Oral history interviews with James Dean Leavitt conducted by Claytee D. White on September 27 and October 4, 2022 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Leavitt recalls his role in establishing a medical school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), now known as Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine. Leavitt was elected to the Board of Regents in 2004 while Jim Rogers was interim Chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), and he suggested the creation of an ad hoc committee Health Science Center Committee. In 2009, Leavitt became Chairman of the Board of Regents, Dan Klaich became Chancellor, and in the following year, Dr. Mark Doubrava joined the board. In May 2014, the planning dean was hired, Dr. Barbara Atkinson, and the UNLV School of Medicine was officially established on August 22, 2014.

When Shirley Mudra arrived in Las Vegas in 1966, she came tearfully. But as the wife of a Nevada Test site manager and mother of three young children, she was accustomed to adapting. Indeed, she adapted and remains a Las Vegas resident. Shirley and her husband Paul (above photo) met while both were in the Air Force. She was the daughter of a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, homemaker and railroad worker and describes her upbringing. She also talks about her joy of enlistment in the Air Force and the transition to being a wife, mother and her employment at the Department of Energy. Shirley's narrative includes details of early Las Vegas life, raising children here and becoming part of the changing community through friendships.

A resident of Southern Nevada from the age of three, Susan Watson shares her memories of growing up and living in Las Vegas. After a year in Boulder City, Susan's father bought an old army barrack and converted it to a home in North Las Vegas; Susan remembers playing in the desert with her siblings and attending elementary and middle school before starting at Rancho High. Watching her mother design costumes for Strip performers and beautiful dresses for her own high school dances no doubt helped Susan develop her own sense of taste and style - something that she would put to good use over many years as an interior designer. Before that though, Susan shares her memories of what life was like in the Las Vegas of the 1950s and 1960s: cruising Fremont Street; movie nights; after-school work; favorite teachers; lunches on the lawn; and dance club. All combine to paint a vivid picture of a smaller town and a simpler time in the Las Vegas valley.

Harriett Thornton Hicks was born June 8, 1913,in Parowan, Utah; the thirteenth child of 14. She tells of her pioneer family who dwelled in two log cabins—one for cooking and one for sleeping. In 1931, she moved to Las Vegas to join two older sisters who had relocated here. She was picked up at the train by young Charles Hicks, who was a friend of her sisters. Charles had a car and offered to provide transportation. Within three years, the two were married. She quit her drug store job to raise a family and he worked for the railroad, the only business at the time in Las Vegas. At the age of 96, Harriett recalls a range of community milestones, such as the Boulder Dam, the news of Pearl Harbor bombing, Fremont Street, the Biltmore Hotel, and how to live in a city with mob influences.

On March 16, 1975, David P. Wiser interviewed former hair dresser and dealer, Darlene Kelly (born December 1st, 1942 in San Francisco, California) in the collector’s home in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two discuss how Kelly first arrived in Las Vegas, as well as her occupational history. Kelly goes on to describe the Stewart Ranch, as well as the social environment of the forties and fifties in Southern Nevada.

On February 16, 1979, collector Elaine Broniecki, interviewed local Clark County School District teacher, Pamela Calos Hicks, (born in Dayton, Ohio, on November 23rd, 1946) in her home in Las Vegas, Nevada. This interview covers Hicks’ recollections of Las Vegas from 1955 to 1979. Hicks’ also lists the addresses of where she has lived within Las Vegas.

On July 3, 1975, Robin Wright interviewed Doctor Nancy Leveque (b. 1933 in Oak Park, Illinois) about her time living in Las Vegas, Nevada. The interview covers, among many wide-ranging topics, Leveque’s move to and away from Las Vegas, her career as a veterinarian, and the practice she and her then-husband built. Leveque also discusses how the city of Las Vegas has changed-environmentally and socially-, special interest groups and social activities, as well as natural phenomena. Throughout the course of the interview, Leveque provides anecdotes about prominent figures and old Las Vegas traditions, such as Helldorado.