Oral history interview with Mark Hall-Patton conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee D. White on August 25, 2016 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. Hall-Patton discusses coming to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1993, creating the Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum, and becoming a director for Clark County Museums in 2008, just when the economic downturn caused large layoffs and a drop in visitor numbers. He also talks about how joining the television show Pawn Stars in 2009 significantly raised visitor numbers and increased visibility of museums all over the Las Vegas Valley.
The black and white view of a crowd of people awaiting the arrival Lockheed 14 aircraft at Floyd Bennett Airport in New York. Typed onto a piece of paper attached to the image: "Tumultuous welcome awaits world fliers here Floyd Bennett Airport, N.Y. -- Policemen lined up on the field here awaiting the arrival of Howard Hughes and his companions, New York bound from Minneapolis, on the last leg of their epochal Round-The-World flight. By noon, a crowd of 6,000 persons had gathered at the airport, and it was increasing by the moment. Credit line (ACME). 7/14/38."
The Howard Hughes Public Relations Reference Files (1931-1997) were compiled by Richard "Dick" Hannah, vice-president of the Los Angeles public relations firm Carl Byoir & Associates, which was hired to direct public relations for Hughes’ companies. The collection is primarily composed of newspaper clippings organized into reference files. A significant number of the files contain articles about Howard Hughes’ personal life, the operations of his companies, and legal and political disputes involving Hughes and his companies. The files also document a range of other subjects related to his business ventures, including aviation, aerospace, defense industries, motion picture studios, film stars, communism in Hollywood, and the House on Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Later in life Hughes became obsessed with how he was being portrayed in the media. In addition to collecting magazine articles, newspaper clippings, transcripts, screenplays, and books that referenced him. He also collected newspaper clippings about the activities of print media outlets, columnists, radio-television stations, current and former employees, and competitors. The collection also contains newspaper clippings about Watergate, organized crime, gambling, and Las Vegas and contains press releases, correspondence and records generated by Carl Byoir & Associates as well as Rosemont Enterprise, Inc.
Ashley Hall was born April 3, 1943 in Caliente, Nevada. After high school, he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad at the Nevada Test Site as a cashier and as a signalman. He later attended Brigham Young University and the University of Nevada, Reno. After college, Hall served the City of Las Vegas in significant ways. Notably, as City Manager he was instrumental in the initial development of Summerlin, Nevada. Though he has retired from local politics, he remains active as the President of the Old Spanish Trail Association and as the U.S. Army Reserve Ambassador.