Oral history interview with Jessie Emmett conducted by Irene Rostine on October 16, 1996 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Emmett discusses moving from Southern California to Nevada for her husband's job at the Nevada Test Site in 1954. Emmett goes on to discuss working at the New Frontier Hotel briefly, and her eventual decision to go into real estate. Emmett then talks about creating a real estate agent training program, and about the work environment for women real estate agents. Lastly, Emmett describes her experience running her own real estate office, and the personal satisfaction the job provided.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Arthur Cummings conducted by Stefani Evans and Peyton McCord on April 26, 2017 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Cummings discusses his early life in Long Island, New York. He recalls his initial interest in real estate, moving to Las Vegas, Nevada to sell houses, and describes the real estate market during the mid-1990s. Cummings explains the importance of maintaining a good credit score, and the idea of financial preparedness as a way to avoid legal problems. Later, Cummings talks about obtaining a real estate license in Nevada, selling homes in Summerlin and the southwest portion of the Las Vegas Valley. Lastly, Cummings discusses building up clientele in the real estate industry.
Archival Collection
As we go about our days, running errands and getting things for our households, we often don’t think too much of the story behind the commercial real estate and retail stores we frequent. Only when those stores aren’t there and the neighborhood demographic changes do we embrace the nostalgia that goes into the story of the neighborhoods where we live and shop. Hank Gordon is the man behind those memories of those shopping centers we frequent not only in the Las Vegas Valley, but in Washington, Oregon, Montana, California and Alaska as well. Gordon was raised in Los Angeles and graduated from USC in 1956, when he went to work for a home builder in the San Fernando Valley selling his houses to make some extra weekend money. It was during this time he fell in love with real estate and had to break the news to his parents that he no longer was going to be a doctor. Feeling the urge of leadership he told his mentor that he didn’t want to sell houses-he wanted to develop homes instead. Shortly after that he bought a subdivision of lots in Van Nuys and started building 7-11 and Goodyear stores in the early 1960s. In this interview, Gordon talks about building his first shopping center in 1967 and moving to the Pacific Northwest. He moved to Las Vegas in 1988, when he bought 23 new national retailers to the Valley. He was responsible for bring Home Depot in 1999 and Costco and Best Buy to some of Las Vegas’s longest-standing shopping centers; Best of the Boulevard on Maryland Parkway and Best of the West on Rainbow Boulevard. He speaks of the changes to the market after the Great Recession, how retailers are having a hard time keeping afloat because of online shopping, and his days on the planning commission for the City of Las Vegas during the 1990s, when Jan Jones was mayor. It is without a doubt that Hank Gordon is one of the best in the business and there isn’t a lot of competition at the top.
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Oral history interview with Jean Jenkins conducted by Claytee D. White on August 07, 2014 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Jenkins discusses her career in real estate and starting her own real estate business in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jenkins describes the methods involved with selling real estate, working in Las Vegas during the late 1960s, and advertising properties in newspapers. She discusses her contributions to changing commission policies for brokers and how this would eventually help the Board of Realtors in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Jack LeVine offers a narrative as a real estate agent and a gay man who has lived in Las Vegas since he was a young adult in the 1980s. He first started visiting Las Vegas whenever his truck driver routes allowed him to visit his parents who had moved here in 1977. They owned a downtown sandwich and catering business called Your Place or Mine. Then in 1985 Jack and his life-partner, J.J., decided to relocate to Las Vegas. Jack soon launched a real estate career that began with the purchase of a 13-unit apartment complex. Over the years he became knowledgeable about the history of the greater community and the individual neighborhoods; including John S. Park—"the earliest suburb in Las Vegas. Jack and J.J have lived in a 1954 Mid-Century Modern home since the mid-1990s. Jack is a strong believer in re-gentrification and mentions other cities where this has been successful. His philosophy includes an explanation of the sense of community that is derived from those who invest of themselves in that community life John S. Park.
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The Elaine McNamara Papers span from approximately the 1960s to the 1990s and include brochures, photographs, clippings, and other information detailing McNamara's modeling and real estate careers. Collection includes information about the Las Vegas-Clark County board of trustees, which McNamara served on, and materials documenting the library bond issue from the mid-1980s.
Archival Collection
The Thomas McLaughlin Papers (1937-1985) are comprised of newspaper clippings, photographs, and correspondence about real estate, the Clark County Democratic Party, and local fraternal organizations, especially the Knights of Columbus and the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick in Las Vegas, Nevada. Materials also include some clippings on McLaughlin's appointment as trustee of the Las Vegas Park Racetrack in 1955.
Archival Collection
Part of an interview with Eva Whaley, May 13, 2013. In this audio clip, Whaley speaks about renting an apartment in a Westside community and purchasing a home through a real estate agent.
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Oral history interview with Stephen Schneider conducted by Stefani Evans on October 10, 2017 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Schneider discusses his early life and English education. He recalls arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1967, being an English teacher at Bishop Gorman High School, and his early interest in real estate. Schneider talks about obtaining his real estate license and forming Berkshire Hathaway Americana Group Realtors. Lastly, Schneider discusses Special Improvement Districts.
Archival Collection
The Wilner Family Collection is comprised of audiovisual material on real estate in Las Vegas, Nevada collected by Las Vegas real estate agent, Linda C. Wilner. The collection includes informational videos for real estate agents and promotional showcase materials on various real estate developments around Las Vegas including Summerlin, Lake Las Vegas, Turnberry Place, Park Towers, Sun City Anthem, Sun City MacDonald Ranch, and Christopher Homes. This collection also contains a digital surrogate of a scrapbook commemorating Linda Wilner's uncle, Leo Wilner, and his retirement as executive director of Temple Beth Sholom in 1984.
Archival Collection