Oral history interview with Jerrie Merritt conducted by Lisa McAllister on November 23, 2015 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Merritt discusses her early life in Alabama, and relocating to Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Justin Kaiser conducted by John (last name unknown) on September 23, 1972 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Kaiser discusses his childhood in Las Vegas, Nevada and how his parents originally moved to Southern Nevada. He also expresses his desire for Las Vegas to discontinue its growth and remain a smaller city.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Joanne Imprescia conducted by David Furbush on March 20, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Imprescia discusses her life as a hairdresser in Las Vegas, Nevada. Imprescia discusses the growth of Las Vegas and the local social climate of the 1950s. The interview concludes with Imprescia explaining her experiences as a Las Vegas business owner and the hairdressing industry in Southern Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Eugene Williams conducted by Claytee White on July 18, 2008 for the All That Jazz Oral History Project. Williams discusses being signed to a musical group called the Platters in 1970, and performing with them for eighteen years. Williams also talks about his temporary hiatus form music to focus on his family, then returning to music through an ex-Platters group called the Sound of the Platters.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Joe Lappin conducted by Gordon Brusso on March 04, 1976 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. The two discuss his early occupational history and his work for the Bureau of Mines. Lappin then goes on to explain the different housing systems that developed in Boulder City during World War Two.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Elaine Newton conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Kristel Peralta, and Vanessa Concepcion on May 19, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Elaine Newton shares her family's history living in Hawaii and Japan, and memories from her childhood growing up with her six siblings in Honolulu. She talks about becoming a flight attendant for Pan American World Airways and how she met her former husband, Wayne Newton, after a stop in Vietnam. Elaine recalls their courtship and marriage as well as what Las Vegas life, fashion, and entertainment were like during the 1980s. She also speaks about racial discrimination and anti-asian violence in the past and present.
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Oral history interview with Betty West conducted by Claytee D. White on May 10, 2008 for the History of Blue Diamond Village in Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, West discusses growing up in Blue Diamond, Nevada. She describes the work her father, Mark West, did at the mines and recalls the Village where mine workers and their families lived in the 1950s. West discusses her employment at the Sahara Hotel in the 1960s as a slot girl and later as a cocktail waitress. Lastly, West talks about the changes in Blue Diamond, and eventually moving to Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Evelyn McColl conducted by Mary Fitzgerald on March 18 and 30, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. McColl discusses her nursing education and her experiences in nursing. McColl also talks about hospitals in Las Vegas, Nevada, above ground atomic testing, and the State Board of Nursing.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Lucille Wright conducted by Cheryl Reed on February 23, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Wright talks about her personal life and experiences in Las Vegas, Nevada. Wright also talks about her experiences as a school teacher in the mid 1950s, teacher pay, and school activities.
Archival Collection