Folks who graduated Boulder City High School in 1953 and who began kindergarten there might remember being in kindergarten class with Clark D. "Danny" Lee. They would be excused for not remembering the towheaded Lee; after all, he was in Boulder City only for the first half of the year. They also would be excused for not remembering Lee because he never stayed in school once he arrived. Danny was the child whose mother faithfully brought him to class every day. And every day, as soon as his mother dropped him off, he took off and beat his mother home. Danny Lee was born in his grandparents’ house in North Las Vegas, grew up on 10 Bonneville Street, and (except for his first semester of kindergarten in Boulder City) attended Fifth Street Elementary School and Las Vegas High School, where he graduated in 1953 with Rex Bell. In 1960 he married fellow Las Vegas High grad and former Rhythmette, Dorothy Damron; they have raised four children. Here, Lee talks about the difficulties his father had finding work and supporting a family during the Great Depression-of living with relatives and moving from place to place in the small travel trailer as his father found work. He describes a hardscrabble Las Vegas, where he and other kids in in multiethnic groups found temporary work helping drovers in the stockyards or filling blocks of ice in the icehouse. He recalls working for Superior Tire during high school and for the Union Pacific Railroad in a variety of jobs after graduation and the U.S. Army-including a stint as a Union Pacific tour director. v Lee’s early kindergarten career seems an unlikely academic indicator for a man who would spend most of his adult life volunteering for and lobbying on behalf of Clark County public libraries and who the American Library Association would select as the 1990 Library Trustee of the Year. Ironically, Lee was asked to serve on the Clark County Library District board of directors to get rid of a troublesome library director. Instead, he became one of the director’s staunchest advocates. It is appropriate that Danny and his wife, Dorothy, are pictured here surrounded by library books. The native Las Vegan built a lifetime career as a State Farm Insurance salesman, but in this interview he focuses on his public library advocacy, his time as trustee for the Clark County Library District; the formation of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District; the ambitious building program funded by $80 million in voter-approved statewide bonds; and the political wrangling in Carson City necessary to achieve these ends. Lee’s oral history complements that of his wife, Dorothy Lee, and of Charles Hunsberger, who was the “troublesome” library director at the time Lee was trustee. Lee made his living as an insurance salesman. Lee’s ability to sell a product-whether it be insurance or an $80 million bond issue-is the attribute that made Danny Lee so valuable as a trustee to the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District and consequently, to all Clark County residents who value public library services. However, his passion, and dedication, and unbowed determination earned him the Library Trustee of the Year award. As Lee closes the interview, he locks eyes with Dorothy and muses, "Let me tell you what I'm most proud of in all . . . I've been married to this lady for fifty six years now. . . . I've lived a very blessed life. Being born in my grandmother's house and having lived in little travel trailers, it's just good. It's worked. We're living like we've always wanted to live right now."

Interviewed by Claytee White. Dr. Liu is the City Manager for the City of North Las Vegas. Discusses housing, diversifying the economy, Apex, Faraday and negotiations to secure that business for North LV.

Sydney Wickliffe, nee Botkin, was born in Long Beach, California in 1944. Her parents, Donald and Betty Botkin, moved their young family first to Denver and then to the small town of Ulysses, Kansas before heading for Las Vegas in 1952, when Sydney was eight years old. Since then, she has called Las Vegas her home, graduating from Rancho High School's inaugural senior class in 1962. Growing up in a growing city, Sydney combined an active youth with long hours working in her father's North Las Vegas pharmacy and, later, would earn her degree in accounting from UNLV. As a CPA, she worked as an auditor for the Gaming Control Board and, in 1987, was promoted to deputy chief. From there, she took on the challenging role of director in Nevada's Department of Business and Industry as a member of Governor Kenny Guinn cabinet. As she says, even "one of the north-town girls" can go a long way - and in this interview, she shares memories that help us all see what the Las Vegas she remembers was like in the 1950s and 60s and how it helped to shape the person she is today.

Peter Perazzo, a land surveyor born and raised in Las Vegas, talks about his family, his Native American ancestry, and how construction and land surveying have changed over the years. Peter’s father, Frederick Perazzo, moved temporarily to Las Vegas from Reno in the 1940s to find employment. He worked as a draftsman, and later an architect. He designed public building and residential buildings around the valley as well as at Area 51 (Atomic Test Site). His temporary move became permanent in 1953 with the purchase of a family home in Northwest Las Vegas, across from Twin Lakes. Peter’s early life was spent playing in clover in the family’s yard and enjoying his four grandmothers. Peter began his land surveying career working for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 1985. He describes how he became hooked on the profession and describes surveying terms like monuments, townships, and “the dumb end of the tape”. Later Peter worked for the Nevada Department of Transportation, where he wa

It seems counterintuitive that a man who was raised a Mennonite, spoke Pennsylvania Dutch before he spoke English, and was destined to quit school after eighth grade to work on the family farm would grow up to become one of the most progressive and visionary library directors in the United States. His participation in the Building Las Vegas project results from his being responsible for building twenty libraries in Clark County during his 1971–1994 tenure as director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. One of his first controversies was to insist on going to high school after his father demanded he quit. After graduating high school he went to Nigeria on behalf of his church, serving there for five years. Upon returning to the U.S., he found work at the Fort Wayne Library, albeit he was limited by how far he could advance because of his limited education. After attaining his library degree Indiana University at Bloomington he served as director at the Columbia City Library

Engineer Edward "Ed" Butera spent hours constructing models from the time he was a five-year-old boy in San Jose, California. Besides his interest in building and design, the young Butera also loved math and music—specifically the clarinet, at which he excelled, and which he still enjoys. After earning his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at San Jose State University he was hired by Ralph Joeckel as a consulting engineer for Trane, a heating and air conditioning company. Joeckel became a mentor and "second dad" to Butera after the company sent him to Las Vegas in 1972, and the two remain close to this day. In this interview, Butera shares how he engineered and designed power, water, sanitation, utilities, and heating and cooling systems on many Clark County high schools, hospitals, and data centers while considering such factors as the building's shape and its affect on the way wind forces act on its glass, windows, and doors. He talks of his casino work that began with the Stardust soon after he arrived in Las Vegas, and before his client list grew to include Tony Marnell, Steve Wynn, and MGM. Besides the hotels, he shares his experiences engineering the infrastructure for the Bellagio fountains, The Mirage volcano, Treasure Island's pirate show.

Michael Signorelli, long-time Las Vegas resident and builder of many local homes, apartments and hotels, describes his upbringing, career, and stellar reputation as part of the “Building Las Vegas” oral history project. Raised in Rhode Island, the only child of an Italian-American father and a Southern Baptist mother, Michael’s early life was influenced by his father’s disability as a World War Two veteran and his non-English speaking paternal grandparents, who owned and ran a grocery store. Talking of his experiences in helping them run the grocery store he says, "I became a businessman at the age of twelve." His military service during the Vietnam War landed him at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. Once here, Michael furthered his education at UNLV, obtaining both his MEd and PhD degrees. In Las Vegas Michael began his work in the housing arena working for Sun Home Builders and his non-profit work, helping to raise funds for the newly formed Rape Crisis Center. Signorelli went on to work for Howard Hughes's Summa Corporation, where he successfully fought against a discrimination lawsuit brought by twenty-one female dealers. In 1978 Michael started his own company, Nicro Corporation, and began building homes in the Las Vegas valley with land he acquired on a hand-shake and a verbal contract. He continued his non-profit work, which included coordinating Lady Bird Johnson’s Green Thumb project for Nevada and the Pacific Northwest. In the 1980s Signorelli was recruited by the Fitzgerald Group, where he was involved in non-gaming operations for their many hotels, cattle ranch, and an in vitro clinic. In this interview, Signorelli describes his non-Las Vegas building projects in Mesquite and Laughlin. He built the Mesquite Star hotel and casino by overcoming multiple hurdles around water access and money. Despite twice obtaining a loan for one hundred million dollars, he was never able to successfully complete the Laughlin hotel and casino, due to legal issues from his partner’s family trust. Signorelli also shares his idea for a unique hotel and casino called the Nev Star that involved his successful negotiation of a waiver to Senate Bill 208. Signorelli concludes his interview by talking about his ownership of the world-famous Golden Steer Steak House restaurant, which opened in 1958. Under Signorelli’s ownership the Golden Steer has been featured in national publications and claims many legendary fans such as NACAR driver Mario Andretti, who in 2016 celebrated his seventy-six birthday at the Golden Steer. Signorelli’s love of Las Vegas and its many positive traits come forth as he talks about his daughter and her achievements and suggests Vegas promoters should do a better job about what great schools, medical care, and government we have in Las Vegas.