Jim Bilbray served Nevada as member of the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada, chief legal counsel in the Clark County Juvenile Court, Nevada State Senator, member of the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, and is currently on the Board of Governors of the US Postal Service through 2015. Jim was born in Las Vegas on May 19, 1938. Among his most memorable accomplishments is his work for the environment. As a young boy growing up in Las Vegas, he loved the climate. His backyard at the family home on 3rd Street was at the edge of the city so his playground was the desert. These early years led to a lifelong appreciation for the Nevada outdoors. The 1980s and 1990s were historical for Nevada and environmental efforts. The Nevada environmental triumvirate and congressional delegation composed of Jim, Harry Reid and Richard Bryan are widely known for passing significant legislation in this field. They worked closely together, in part, because of their friendship formed while growing up together in Las Vegas. This interview helps put into perspective the pivotal role played by Congressman Bilbray. During his terms as Nevada Senator (1981 - 1987) and US Representative (1987-1995), Jim worked on a number of major public lands issues for Nevada. He helped to defuse the Sagebrush Rebellion, designate additional Forest Service wilderness, protect Red Rock as a National Conservation Area, assign the Spring Mountains as a National Recreation Area, and initiate the legislative effort to establish the Southern Nevada Public Lands Act. Jim currently resides in Las Vegas where an elementary school is named in his honor.

Born in 1932 and raised in Los Angeles; mother was a housewife and later became a painter; mention of Olvera Street; Pio Pico first Mexican governor of California; Pico House; member of the Army; Deputy Sheriff; Mother Pauline Brown and father Lee Koury; Los Angeles County Sharon Tate; LaBiancas; Spahn Ranch; "the three girls on the comer" - Lynette Fromme, Sandra Good, and Nancy Pitman; Family - referring to the Manson case - Charles Mason, Robert Beausoleil, Susan Atkins, Steve Dennis Grogan, Patricia Kernwinkle, Mary Theresa Brunner, Bruce McGregor Davis, and Leslie VanHawten; Shorty Shay the person in charge at Spahn Ranch; mention of Polaroids mailed to prisoners that ended up being an important part of the Manson case.

Emilio Muscelli was in his mid-80s when he sat for this oral history interview. With a thick Italian accent he recalled his career as a Las Vegas maitre d' that spanned decades of Strip history. Emilio arrived in America in 1948, landed a job at the Copacabana in New York City. His boss was Jack Entratter, who brought Emilio to Las Vegas when he opened the Sands in 1952. Over the decades he has witnessed the ups and downs of Las Vegas economy and has befriended many celebrities along the way. He reminisces during this interview about his friendship with singer Bobby Darin, actor Cary Grant and meeting a laundry list of others. He fondly speaks of those he worked for and their contribution to the growth of Las Vegas.

Wendy Starkweather recalls her move to Las Vegas on a hot summer day in 1978. Her husband, Peter L. Starkweather had accepted a position to teach biology, but nothing had prepaied her for desert weather in July. She was a small town girl, born and raised in rural Ogdensburg, New York. She attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY and became a teacher and librarian in New Hampshire Getting a job at UNLV's library took some time, but finally in 1985, she was offered the position of head of references. From that point on, there was only looking forward for Wendy. She was to be an active member of the library staff until her retirement in 2010. During her over two decades at UNLV she worked under the leadership of six deans. She was an vigorous voice in the development of services, impacting circulation, interlibrary loans and non-book services that included media and instruction. In addition, she was here during a momentous period as the future Lied Library was being fu

At age 95, Marian Wojciechowski recalls his personal story of being born a region called called Poland in 1914, just as World War I was beginning. This narrative gives special attention to his Polish background at a time when the country did not technically exist, and their language was forbidden. By the late 1930s and the dawning of World War II, Marian is a young man struggling to understand what is transpiring, but knowing that he must participate in the Polish underground resistance against the Germans His activism gets him arrested and sentenced to Auschwitz as a non-Jew and without penalty of death. He recalls the Gestapo beatings which have left him without feeling in his fingers and a loss of hearing. He shares historical perspectives of the war era, agricultural coops, goal of Germans to sell Jews to the United States and other countries, and a story about a woman who helped save 2500 Jewish children during war.