As a young woman, Phyllis Silvestri made the adventurous decision to move to the United States. She was bom in Canada and lived there until her early 20s. Over the next few years, Phyllis and her friend Mona logged many miles, worked and visited several states. By 1953, Phyllis had met and married Vincent Silvestri, who worked at Bingo Palace, now the Sahara Hotel and Casino. Soon they had their first child and had bought a home on Santa Rosa. A few years later they were building a new home in the John S. Park area. She proudly recalls her husband's attention to details such as including lots of built-in features and a bomb shelter that represents the era. Phyllis talks fondly of the neighborhood, but also recalls her children not being allowed to play with some of the neighborhood children because they were of Italian ancestry.
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From the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas collection OH-01063. On February 26, 1980, Nancy Bright interviewed school teacher, Patricia Lappin (born April 14th, 1924 in Denver, Colorado) at Robert L. Taylor Elementary School in Henderson, Nevada. The interview covers Boulder City, Nevada around Hoover Dam. The two discuss the different gambling habits between Southern Nevada locals and Las Vegas tourists. During the latter half of the interview, the two speak at length about the impact of nuclear waste on Nevada. Lappin explains the unique issues that Southern Nevada faces as one of three states to accept nuclear waste.
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On February 27, 1980, Rafael Reyes-Spindola interviewed Mary Leo (b. Mary Susanne Kaime Leo in 1949 in Santa Barbara, California) about her life growing up in the Las Vegas Valley and her varied career path. Leo, having moved to Las Vegas as a toddler, talks about what the city was like when she arrived, the landscape, schooling and local life in general. She remembers the construction of the University of Las Vegas, Nevada and the growth of the city and population. Through her anecdotes, Leo shares the local attitude towards the Strip that Las Vegans develop as a result of being raised in the city and focuses the beginning half of her interview on life outside of the Strip. The interviewer and Leo move their conversation towards her career path, beginning in a coffee shop at the Riviera Hotel & Casino, her time in the travel industry, as a Las Vegas showgirl in the famed Folies Bergere show, her return to the Riviera as the director of sales and catering, and the legacy she hopes to leave behind with her career.
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Lytle discusses his birth in Salt Lake City, Utah, his early life in Overton, Nevada, moving around the Southwest United States, and returning to Overton in the early 1930s to work with the Civilian Conservation Corps. Subjects Lytle also talks about in the interview include road and campsite construction at the Valley of Fire State Park, stories about associates and relatives, and being enlisted as a male nurse with the United States Army during World War II. Lastly, Lytle talks about the construction of an exhibit building at Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) originally used as a headquarters for soldiers during World War II to protect the dam.
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On February 23, 1979, collector Sean Powers interviewed Joseph C. Mattingly (born April 21st, 1912 in Texas) at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. In this interview, Mr. Mattingly discusses working construction on many buildings in the Las Vegas and Henderson areas in Nevada. He also talks about being a member of a motorcycle club and about air conditioning in the early days.
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On March 1, 1977, collector Sam C. Melchiome Jr. interviewed Jean McColl (born May 24th, 1931 in California) at her home in Las Vegas, Nevada. In this interview, Jean McColl discusses growing up in Searchlight and then Las Vegas, Nevada. She discusses how her family came here as well as the many changes she has seen through the decades living in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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On February 26, and 27, 1980, Maylene C. Cabatingan interviewed Evelyn Miller McDonald (born 1905 in Alderson, West Virginia) about her life in Las Vegas, Nevada. Also present during the interview is Maylene’s step-father (name unknown) who occasionally participates in the conversation. At the time of the interview, McDonald had lived in Nevada for over seventy-two years and described early Las Vegas as a small-town railroad community with few amenities. McDonald discusses her occupational history, and how her father started the first car garage in Las Vegas. She goes on to talk about the impact of the Great Depression on Las Vegas and how Hoover Dam’s construction reduced the severity of the financial depression in comparison to other cities. She then recites the hotels that were built and the appeal that Vegas had to tourists and divorcees. McDonald later discusses how prostitution was accepted by the community, and recalls a story about how local businessmen rallied together to ensure that a minister would preach the funeral for a young woman who had died, despite being a prostitute. McDonald concludes her interview with a brief discussion of her goals in life and her pride in her daughters.
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On March 5, 1981, collector Kathy Ricks interviewed Mary Carol Melton (b. April 4th, 1900 in Rockville, Missouri) about her life in Nevada and the development of the United Methodist Church in Las Vegas. Melton speaks about moving to Las Vegas, Nevada because of her husband’s health, her time working with attorney offices and in the Las Vegas Courthouse, and the different homes in which her family lived. Moreover, Melton talks extensively about starting the first Sunday school in North Las Vegas in a garage as well as the church she and her husband built. Melton discusses the programs and minstrels performed in the church, the crafts sold to make money for the church and the organ they purchased. Lastly, Melton talks about going to the Hoover Dam nearly every week to see new developments, her participation in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), and watching the above ground atomic tests.
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On March 14, 1978, collector Rick Merrill interviewed his father Ray Merrill (born May 22nd, 1933 in Wynona, Oklahoma) about living in Southern Nevada. In this interview, Mr. Merrill speaks extensively about working while growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada. From eleven years old on, he worked as a paperboy, shoe shiner, and grocery store clerk, among other jobs. He also talks about being a student at Las Vegas High School and what he and others did for recreation. The discussion also includes the history of hospitals in Las Vegas as well as what doctors’ offices were like.
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In 1943, Cleophis Hill Williams was a teenager visiting her mother who had moved to Las Vegas. For most of her young life she had lived with her parents in Muskogee, Oklahoma and Paul Spur/Douglas, Arizona. The same year that she visited Las Vegas, she met her future husband Tom Williams, with whom she had nine children, all born and raised on the Westside. Tom worked construction and built their first home on G Street. For Cleophis, she focused her life on raising her children and, whenever possible, finding some precious time to read.
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