Craig Palacios was born on November 1, 1971 and grew up in the Paradise Palms neighborhood in Las Vegas, Nevada. His family lived close to him and he remembers playing with his relatives up and down the Maryland Parkway Corridor. His first job was in construction where he poured and finished concrete. His talents for design became apparent and he began a new job as a swimming pool designer. Craig’s first company was a concrete company, but he later had to close its doors. After that, Craig decided to attend college and graduated with degrees in Architecture and Art History from UNLV in 2005. He worked for YWS Architecture for a few years before opening his own studio in 2011. Since then, BunnyFish Studio has worked on the Downtown Project and the Maryland Parkway Project.
Yoxen begins her interview by discussing how she first arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada to work for the U.S. State Department in the 1950s. She then describes her childhood in Alabama, competing in the Miss America pageant, and her life in Miami, Florida. Yoxen also discusses living in North Africa and Berlin, Germany while working for the State Department as a clerk. She then talks about moving around with her sister and her family, and eventually coming to Las Vegas. She describes what Las Vegas was like in the 1950s. Yoxen ends her interview with a discussion on her family, her husband's work, and their recreational activities.
Known for “raising hell and making a difference” in the Las Vegas Valley, Thomas Rodriguez has dedicated more than four decades of his life to the political, educational, and social advancement of the Latinx community. Tom was born in 1940 to Jennie Gomez and Joseph Rodriguez in a Topeka, Kansas neighborhood its residents called The Bottoms. Mexicans, Mexican Americans, American Indians, African Americans, among other peoples lived in this diverse and beloved community. In 1956, the Urban Renewal Program, a program funded by the Federal Government that sought to raze neighborhoods the city considered to be “slums,” forced The Bottoms’ residents to abandon their homes. Rodriguez recalled the effects that this event had on his family and on his educational career. Despite his family’s relocation, he graduated from a high school located in a nearby neighborhood in 1958. Years later, the activism and ideology of the Chicano Movement of the 1960s taught Rodriguez that to overcome the injus
Session 1: Interviewed by Marcela Rodriguez-Campo. Barbara Tabach also participates in the questioning. Session 2: Interviewed by Rodrigo Vazquez. Monserrath Hernandez also participates in the questioning. Patricia Vazquez was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV and shares her experiences growing up in the Valley as a Queer Latina. At a young age, she remembers traveling back and forth between Mexico and the U.S. to visit family. When she started school she shares how her home language, Spanish, became her family's "secret language" as she began to learn English. During elementary school Patricia was tracked into the special education program, and remove from the mainstream classroom. She would find her love for learning in books and libraries as she taught herself how to read in English. Despite being tracked into less advanced courses, Patricia would end up taking AP/ Honors courses in high school after forging her favorite teachers signature, which changed her educational trajectory. After coming out to her family, Patricia went nearly a decade distanced from her mother and continued her college education at Arizona State University. There, she would complete a bachelors in painting and a masters in comparative literature. Her work with the Chicano Studies program at ASU helped her develop her Chicana identity and begin her involvement in social activism. In Las Vegas, she worked to fight for marriage equality and LGBTQ rights with the American Civil Liberties Union , and later with the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. She also conducted several lectures for the Latino Youth Leadership Conference on sexuality, gender, and homophobia for over a decade. She has served as an English Professor at the College of Southern Nevada for the last 20 years and is an avid hiker, traveler, and painter.
On March 19, 1978, John (Sonny) Le Jeune interviewed John (born 1904 in Trail Creek, Idaho) and Mabel Dillingham. The two provide many historical accounts of Las Vegas, Nevada, including John’s work on the railroad, the development of the city, and their living conditions when first moving to Las Vegas. The three also discuss prominent members of the community, recreational activities, church membership, and popular attractions around Las Vegas. Other topics include the building of Hoover Dam, the site of the Stewart Ranch, early irrigation systems, flood control, and Block 16.
On March 20, 1977, Jackie Ogden interviewed Irene Doty (born 1914 in Dangerfield, Texas) about her life in Southern Nevada. Doty first talks about the first casino properties and restaurants in Las Vegas along with some of the other businesses and operations of the area. She also describes some of her experiences as a justice of the peace, conditions during World War II, and the clothing fashion of the time. Doty also talks about some of her experiences in Goodsprings, Nevada, and about her experiences as a juror and potential juror in several murder trials. The interview concludes with a discussion on housing development and gambling in Las Vegas.
Ike Lawrence Epstein’s office at the recently opened UFC headquarters is sunlit and handsomely decorated. A black and white photo taken by the famous British photographer David Bailey of the Kray brother adorns the wall. Lawrence, as everyone knows him, is the son of Kenny Epstein and Donna Goldstein. He was born, in 1966, and raised in Las Vegas. He attended Vanderbilt University (BA 1989, JD 1992) and then returned to live full time in Las Vegas with his law degree in hand. In addition to being COO of the UFC, he is active in the family business, the El Cortez Hotel and Casino. In this oral history, Lawrence recalls his grandparents, their careers in Las Vegas, and his youthful favorite holidays being Passover and Thanksgiving. He became a bar mitzvah in Israel, a tradition he continues with his own children with Michelle Epstein. Lawrence serves the community as a board member of Meadows School and on the Stadium Board. As an executive with UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship], Lawrence observes the overall magnitude of sports in Las Vegas in 2017, how it came to this point with professional sports, and what he envisions as the future possibilities of the city as an international sports destination.
Arby L. Hambric's book entitled, "To Thee I See: From picking in the fields of Texas to cooking for dignitaries on U.S. Navy ships, a journey I wouldn't change," describes his profound journey from working in the cotton fields as a child to being drafted into the U.S. Navy, before completing high school. During this interview, he recalls the significant achievements of the "Red Tails" and the Tuskegee Airmen. Beginning his 20 year Navy career before military integration, Arby describes the racial tensions that plagued the U.S. Navy in the 1940s, and discusses how he was able to successfully navigate that racist environment for two decades and three war eras. Arby enrolled in San Diego State College after leaving the U.S. Navy. He also worked as maintenance personnel for Sears and Roebuck and started a catering business with his wife. He became a member of the Southern Nevada Enterprise Community, SNEC Board upon moving to Las Vegas, Nevada, after his wife died. With a family legacy he can be proud of, Arby highlights the achievements of his great grandson Taquan Mizzell, a Virginia Cavaliers running back at the University of Virginia. As a Navy veteran, Arby often volunteered his time and resources to help others in need. He recalls driving the sick and elderly back and forth from the Westside community to Valley Hospital or University Medical Center, UMC. He also discusses government enforced road closures and a wall that was built to block Blacks from entering the new downtown. This interview sheds new light on military integration and offers key strategies for overcoming environmental racism. Arby mentions a documentary about the closing of the wall and offers his predictions on the future of the Westside.
On March 11, 1978, collector Patty L. Baratti interviewed James Hogan (born April 6th, 1909 in Winton Place, Ohio) at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. In this interview, Hogan talks about his time working with the telephone company in Arizona and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada. He discusses his time working on grazing rights and cattle ranching in Nevada and how planning went to ensure that farms were able to have land to graze their animals. He speaks about dealing with farmers, corporations, and the government and the frustrations he had to deal with before there were set laws about grazing. He also discusses the change from mainly family farms in Nevada to corporations owning much of the farmland.
Twenty years after her birth in Utah in 1924, Marie Horseley met and married her husband who was an engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad. They settled in Las Vegas, his home town and soon purchased a home for $9800 in the new John S. Park neighborhood. Sixty years later Marie, twice a widow, remains in the home. Up the street four doors, one of her granddaughters lives with her three children. Marie recalls the new housing development that appealed to railroad workers. The roads were dirt and there were no streetlights, but soon a community blossomed. Marie is a self-described quiet resident; her life was about raising her three daughters and being a member of the LDS church. However, she knew everyone on her street no matter their religious affiliation. Today the businesses are gone. Homes have changed appearances over the years as owners have changed. Ethnic diversity is apparent and the sense of community closeness has slipped away for her. Yet she loves her place there, feels safe and secure. When asked about the ides of John S. Park being designated a historic district, she is not all that wowed by the idea of restrictions that might be included in that. Nevertheless, she has no intention of relocating from the comfort of the place she has called home all these years.