Margaret Ostler Stout-Hall’s personality shines in this interview, in which she discusses growing up in Las Vegas’s Rancho Circle. She moved to Las Vegas with her family in 1951, when she was twelve and her father bought Las Vegas’s Seven-Up Bottling Company. She immediately found friends at John S. Park Elementary School and later at Las Vegas High School, where she became a Rhythmette. Margaret describes her Rancho Circle neighborhood, dragging Fremont Street, working at the El Portal Theater, and dancing at the Wildcat Lair. As a Rhythmette, she traveled to New York and Philadelphia to perform on the “Ed Sullivan Show” and the Elks National Convention. Stout-Hall credits Rhythmette advisor, Evelyn Stuckey, for developing a sense of confidence, belonging, and responsibility in the young women she led. It was this confidence that enabled Margaret to go to work for Harry Reid after she suffered a tragic loss. Former Rhythmettes honored Stuckey by lobbying the Clark County School District to name a school after their former mentor; the school opened in 2010.
Oral history interview with Howard Cannon conducted by K.J. Evans on September 28, 1998 for the Las Vegas Review-Journal First 100 Oral History Project. Cannon discusses his political involvement and working for the Las Vegas City Attorney’s Office. He then talks about his service in the Air National Guard during World War II and creating Nellis Air Force Base. Cannon also mentions his interactions with presidents, his thoughts on the Vietnam War, his support for civil rights, and his stance as a lawmaker.