fordyce Club and many important personalities in Las Vegas' Black community.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Hope Anstett conducted by Claytee D. White on December 8, 2003 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Anstett talks about moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1939 with her mother and brother after a doctor recommended a move to a drier climate. Her mother rented a home from Senator Key Pittman and opened a photograph studio and dress shop in the front, with the family living in the back. She describes what it was like growing up in a small community, the schools she attended, the Las Vegas High School Rhythmettes drill team, and the activities available including Helldorado Days and the local recreation center. Later she discusses what the city was like during the war years, the family's move to Oregon, graduating from college, and getting married. She explains that she moved back to Las Vegas while her husband was deployed with the military and worked until his return and the birth of their first child. She also talks about her civic activities, her husband's career with Silver State Disposal, and their post-retirement travel and philanthropic work with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Cathren J. Holder conducted by Claytee D. White on June 4 and 15, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Holder talks about her childhood and education in Fordyce, Arkansas, her move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1952, and her first experience of living in a two room shack with her older brother and his family. She then discusses her work, marriage, places she shopped, and changes in the Westside since her arrival.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Carrie McCoy conducted by Claytee D. White in Fordyce, Arkansas, approximately 1995 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, McCoy explains how she and her husband left Fordyce for Las Vegas, Nevada in 1942, seeking better economic prospects. After several years, McCoy returned to Fordyce to raise their four children and work as a housekeeper for several white families. After her oldest children were grown she returned to Las Vegas in 1961, first finding work at a small motel and then spending nine years working in housekeeping at the Flamingo Hilton Hotel. Finally, she returned to Fordyce in 1972. She ends the interview talking about comparative race relations between Fordyce and Las Vegas, differences in work practices, union activities, and church involvement.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Stan Fulton conducted by David G. Schwartz on January 17, 2007 for the Slot Operations Oral History Project. In this intervew, Fulton discusses growing up in Maryland, his parents, his early education, military service, and working with his father as a young man. The majority of the interview revolves around his business career, the development of the first multi-line video slot machine and PC boards, or a Japanese company that operated pachinko parlors. He also talks about Bally Manufacturing, which controlled most gaming machines in Las Vegas, Nevada and difficulties finding entry into the market. He discusses his companies, primarily Fortune Coin and the Omega Company, the advent of "credit meters" that were the forerunner of today's coinless voucher and card systems on slot machines. He also relates a number of anecdotal stories about individuals in the Las Vegas gaming world, including Walt Fraley, Jay Sarno, Sr., and William "Si" Redd.
Archival Collection
Oral history presentation by Stephen Long recorded approximately 1987-2008 and donated to the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this presentation, Long describes his enlistment in the United States Air Force soon after graduating from college in 1966, his training to become a pilot, and being sent to Vietnam in 1968. He explains his role as a forward air control pilot, responsible for relaying information of enemy positions to attack aircraft, and how he was shot down on February 28, 1969 he was captured in Laos and subsequently held as a prisoner-of-war for 1,490 days.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Jerry LeFors conducted by an unknown interviewer between approximately 2000-2008 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, LeFors talks at length about his experiences as an Army Air Corps pilot during World War II. He describes his education, upbringing, music education, and early interest in aviation. He then discusses his military flight training and assignment as a co-pilot on a B-17 bomber crew headed for Europe. He also talks about his subsequent civilian career as a contractor in California and his efforts to break into the music business in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as his continued interest in recording music since his retirement to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1999.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Allard Roen conducted by David G. Schwartz on October 31, 2003 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Roen talks about the history of the Desert Inn Hotel, the Desert Inn Country Club, and the Desert Inn Golf Course and Tournament of Champions. He shares numerous stories and anecdotes about Las Vegas, Nevada casino-hotel figures, including Cecil Simmons, Morris "Moe" Dalitz, Wilbur Clark, and Howard Hughes. He also talks about the formation of the Nevada Resort Association, property development, and negotiating with labor unions and construction companies, including his 1960 work with the NAACP's James McMillan to eliminate racial segregation at the Desert Inn and Stardust hotels.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Frederic Apcar conducted by Nancy Hardy on July 19, 2003 for the Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Apcar describes his birth and early life in Paris, France, his parents' divorce, working from a young age, and, at the age of sixteen learning to dance ballet and tap. He talks about his first dancing job at the Folies Bergere in Paris, going on tour for several years with Josephine Baker, and on his return to Paris, dancing with the Lido before signing a contract for a three-month job at the Copacabana in New York City, New York. He then discusses his move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1959, where he produced the Las Vegas Les Folies Bergere, Vive les Girls with Ron Lewis, and Casino de Paris. He also talks about Donn Arden as the other major show producer on the Strip during this period.
Archival Collection