Randy Lavigne, Honorary AIA, has every reason to smile. Since 1995 she has been the Executive Director for AIA (American Institute of Architects) Las Vegas professional organization; she works daily with her daughter in a beautifully restored historic building in the heart of downtown Las Vegas; and the architects with whom she works so value her contributions they compiled and submitted documentation in order to surprise her with honorary AIA membership. In this interview, Lavigne recalls growing up in segregated Emory Gap, Tennessee, where her grandfather bought all the schoolchildren new shoes every year. She details the cross-country trip that brought her to Las Vegas in 1994 and eventually to the AIA in 1995. The bulk of the interview focuses on the building where the AIA is housed and the history of the organization. In 2008 the AIA moved from its former home at UNLV’s School of Architecture to the historic Fifth Street School in downtown Las Vegas. Lavigne discusses the history of the building and its significance to the City of Las Vegas. She reveals plans to examine the architectural history Las Vegas to celebrate the AIA Chapter’s sixtieth anniversary. She also talks about diversity in the profession, the process of licensure, publications, continuing education, organizational records, and the now-defunct auxiliary organization, the Architects' Wives League.

Alice Hamilton discusses working for Six Companies

Marion Allen describes his first impression of Rivercamp

Marion Allen remembers Anderson Mess Hall

LaVerne Ligon was born in 1942 in Washington D.C. Around the age of nine, she started dancing at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet, which started her career in dance. She took her first job as a professional dancer when she was eighteen with the Capitol Ballet Company. She moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1973. In 1974, she successfully auditioned for a touring cast of Hello, Dolly! After completing that show, Ligon performed in a number of productions in Las Vegas, including Hallelujah Hollywood and Jubilee. She retired from dancing in the early 1980s after sustaining an injury and she opened the Simba Talent Agency, a dance school for at-risk youth. She also worked for Family Services, but is now retired. She continues to work on projects with the Simba Talent Agency. BJ Thomas was born in 1935 in Plain Dealing, Louisiana. He moved to Las Vegas in 1968 after working for the Post Office in San Francisco. He worked a number of jobs for two years before beginning to pursue work as a stage hand. Thomas worked for shows at the Tropicana and Caesars Palace. He is currently retired. Leonard Polk Jr. was born in 1948 in Monroe, Louisiana. He and his mother moved to Las Vegas in 1949 when he was just two months old. His father worked on the Hoover Dam. Polk grew up in West Las Vegas and remembers the movement to integrate the schools in the city. As a young adult, he joined the Marines and served a tour of duty in Vietnam. Polk began to work for shows in Las Vegas after he finished his military career. He worked for the Aladdin Baghdad Theater and for the MGM Grand Hotel. He is currently retired, but remains active with the First African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Description of the landscape of Black Canyon from the film Conquering the Colorado. (See call number: TC557.5.H6 C65x - Videocassette)