Oral history interview with Gerald Connor conducted by James Bonnell on February 22, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Connor first discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada and serving as a pilot in the United States Air Force. He then discusses his education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and his church membership. Topics that Connor discusses during the interview also include changes in the school district and properties located in Downtown Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Strip, his political activity within the Democratic Party, the Helldorado Parades, and the early atomic tests at the Nevada Test Site.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Marge Jacques conducted by Dennis McBride on November 19, 1998 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. In this interview, Jacques discusses her friendship with the former Governor of Nevada Grant Sawyer. She talks about LGBTQ supporting policies that Sawyer contributed in, and his involvement with the progress of LGBTQ civil rights in Nevada. Lastly, Jacques describes Grant's social obligations during his time in office.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Esther Lynn conducted by Dennis McBride on August 24, 2000 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. Lynn moved to Las Vegas, Nevada from Los Angeles, California in 1976. She is a writer and editor, focusing on the Las Vegas entertainment scene, with by-lines in many local and national publications.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Rodney Sumpter conducted by Dennis McBride on August 30, 1999 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. In this interview, Sumpter discusses his involvement with repealing one of Nevada’s sodomy laws (NRS 201.190) in 1985. He recalls going to the Nevada State Supreme Court and discusses similar cases involving sodomy laws in the United States.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Bonita Coleman conducted by Claytee D. White on February 22, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Coleman discusses her early life in St. Joseph, Louisiana. She shares her experiences helping to raise her 8 siblings while her mother worked to support her family. Coleman briefly discusses the historical race relations of St. Joseph in the 1950s and 1960s from her own experiences growing up. In 1968, she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, joining her aunt and sister who had moved here in 1960. Coleman recalls the start of her career in the hospitality industry, and shares what she remembers of her family members' jobs since they all worked in the industry as well.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Maxine Butler conducted by Frank Johnson on April 22, 2016 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Butler discusses her early life in Jonesboro, Louisiana. She talks about moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1965, the Westside, and businesses on Jackson Street. Butler recalls working at The Cove as a cocktail waitress, the reopening of Moulin Rouge Hotel, and the African American community on the Westside. Later, Butler discusses her involvement at Greater Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church, the importance of church to the African American community, and compares church life in Jonesboro and Las Vegas. Lastly, Butler talks about changes in the Westside.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Nanyu Tomiyasu conducted by Andrew Russell on March 22, 1987. In this interview, Tomiyasu discusses his father's large-scale commercial farm in Las Vegas, Nevada and the amount of produce the farm produced through the 1920s. He expands on the impact of the 1922 railroad strike, particularly in regard to the Japanese population in the city. He recounts the general lack of discrimination and segregation against Japanese residents in Las Vegas, how Japanese families integrated with the community and how they maintained their cultural traditions. Later, he begins to discuss the impact of World War II on Japanese in the people living in the western states, Las Vegas' response to its Japanese residents, and how relocation and internment impacted families.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Peter F. Perazzo conducted by Claytee D. White on July 22, 2016 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Perazzo discusses his personal history and moving from Reno, Nevada to Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1940s. Perazzo talks about his Native American ancestry, his career in land surveying, and how construction and land surveying have changed over the years. He then describes designing public and residential buildings in Las Vegas, and at the Nevada Test Site. Later, Perazzo discusses his employment at the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 1985 and in 1995 at the Nevada Department of Transportation, where he was involved in many state projects such as the Hoover Dam bypass, Red Rock state road, and freeway widening.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with L. J. Bowman conducted by Lidia Sedano on October 11, 2004 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Bowman discusses his upbringing and path to becoming a teacher during the 1970s. He discusses his experience as a teacher in Wisconsin and in Montana, but highlights his 17 years as principal in various Montana school districts prior to becoming a teacher in the Clark County School District in the 1990s. He discusses his personal philosophy of education, and how it influenced his career as an administrator. He also discusses highlights and challenges of his career, and provides suggestions on what makes a successful principal.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Lee Tilman conducted by Dennis McBride on February 06, 11, 13, 17, and 22; May 28; and July 09, 1996 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. In the interviews, Tilman discusses his birth in Gooding, Idaho in 1913, his early life, and his arrival to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1931. Tilman then talks about his experiences mining, milling, and ranching before moving to Las Vegas. While in Las Vegas, Tilman was involved with construction of Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) and labor issues. Later, Tilman describes fishing and boating in the Colorado River, working at a duplex mine in Searchlight, Nevada, and working at the Las Vegas Ice House. Lastly, Tilman talks about influential Boulder City residents he knew, his children, and the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino.
Archival Collection