Interview with Gil Cohen by Claytee White on August 5, 2015. In this interview, Cohen discusses growing up in Las Vegas and attending University of Nevada at Reno. He returned to Las Vegas to join the management training program at the Stardust. He talks about his friendships with Moe Dalitz and Carl Cohen, and his interest in golfing. He also discusses corporate ownership of casinos, unions, and his experiences working at different Strip hotels.
Gil Cohen came to Las Vegas in 1957, when was ten years old, when his father, Yale Cohen, was recruited by Moe Dalitz to work at the Stardust Hotel and Casino. Cohen graduated from University of Nevada Reno, and started working at the Stardust through the management-training program. In 1975, he was made hotel manager, his first of many leadership positions in Strip properties, which have included the Dunes, Aladdin, Hacienda and Monte Carlo, where he currently works as a casino host.
Text
Leonard Gang (1935 - ) and Roberta Gang (1940 - ) are both natives of New York, though different boroughs and Jewish traditions. The couple met in 1960 while students at Cornell University and married in 1961. Two years later, Len graduated from New York University School of Law. Leonard had fallen in love with Western United States as boy on a family vacation. So when a notice was posted for a law clerk with the Supreme Court of Nevada, he knew he wanted to apply. When he presented Bobbie with a choice of Alaska or Nevada, she flatly responded that Nevada was as far west as she was willing to move. Thus, began their long and influential residencies in both Carson City and Las Vegas. In Las Vegas, Temple Beth Sholom was quickly a welcoming place to be for the Gang family. While Leonard?s law career flourished, Bobbie realized her energy and commitment to become an advocate for the benefit of the vulnerable. Over the years, she actively participated in the political campaigns of others and even entered the political arena herself, which she discusses in this oral history. During Leonard?s successful legal career, he held positions as Deputy District Attorney and Deputy Public Defender in Clark County and was in private practice. From 1971 ? 1974, he was District Court Judge in Clark County before returning fulltime to private practice. By 1988, Bobbie and Leonard had become forceful lobbyists including representing Nevada Women?s Lobby among others. In 2012, Bobbie received the Virginia Cain Progressive Award from the Washoe County Democratic Party for her leadership and dedication to the rights of others. In this oral history, the Gangs highlight their tireless efforts, the long list of political and civic leaders that they worked alongside of, some of Leonard?s high profile cases, and their Jewish heritage. They are parents of three: Lynne Moore, Karen Schnog, and Joshua Gang.
Text
Sharon Walker is a real estate investor, retired stockbroker and former loan officer. She was born on December 8, 1949 in Toledo, Ohio, and moved to Las Vegas with her family in 1963, where they started Walker Furniture, a store which they later sold to the Alterwitz family. Sharon's father, Julius Walker, was also in the casino business, becoming an owner of the El Cortez Hotel and Casino with Jackie Gaughan. Her mother, Anne Walker was a founding member of the first local Hadassah, The Women?s Zionist Organization. Sharon continues the family tradition of being active in Hadassah as well as being a Board Member of Jewish Family Service Agency. In November 2014 she was an honoree of Hadassah Leadership. In this interview, Sharon describes her adolescence in Las Vegas and the differences in culture as compared to her childhood in Toledo, Ohio. She also recalls the Walker Furniture business, her father?s careers, and her uncles Ed ?E? Walker and Lou ?Paddock? Walker.
Text
Kerin Rodgers owned a retail fashion store and modeling agency with a friend in Santa Monica, California. She came to Las Vegas in 1966 to work at The Broadway department store. She bought a home in the John S. Park Neighborhood in 1974. Popular radio personality; active in local and national politics.
Text
In 2002, Marty Walsh and her husband purchased a home in the John S. Park Neighborhood. Three aspects attracted them to their 1941-built home: the quality construction; the aesthetics and details of the house; and the "old-fashion human element" that she associated with her grandparents. Marty describes their relocation to Las Vegas after living for nine years in Ireland and her joy of discovering the John S. Park community. For her there is a neighborliness that they found in the form of the Neighborhood Watch. She feels the neighborhood still has work to do, but the gentrification has had splendid results as new "urbanites" replace original homeowners. From her artist point of view, she also provides thoughts about the impact the artist community of musicians, painters, and creative artists has had on the neighborhood. Even though she is relatively new to Las Vegas, she is well researched in the historic aspects of John S. Park location: once a fertile plot of land where
Text
Text
Text
Text
Text