Oral history interview with Leo Dunbar, Harry Hall, Harold Wadman, Carl Merrill, and Mary Ann Merrill conducted by Dennis McBride on June 24, 1986 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. The interviewees discuss their early lives and families, moving to Nevada, and starting work on the Hoover Dam. They recall memories of living in Boulder City, Nevada during the Great Depression and beyond, and share information about the construction of the dam and the city as well as personal stories about their lives in Southern Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Gail Hambley conducted by Mike Hinton on February 25, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Hambley reflects upon her upbringing in early Las Vegas, Nevada. She discusses her schooling at Las Vegas High School with wooden desks and no air conditioning, memories at the Stewart Ranch and Hoover Dam, and her job with the Nevada Test Site.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Gilbert C. Blaine conducted by Kenneth Fong on February 11, 1975 and March 10, 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Blaine discusses the social and economic growth of Las Vegas, Nevada. He also discusses Boulder (Hoover) Dam, Boulder City, Nevada, Lake Mead, the Old Mormon Fort, and epidemics in Southern Nevada. Blaine also talks about organized crime and law enforcement in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Morgan Mills conducted by Matthew Carr on March 26, 1981 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Mills discusses being involved in major projects in the Las Vegas, Nevada area while he was living in California. Mills also discusses Boulder City, Nevada and Reno, Nevada. He later discusses his career as an electrical engineer, as well as working on the Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam).
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Mary Eaton conducted by Dennis McBride on November 15, 1986 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. Eaton joined her husband Bruce in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1932, soon after he found work at the Hoover Dam building site. Within months of her arrival, the couple welcomed their first child and moved to Boulder City, Nevada. In this interview, Eaton recalls the early community formed by the wives of the dam workers, the establishment of the Grace Community Church and the death of the church's first pastor, "Parson Tom" Stevenson. She discusses the beginning of the school system in Boulder City and her career as an educator, as well as her involvement in numberous community projects and groups including the hospital and the Rainbow Club for young women.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Paul M. Lytle conducted by Dennis McBride on March 08, 1996 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. In the interview, Lytle discusses his birth in Salt Lake City, Utah, his early life in Overton, Nevada, moving around the Southwest United States, and returning to Overton in the early 1930s to work with the Civilian Conservation Corps. Subjects Lytle also talks about in the interview include road and campsite construction at the Valley of Fire State Park, stories about associates and relatives, and being enlisted as a male nurse with the United States Army during World War II. Lastly, Lytle talks about the construction of an exhibit building at Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) originally used as a headquarters for soldiers during World War II to protect the dam.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Helen Manix conducted by Art Rader on October 29, 1974 and November 01, 1974 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In the interviews, Helen Manix discusses moving to Boulder City, Nevada in 1939 with her husband, John Manix, to operate a general merchandise store. Helen Manix and her son, Joseph "Joe" Manix, Jr., also discuss their local community, Boulder (Hoover) Dam, and their experiences in Boulder City during World War II.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Therese Thomas conducted by Dennis McBride on March 13, 1995 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. In the interview, Thomas discusses her early life in Thistle, Utah before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in approximately 1931, where her father worked on the Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) construction. Thomas then talks about her early schooling in Boulder City, Nevada, her experiences as a swing and dance band musician, Block 16 in the Clark Las Vegas Townsite, and her memories of Las Vegas hotels and casinos. Other subjects Thomas covers include Las Vegas entertainers, entertainment venues, and women in the music industry during the 1930s.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Lee Tilman conducted by Dennis McBride on February 06, 11, 13, 17, and 22; May 28; and July 09, 1996 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. In the interviews, Tilman discusses his birth in Gooding, Idaho in 1913, his early life, and his arrival to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1931. Tilman then talks about his experiences mining, milling, and ranching before moving to Las Vegas. While in Las Vegas, Tilman was involved with construction of Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) and labor issues. Later, Tilman describes fishing and boating in the Colorado River, working at a duplex mine in Searchlight, Nevada, and working at the Las Vegas Ice House. Lastly, Tilman talks about influential Boulder City residents he knew, his children, and the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Dorothy and Altus E. "Tex" Nunley by Dennis McBride on June 9, 1986 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. The interview starts with Tex, who relates how he arrived in Nevada in 1931 as a government "rod man", employed to assist the engineers planning the infrastructure for the construction of Hoover Dam. He discusses the early tent city called "McKeeversville" named after the mess hall cook who pitched the first tent in the area, and the process of building railroad tracks from the Union Pacific spur that ended in what would soon become Boulder City. After this, both speak at length about the details of the dam's construction, Tex's work as a high rigger, the development of Boulder City, and many anecdotes about individuals associated with bost the city and the dam.
Archival Collection