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Transcript of interview with Myrna Williams by Suzanne Becker and Joanne L. Goodwin, April 16, 2008

Date

2008-04-16

Description

Myrna Williams was born in Chicago in 1929. Her brother was the singer Mel Tormé, so the family moved to Hollywood when she was ten because her brother was under contract with MGM. Shortly after Myrna turned 21, she moved to New York to work for Decca Records. She met the jazz drummer David Williams, whom she married. Myrna, David, and their daughter Indy moved to Las Vegas in 1959. Myrna got involved in politics, and was elected to the Nevada State Assembly and to the Clark County Commission. She also taught in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' department of social work for eleven years. Myrna is also a member of numerous community organizations and sits on the board of the Public Education Foundation and the Anti-Defamation League. Her greatest accomplishment in her opinion is the development of the Cambridge Recreation Center, a community center that houses a skate park and a pool, as well as programming that focuses on at risk youth. In 2007 it was designated as the Myrna Tormé Community Campus.

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Transcript of interview with Irene Porter by Angela Moor, December 6, 2009: Planning a city and building homes

Date

2009-12-06

Description

After Irene Porter's father's retirement from the Air Force, the family moved to Las Vegas where her aunt and uncle were involved in the gaming industry. After she married, she and her husband Dick moved to Boston. They moved back to Las Vegas due to the bad economy in Boston. Irene worked for the Clark County Planning Department as a secretary but moved up to doing the work of the director, but without the title nor the pay of that position, so she went to work in the planning department of the city of North Las Vegas and became its director of planning. She was one of only five female planning directors in the country. Next Irene began lobbying at the Nevada legislature and became the first female full-time lobbyist in Nevada. She was fired from North Las Vegas following a secret meeting, and her subsequent lawsuit led directly to the first open meeting law in the state of Nevada. Irene then went to work for American Nevada Corporation, which was developing Green Valley. She became the first female project director on such a construction project. In 1977 Irene began to work for the Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association. She built it into an effective lobbying organization and continued to work as a lobbyist at the Nevada legislature. At the time of the interview, she was the executive director/CEO for the Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association.

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Transcript of interview with Dorothy Lee by Claytee D. White, June 02, 2016

Date

2016-06-02

Description

Dorothy Ann Lee (née Damrow) was born in 1941 in New Jersey. Her family came to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1946 in an effort to improve her father’s health but chose to stay after she and her sister contracted chicken pox during the trip. She attended John S. Park Elementary School and Las Vegas High School. She moved around the city of Las Vegas a number of times during her childhood before settling in the Huntridge neighborhood with her mother in 1950. She worked for the Huntridge Theater during her high school years. She was also a member of the Rhythmettes, Las Vegas High School’s dance troupe, for three years and performed all over the United States during her time with them. After high school, Lee attended the University of Illinois until she met her future husband and dropped out. She lived in Chicago for six months before she and Danny Lee moved back to Las Vegas to get married. They married in 1960 at the Little Church of the West. The couple had four children together.

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Transcript of interview with Kevin Sweet by David G. Schwartz, May 23, 2016

Date

2016-05-23

Description

Interviewed by David Schwartz. Kevin Sweet was born in Wellsville, New York. He always knew he wanted to run casinos. When he graduated from college in December 2006, he came to Las Vegas and entered the MGM Management Associate Program. Kevin went to work at Treasure Island as a slot operations analyst. He worked in the same position at Bellagio, then as director of slot operations at Aria. Kevin wanted international experience, so he became the executive director of global slot operations for Las Vegas Sands Corporation. He was based in Las Vegas but spent a lot of time in Macau and Singapore. Kevin then worked for the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood as the corporate vice president. At the time of the interview, he worked as vice president of slot marketing and operations at the Cosmopolitan. Subjects: Bellagio, Aria, LVS, Seminoles, Cosmopolitan

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Transcript of interview with Chris Bianchi by David G. Schwartz, April 14, 2015

Date

2015-04-14

Description

Chris Bianchi comes from Peru, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in hotel administration with a concentration in casino management and received his master's in hospitality administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2015. Chris did an internship at the Barbary Coast Hotel & Casino in 2002 as a dealer and was transferred to the South Point Casino and Spa as a pit manager in 2005.

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Transcript of interview with Ed Walters by David G. Schwartz, April 20, 2015

Date

2015-04-20

Archival Collection

Description

Ed Walters was a pool and card hustler in New York City when he was in his 20s. He was asked by a major crime boss in 1959 to go to Las Vegas to find out if a card dealer was cheating. Ed did figure out he was cheating, so the crime boss got him a job learning the Western card games at the Fremont during the day and being a pit boss at the Sands at night. He worked at the Sands until 1967 and then at various other casinos until approximately 1981.

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Transcript of interview with Christina Gentile by David Schwartz, May 01, 2015

Date

2015-05-01

Description

Interviewed by David Schwartz. Christina Gentile was born in Colorado and her family moved to California when she was a year old. After her parents divorced, her father moved to Carson City, Nevada. Christina worked in the Hotel Nevada in Ely and became a dealer there. She moved to Las Vegas and worked as a dealer at the King 8 Hotel. It was sold to Station Casinos and became the Wild Wild West Hotel and Casino, and she got into management there. Christina also worked as a table games manager at Boulder Station, Red Rocks Casino, and at the Wynn Las Vegas. Subjects: Hotel Nevada (Ely); King's 8, Wild Wild West; Boulder Station; Red Rock; Wynn

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Transcript of interview with Dave Torres by David Schwartz, May 22, 2015

Date

2015-05-22

Description

Interviewed by David Schwartz. Dave Torres was born in San Pedro, California, in 1966. He moved to Las Vegas with his family when he was 14 or 15. Dave started his career in gaming as a dealer at the El Cortez. He moved to the Barbary Coast, then he moved to the Stardust where he became a manager. Dave had just become a pit boss when he moved to the Rio. Subjects: El Cortez; Barbary Coast; Stardust; Rio; Palms; M; Cosmopolitan

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Transcript of interview with Joe Friedman by David Schwartz, May 26, 2015

Date

2015-05-26

Description

Interviewed by David Schwartz. Joe Friedman worked in Caesars Tahoe, first as a cashier in the nightclub and later as a dealer. He also spent six months dealing in the casino on the Cyrstal Harmony. Joe moved to Las Vegas and worked at various casinos such as the Hard Rock, Green Valley Ranch, Wynn, Palms, and MGM as a dealer, pit manager, and an assistant shift manager. Subjects: Sahara Tahoe; Hard Rock Hotel; Silverton; GVR; Wynn; GPI; MGM Grand

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Transcript of interview with Elliot Schecter by David Schwartz, May 27, 2015

Date

2015-05-27

Description

Interviewed by David Schwartz. Elliott Schecter got a job dealing poker at a private club in New York City to earn spending money while he was a student at Rutgers. He worked as a dealer on a casino cruise ship, then became the shift manager in the poker room at the Seminole Casino Hollywood in Florida when it opened. Elliott also worked on the Palm Beach Princess casino cruise ship, at the Reno Hilton, here in Las Vegas at the Palms, at the Downstream Casino Resort in Oklahoma, and was working at the Snoqualmie Casino in the Seattle area at the time of the interview. Subjects: Private room, Discovery cruise; Seminole Hollywood; Palm Beach Princess; Palm Beach Kennel Club; Reno Hilton; Palms; Downstream (OK); Snoqualmie (WA)

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