Search Results
Transcript of interview with Hal De Becker by Nancy Hardy, June 23, 2003
Date
2003-06-23
Archival Collection
Description
Hal de Becker traveled the world doing what he loved: dancing. He was the product of a theatrical family that moved to Southern California allowing him to grow up with the Hollywood sign in the background. After acting in small roles, he fell in love first with classical music and then with ballet. He appreciated beauty in those art forms as well as in the physical scenery of Switzerland, France, Palm Springs, Italy, Holland, and other exquisite places around the globe where he danced. De Becker worked on stages from Lake Tahoe where he opened for Nat King Cole to a Casino Campione in the Italian Alps becoming the talk of the town and finally to the hotels of the Las Vegas Strip. As he reminisced through the years of his fascinating life, we learned that the great ballet dancers never stop practicing, always aiming for perfection. When this interview was conducted, he owned a dance studio where other dancers could go to achieve the greatness that Hal attained during his long career. Some of the funny stories of De Becker's life come from the other side of his personality, the private detective. Educated, urbane, and sophisticated, Hal De Becker is indeed a man for all seasons and a lover of the dance art form. Shall we dance?
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Transcript of interview with Peggy Casey by Claytee D. White, January 13, 2005
Date
2005-01-13
Archival Collection
Description
Margaret "Peggy" Casey was born in Louisville, Kentucky where her father was the city editor of the local newspaper. She grew up amidst all the excitement of the Kentucky Derby, which she recalls in the interview. Peggy attended college at the University of Wisconsin during World War II. She describes the atmosphere and what it was like during her years in college. After graduating, she worked for an aeronautical company, Curtiss-Wright, where she helped build planes for the war. By 1952 Peggy was married to Walt Casey, whom she met through her sister, and they had moved to Las Vegas. In the interview, Peggy discusses what the environment was like in Las Vegas for a woman raising children. She describes what grocery shopping was available, and how she sewed most of her children's clothing. Peggy's children got involved in different activities. Mike had asthma, and he started swimming at the Paradise Park pool, which was built around 1960. The aerobic effects of competitive swimming developed his lungs. Steve was into horses and actually delivered newspapers on his horse. Her daughter loved horses also, and owns them to this day. In 1959, Peggy joined the Mesquite Club, which is the oldest federated women's club in Las Vegas. The club planted trees, started the public library, and was involved in many worthy causes. She also became a Master Gardner and has helped in many gardening projects around the valley. Peggy gives a great account of her life in Las Vegas, and that of her family and friends. At the end of the interview Peggy gives her thoughts on Las Vegas today, comparing them to her memories of Vegas back in the 1950's and 1960's.
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Transcript of interview with Darren Gidel by Claytee White, October 21, 2009
Date
2009-10-21
Archival Collection
Description
Darwin Gidel, born in 1924, grew up in Rockwell City, Iowa. He describes his childhood activities, schooling, and the jobs he held as a teenager. After graduating from high school in June of '42, Darwin immediately joined the military. His basic training took him from Minneapolis to Missouri, after which he was stationed in Nebraska, California, Florida, and South Carolina for further training. As he recalls his early military training, Darwin also evokes the patriotic fervor that gripped the country. He shares stories about the kindnesses he and many other enlistees received from individuals and families, ranging from rides to dinners to overnights. Darwin's overseas assignment was in London, England, beginning in November of 1943. He vividly recalls the bombing raids he flew and describes them from beginning to end. His B-l 7 was shot down over Belgium in March of 1944, and he and eight other crew members were held as POWs for eleven months. Much of Darwin's incarceration was in a Luftwaffe Hospital in Brussels, where his injured leg was removed. His memories include hospital personnel, solitary confinement, interrogation, and later being moved around to many different prisons in Germany. He clearly recalls relationships among prisoners, the configuration of German prisons, types of food served to inmates, and finally his repatriation from Annenberg Castle in Germany. After the war, Darwin earned a degree in accounting on the Gl Bill, which eventually led to general administration work in Sacramento. Along the way he married and had four children. After his wife passed away in the late seventies. Darwin eventually relocated to Las Vegas and remarried. He describes the city, recalls the small town atmosphere, and compares the impersonal bottom-line attitude of modem casinos to the folksy, welcoming feel of those establishments in the early eighties.
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Transcript of interview with Robert Bugbee by John. Lopez, March 16, 1981
Date
1981-03-16
Archival Collection
Description
Mormonism, religion.
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Transcript of interview with Robert Bugbee by Karol Sorrells, July 08, 1975
Date
1975-07-08
Archival Collection
Description
Activities in Southern Nevada since 1952 including work at Nevada Development Authority. Collector: Karol Sorrells
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Transcript of interview with Dolly Kelepecz by Claytee D. White, April 29, 2009
Date
2009-04-29
Archival Collection
Description
Dolly Kelepecz loves dance. Her entire life has been filled with the joy of movement. In this interview, Dolly begins with her life growing up in Covina, California and traveling with the Los Angeles Ballet Society as a young dancer. Eventually her career opportunities would have her traverse the globe as a dancer and as a circus entertainer. Her Las Vegas roots took hold in the mid-1970s when she was hired as a dancer in the Bluebells at a 19-year-old. She provides details of being a Las Vegas showgirl, crossing paths with Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, working with Fluff LeCoque, and becoming a dancer in Stardust's Lido show. Today Dolly is an instructor at UNLV, an important part of her legacy is working with young people. She also explains how she was integral in bringing Pilates to the valley, which continues to be a thriving studio here.
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Transcript of interview with Helen M. Baucum by William D. Marshall, February 28, 1975
Date
1975-02-28
Archival Collection
Description
William D. Marshall interviews Helen M. Baucum (b. 1920) at her office, about her life as a local Nevadan. The interview covers Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, and Henderson.
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Transcript of interview with Charles A. Baumert by James M. Greene, October 31, 1975
Date
1975-10-31
Archival Collection
Description
James M. Greene interviews Charles A. Baumert (b. 1908) at his home in Dixie Deer Estates, Utah vicinity-Pine Valley, Utah, (Central Utah), about Hoover Dam work, Boulder City history, and closing Six Companies Inc. operations at Hoover Dam.
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Transcript of interview with Robert N. Broadbent by Seneca Eugene Anderson, March 01, 1978
Date
1978-03-01
Archival Collection
Description
Seneca Eugene Anderson interviews pharmacist and politician Robert N. Broadbent (born in Ely, Nevada in 1925). Broadbent discusses origination, government, and changes in Boulder City, Nevada.
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Transcript of interview with Mildred Breedlove by Steve Drappo, February 18, 1979
Date
1979-02-18
Archival Collection
Description
Steve Drappo interviews Mildred Breedlove (b. 1904) who was born in Coal Hill, Arkansas. Breedlove relocated to Nevada in 1949. During this interview Breedlove discusses her personal experience of owning her own ranch in Nevada.
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