Oral history interview with Billy Root conducted by Lisa Gioia-Acres on May 14, 2008 for the All That Jazz Oral History Project. Root begins by discussing his upbringing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he developed an early interest in being a musician due to encouragement from his father, who was also a musician. He describes playing baritone saxophone in the Philadelphia Orchestra, performing at the Apollo Theater in Ella Fitzgerald's orchestra, and going on tour with a predominantly African American jazz band in the Southern United States during segregation. Root details his interactions and impressions of various celebrities, such as Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, attending Playboy parties, and eventually deciding to settle in Las Vegas, Nevada. He discusses working as a professional musician in Las Vegas, where he performed in such casinos as the Dunes and the Desert Inn. He concludes by discussing his retirement and his family.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Ida Webb conducted by Claytee D. White on February 29, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Webb discusses her childhood in the American South. She discusses her family's move from Tallulah, Louisiana to McNary, Arizona, and then their migration to Las Vegas, Nevada. Webb shares her experiences as a young African American mother in Las Vegas in the 1940s and the things her and her husband did to provide for their family. She shares her views on her marriage and her views on African American culture of the time. Webb discusses her husband's civic involvement and his job at the Las Vegas Sun. She details her experiences working in the hospitality industry for such early casinos as the El Rancho Hotel & Casino, The Flamingo Hotel & Casino, and the Last Frontier Hotel & Casino. She shares her own civic involvements and her participation in the Culinary Workers Union Local 226.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Hal Erickson conducted by Alice Brown on April 01, 1998 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Erickson discusses starting work at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas libraries in 1965 and his first impressions of the library. Erickson discusses the organizational and catalog systems of the library and his efforts to improve library organization.
Archival Collection
The Agnes Lynch Photograph Collection on Pahrump, Nevada contains black-and-white and color photographic prints of people and landscapes in and around Pahrump, Nevada from approximately 1979 to 1989. The collection includes images of political rallies held by candidates for Nye County Commissioner, Pahrump Valley High School graduating classes, and Nevada Governor Robert List. Also included are images of the Valley View Plaza, roads surrounding Pahrump, and the Nye County Complex, which housed the fire and sheriff's departments, ambulance services, and the public library.
Archival Collection
The Sidney R. Whitmore Photograph Album contains photographs dating from approximately 1920 that document the Colorado River and mining in El Dorado Canyon, Nevada.
Archival Collection
The Ruthe Scott Photographs of Las Vegas, Nevada Hotels and Casinos contain color and black-and-white negatives and transparencies of Las Vegas hotels and casinos from 1960 to 1986. The collection includes the Sahara Hotel, Castaways Hotel and Casino, the Desert Inn Hotel, the Dunes Hotel, the Riviera Hotel, the Sands Hotel, the Silver Slipper Gambling Hall, Tally Ho Grounds, the Thunderbird Hotel, and the Hotel Flamingo. The collection also includes people gambling in Las Vegas casinos and two transparencies of Nevada politician Phil Tobin, who sponsored the bill to legalize gambling in 1931.
Archival Collection
The Nye County, Nevada Photograph Collection contains photographs from Nye County, Nevada from 1880 to 1990. The collection includes a wide variety of photographs that document the activities, landmarks, geographical features, towns, ranches, and families of Nye County. The collection covers the areas of Amargosa Valley, Ash Meadows, Beatty, Duckwater, Gabbs, Goldfield, Kawich Mountains, Manhattan, Pahrump, Round Mountain, Rhyolite, Smoky Valley, Springdale, Tecopa, Tonopah, and Twin Springs. The activities documented include mining, prospecting, herding animals, schooling, ranching, building construction, railroad construction, and hunting and fishing.
Archival Collection
The Maurine and Fred Wilson and Dr. William S. Park Photograph Albums (1900-1930s) consist of twelve albums containing black-and-white photographic prints and three black-and-white photographic negatives. The photographs are primarily related to the families of William S. Park, John S. Park, and Fred and Maurine Hubbard Wilson. Included are images of the Park homes in Las Vegas, Nevada; Park and Wilson family members; scenes of early Las Vegas, Nevada; outdoor activities, and vacation trips to California, Colorado, and Mexico.
Archival Collection
The Historic American Buildings Survey of Kiel Ranch Photograph Collection contains 45 black-and-white photographs of the buildings on Kiel Ranch from 1988. The buildings documented by the collection are the park mansion, the adobe structure, an old house, the foreman's house, a shed referred to as the "Doll House," a brown house, a cinderblock house, a wooden duplex, and a livestock shed.
Archival Collection
The Bella Tyktin Stern Photographs contain black-and-white photographs and negatives of Bella Tyktin Stern in locations around Las Vegas, Nevada from 1943 to 1960. The locations include Mt. Charleston Ski-Bar Ranch, the Last Frontier Hotel, Scotty's Castle in Death Valley, California, the Grand Canyon, Arizona, and Valley of Fire, Nevada.
Archival Collection