The Robert Woodruff Papers (1927-2001) are comprised of materials documenting Woodruff’s career and family life in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada, as well as his travels around the United States and abroad. Materials include newspaper clippings, photographic prints and transparencies, personal correspondence, and publications such as Las Vegas tourist brochures and pamphlets dating from the 1930s and 1940s. Visual materials include portraits, city scenes, and landscapes throughout Nevada and the United States, as well as some photographs of international travels.

Oral history interview with Mary and Bruce Eaton conducted by Beatrice Scheid on March 8, 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Mary discusses growing up in the early days of Boulder City, Nevada, specifically the influences of the churches and schools. She also talks about housing, transportation, and her career as an educator. Bruce, her husband, talks about his employment with Six Companies, Inc., the issues of worker’s compensation, and the cooling system used to cool the concrete of the dam as it was being built.

Oral history interview with Lucille Down conducted by James Down on February 21, 1972 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Down discusses the lives of Union Pacific Railroad workers, and her first job, which was at the Southern Nevada Telephone Company. She also discusses recollections on the social, recreational, religious, and economic changes that contributed to the development of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Oral history interview with Bernice Reid conducted by Brenda Sawyer on March 12, 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Reid describes life in Nevada after moving there in 1926 and the challenges she and her ex-husband faced trying to breed chinchillas on their ranch on Mount Charleston. Reid also discusses the development of Las Vegas, Nevada, seeing President Hoover speak at the Hoover (Boulder) Dam, and the nuclear weapons tests.

Oral history interview with Elbert Edwards conducted by Layne Covington on October 16, 1986 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Edwards first talks about his family background before talking about what it was like to live in Panaca, Nevada. Edwards later talks about his wife’s and his political involvement, and his involvement in education. He then discusses Hoover (Boulder) Dam, his job as a registrar in the Selective Service, and the effects that the World War II years had on Las Vegas, Nevada.

Oral history interview with Robert “Bob” Brown conducted by Ian McLaughlin on February 23, 1981 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Brown discusses his background in the food business working for various hotels and restaurants in the city. Brown discusses some of the developments of the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, including the opening and closing of various casinos, as well as issues relating to the increasing crime rate, rise in air pollution, and growth in population in the city. Brown also mentions some of the entertainers from the Strip such as Wayne Newton and Frank Sinatra, and he describes the various recreational activities available to Las Vegans in and around the city. The interview concludes with Brown’s discussion about how means of transportation have evolved and how the city has grown since he moved to Las Vegas.

Oral history interview with Ruth Hazard conducted by John Neal on March 08, 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Hazard goes in-depth about her knowledge of municipal politics and her husband’s friendships with a number of Nevada politicians. Hazard also briefly talks about her fascination with the above-ground atomic tests, speakeasies during Prohibition, and local anxieties about Las Vegas, Nevada “losing its identity.”