Oral history interview with Tina and So Lin Kwan conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on November 6, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Tina Kwan and her mother, So Lin, discuss their family's history within Guangzhou, China and the United States. So Lin shares how her siblings immigrated to the United States and sponsored the rest of their family to join them in Las Vegas. Tina, So Lin's daughter, discusses her educational career pursuing medicine with degrees from the University of Nevada, Reno; the University of Arizona; and with a fellowship at Arkansas Children's Hospital before joining Children's Heart Center Nevada where she is a pediatric cardiologist. Tina and So Lin talk about the Kwan's restaurant, the Fortune Inn Restaurant, which was open for 15 years and closed in 2005. They also discuss Chinese superstitions and customs, diversity within Southern Nevada, anti-Asian discrimination, and learning English as a second language.
Oral history interview with Lawrence Chiu Hill oral history interview conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Nessa Concepcion, and Stefani Evans on November 8, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Lawrence "Larry" Chiu Hill shares his experiences growing up in Taiwan and immigrating with his family to South America, then moving to Corpus Christi, Texas, and finally Las Vegas, Nevada. He discusses his education at University of Nevada, Las Vegas as a Political Science graduate and his career path moving from casino gaming into the practice of law. Lawrence manages his own firm, Lawrence C. Hill and Associates, and talks about his work, his family, and the community he has created in over two decades of living in Las Vegas.
Oral history interview with Esther Langston conducted by Claytee D. White on February 22, 2005 for the UNLV @ 50 Oral History Project. In this interview, Langston provides an overview of her early life and career in social work. She describes how the women in her family are positive and empowering role models. Langston moves on to explain how she become a social worker over a period of many years. She states that a job experience that helped her gain the qualifications of a social worker was working as an office manager at the Nevada Test Site. She also mentions how she has had to work with conflicts such as racial inequalities.
Oral history interview with Carolyn G. and Oscar B. Goodman conducted by Claytee D. White on October 18, 2014 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview, Carolyn G. and Oscar B. Goodman discuss their early childhoods and education. They tell the story of their marriage, family life, and careers. The Goodmans go into further detail on the growth of Las Vegas, Nevada as a community as well as a tourist destination.
Oral history interview with the Sperling Kronberg and Mack Holocaust Resource Center conducted by Barbara Tabach on September 4, 2014 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview, Myra Berkovits, Susan Dubin, and Doug Unger discuss the history of the Sperling Kronberg Mack Holocaust Resource Center and how it serves to provide holocaust educational materials to the Southern Nevada community. The interviewees discuss the Holocaust Resource Center's priority of education and awareness as well as the history of its funding.
Oral history interview with Carole Rae conducted by Claytee D. White on March 6, 2007 for the UNLV @ 50 Oral History Project. In this interview, Rae mainly discusses her accomplishment of founding the dance department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She begins the interview by discussing her earlier years, and mentions that one of her main hobbies was sewing and not dancing. She also states that she was not an art major during her undergraduate years and was surprised when dance eventually became her career. Rae explains how she became a dance instructor and describes her specializations in different forms of dance, such as Spanish dance and ballet.
Oral history interview with Junior Fonotisatele conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on November 10, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Junior discusses his Samoan background and the importance of strong family values. He talks about his early years in Utah and California before moving to Las Vegas where he attended and graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Junior shares his employment history as a bodyguard for Floyd Mayweather, an entrepreneur of a clothing brand, and an investor into a range of ventures including security, solar energy, and mental health. He concludes with a discussion of Samoan cultural celebrations, his religion, and the significance of his tattoos.
Oral history interview with Rayshawn Williams conducted by Barbara Tabach on November 11, 2021 for the Veterans Oral History Project of Southern Nevada.
Native Las Vegan Rayshawn Williams discusses his service in the United States Marine Corps and his tours as a field radio operator in Iraq. He also shares stories of being in boot camp during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Rayshawn talks about his graduate studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and his university employment through the TRIO Training Institute programs (Talent Search, Upward Bound, and Student Support Service).
Oral history interview with Michelle DiTondo conducted by Vanessa Concepcion on November 9, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Michelle talks about her parents' experiences living in Osaka, Japan during the war, and the circumstances of her move as a child to Nellis Air Force base in 1972. She discusses living in North Las Vegas and her experiences being part of an air force family. Michelle shares stories of her life on the base and her interactions with other air force families. She also talks about her Japanese culture, foods she has cooked with her mother and brother, celebrating cultural events in light of the pandemic, and her career history including her most recent role working at MGM Resorts International.
Subjects discussed include: Air Force Base; NCO Club; AAPI Scholarship Fund; Taiko Drums.
Oral history interview with Burton Cohen conducted by Claytee D. White on July 9, 2013 as part of the UNLV Boyd Law School project, UNLV Gaming Law Journal. In this interview, casino executive Burton Cohen begins with his early life in Miami, Florida where he “fell in love with the hotel business” while working in his father’s hotel as a boy. He recounts how he abandoned his law career to return to the hotel business and how he came to Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1960s to build up and manage operations at The Frontier. Cohen discusses his long career as a chief operating officer, touching briefly on some of the hotel/casinos that he helped launch and oversee in Las Vegas, including The Frontier, Circus Circus, Flamingo, Caesars Palace, the Desert Inn, and the Dunes. Cohen discusses some of the major changes that have occurred over the years in hotel/casino management and expresses respect for some of his contemporaries in the hotel industry such as Kirk Kerkorian, Billy Weinberger, and Gary Loveman.