Susan Pocras Slade was born on October 19, 1946. She was a member of the Las Vegas High School's Rhythmettes dance group in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Source:
Susan P. Slade oral history interview, 2015 July 31. [Cite format consulted: Audio recording or Transcript.] Oral History Research Center, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Adele Baratz (née Salton) was born in New Jersey on August 11, 1926 and her family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada when she was two years old. Her father sold bootlegger supplies and later owned and operated Al’s Bar, a popular place to drink among Union Pacific Railroad workers. For two summers, Baratz worked as a messenger and in the rationing department of the Gunnery School at the Las Vegas Army Airfield.
Jackie, n?e Brooks, Boiman was born in Brooklyn and raised in Levittown, New York. Although Jackie recalls her family?s Jewish observance as far less than strict, her religious connection began in the Levittown Jewish Center Sunday School and under the close relationship she had with her grandmother, who kept kosher and inspired her to do so. In her early twenties, Jackie worked in data reduction at Grumman Aerospace Corporation and the space program; was married and had her only child, Andee. After twelve years of marriage, Jackie divorced and relocated to Las Vegas, where her parents had moved earlier. In Las Vegas, job opportunities for a single mother were scant. Then after months of searching, she found her first job as a part time secretary for Temple Beth Sholom. Over the course of the next nearly fifteen years, Jackie would go on to work with almost every congregation and temple in Las Vegas, developing their youth programs and contributing to the growth of each one for 15 years. After a brief retirement, she had gone back to work as the first administration person for Touro University. In this interview, Jackie discusses at length her involvement with each of the temples, her experiences with being a single mother and living below the poverty line. She shares how her life has been changed through trials and tribulations but how her faithfulness and commitment to her mission had led her to the success she has today.
In 2015, Todd S. Polikoff was named the President & Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas. (The organization is now known as Jewish Nevada). Todd is a graduate of Stockton University and earned his MBA at Cleveland State University. He has three children: Samuel, Shira and Jordan. Born in 1971 to a steelworker and hairdresser, Jack and Judy Polikoff, Todd grew up in Philadelphia, became a bar mitzvah there, and shocked his mother when he explained he was putting college on hold to move to Israel. In addition to stories about these life memories, Todd also traces his career path to decision-making to a meaningful trip to Moscow a where a defining moment helped him understand his own relationship with Judaism. To the time of this interview, Todd has invested over twenty years in leadership of Jewish Federation and AIPAC in states that include New Jersey, Delaware, Texas, Ohio and Nevada.
"Dale Kimball" is a pseudonym assigned by the oral history interviewee to protect their identity during the interview. Their identity is not disclosed.