Florence McClure came to Las Vegas later in her life, but the state felt her presence and the community her contributions as if she were a native daughter. Introduced to the League of Women Voters in 1967, McClure met her political mentor Jean Ford and learned how to practice the core elements of democracy. She put those tools to work in a number of ways, however her participation in the creation of the Rape Crises Center and her advocacy for locating the women’s prison near Las Vegas are two of her long-lasting efforts. Florence Alberta Schilling was born in southern Illinois where she enjoyed the security of a tight-knit family and the independence to test her abilities growing up. She graduated from high school and attended the MacMurray College for Women at Jacksonville. With the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, she began a series of jobs working for the war effort. She moved to Ypsilanti, Michigan with a girlfriend to work at the Willow Run Army Airbase and then moved to Miami, Florida where she worked for the Provost Marshall in the Security and Intelligence Division. She met her husband, James McClure, at the time and they married in 1945. During the next several years, they raised a family and moved around the country and to Japan with the military. McClure came to Las Vegas in 1966 as part of her work in the hotel industry which she engaged in after her husband’s retirement from the military. She had worked in California and Miami Beach, but it was Burton Cohen in Los Angeles who invited her to join him in a move to Las Vegas to build the new Frontier Hotel and Casino. Following the completion of the Frontier, she moved to the Desert Inn with Cohen in 1967 and worked as the executive office manager. After a few years, she decided to leave the industry and complete her college education. She graduated from UNLV in 1971with a BA in Sociology with an emphasis on criminology. She was 50 years old. McClure had been a member of the League of Women Voters for a few years at that point and had learned the political process from Jean Ford and workshops on lobbying. She had numerous skills that were waiting to be tapped when she attended an informational meeting on the incidence of rape in the Las Vegas valley. From that meeting, a small group of individuals, including McClure, began the organization Community Action Against Rape (later renamed the Rape Crisis Center) in 1973. It was the first agency in the area devoted to serving individuals who had been assaulted and changing the laws on rape. The organization’s first office was set up in McClure’s home. Over the next decade, she worked to change attitudes and reshape policy by constantly raising the issues of sexual assault with police officers, emergency room doctors, judges, and legislators. Her role as an advocate took her into hospital emergency rooms and courtrooms to assist victims. It also took her to the state legislator to lobby repeatedly for a change in laws. During this period, journalist Jan Seagrave gave McClure the nickname “Hurricane Florence” - a fitting moniker that captured the force with which McClure attacked the issue. As a result of her efforts and those of the people with whom she worked, we now 1) recognize rape as a crime of assault; 2) forbid the sexual history of a rape victim from being used against her in court; and 3) recognize marital rape. In addition to learning about Florence McClure’s activities, the reader of this interview will gain information on the role of civic organizations like the League of Women Voters in engaging the voluntary efforts of women in the post-war years.

Judge Lloyd D. George was born on February 22, 1930, in Montpelier, Idaho. He attended grade school and high school in Las Vegas, Nevada, and earned his B.S. degree from Brigham Young University in 1955. Later that same year, He entered the United States Air Force and worked as a fighter pilot in the Strategic Air Command. In 1958, he concluded his military service as a captain. And in 1961, George earned his J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. Judge George was admitted to the Nevada Bar in 1961 and began practice in Las Vegas. After 11 years in practice, he began on the path to Chief Judge: In 1974, he was appointed by the Ninth Circuit to preside over the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada for a term of fourteen years. In 1980, Lloyd became a member of the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panels and in 1984, President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. On July 15,1992, George was elevated to Chief Judge of the Nevada District. During his tenure on the bench, Chief Judge George held a variety of distinguished memberships. He was a board member on the Federal Judicial Center, a member of the National Bankruptcy Conference, the Chair of the Judicial Advisory for Bankruptcy Rules, the Chair of the Judicial Committee on Administration of Bankruptcy System, a Fellow at the American College of Bankruptcy, and a member of the Judicial Committee on International Judicial Relations. Judge Lloyd George is a highly respected figure in Southern Nevada and has given us a truly intriguing interview.