Oral history interview with Janet Garry conducted by Elyse Rozinsky on February 24, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. This interview covers the growth of Las Vegas, Nevada from 1952 to 1979. Garry recalls the early years of the television and the telephone. She also discusses her own personal experience of raising a family in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Laralee Nelson conducted by Claytee D. White on April 20, 2010 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project Oral History Project. Nelson discusses her career as a cataloger at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries from 1982 to 2010. She also discusses witnessing monumental changes in the library such as changes in leadership, a move from the old Dickinson Library to the new Lied Library, and the impact of the technology on the campus.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Mike Smith conducted by Claytee D. White on August 17, 2018 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Smith discusses his early life in Santa Clara, California and his early interest in art. He describes the first drawings he did, drawing political cartoons, and drawing about controversial ideas. Smith remembers moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1983 and becoming the cartoonist for the
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Joseph Delaney conducted by Carol Hunter on October 24, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Joseph Delaney first discusses how Las Vegas, Nevada looked when he first moved to the city in 1961 and the evolution of performance places and the admission processes within the hotels. Delaney also discusses the agreements between the properties and various entertainers for their residencies, while mentioning the entertainers involved with said agreements. Delaney then discusses his career in the entertainment industry.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Sonny Reizner conducted by Jack Painter on an unknown date between 1970 and 1985 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Reizner discusses his time working at the sports book for Castaways Hotel and Casino Bowling in Las Vegas, Nevada. Reizner goes into detail about writing and managing the sports books. Later, Reizner talks about sports betting, the process, and its growth. Finally, Reizner describes the culture of sports betting and the logistics of how to succeed in the field.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Frances Moore conducted by Len Trout on March 01, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Moore begins by discussing her family's history in Nevada and the people she met in Las Vegas, Nevada. She talks about visits by prominent politicians to Las Vegas, the crash of Carole Lombard's plane, and life in Las Vegas during the 1930s and 1940s. Moore also describes how Las Vegas has changed, nuclear weapons tests, and the Stewart Ranch.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Charlotte Conti conducted by Charles Conti on March 20, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview Charlotte Conti discusses Mormon church activity, education, marriage, and raising a family in Las Vegas, Nevada. She then speaks about the Helldorado Parade and its social significance. She also discusses the overall growth and development of Las Vegas, Nevada, from 1953 to 1978.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Roy Smith conducted by Gary Michael Buyacheic on March 13, 1976 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Smith discusses arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1931 for job opportunities. Smith recalls the introduction of gambling and the impact it had on the city and throughout Nevada. Later, Smith describes the Stewart Ranch, Mount Charleston, and the growth of casinos and hotels on the Las Vegas Strip.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Jim Gans conducted by Claytee D. White on January 30, 2013 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Gans discusses working as an electrician and attending the Aviation Academy in Reno, Nevada and then as a flight instructor there. He also discusses working in measuring radioactivity from nuclear testing, working at the Clark County Sanitation, and at the Las Vegas, Nevada Convention and Visitors Authority as a vice president there.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Lavern Cummings and Tony Midnite conducted by Dennis McBride on August 29, 2000 for the Las Vegas Gay Archives Oral History Project. In the interview, Cummings and Midnite discuss their work as female impersonators in Las Vegas, Nevada during the late 1960s and 1970s. They also talk about other impersonators and performance venues in Las Vegas and around the United States. They explain the distinctions between transgender and straight performers, and the perceptions of transgender and straight audience members. Other subjects Cummings and Midnite cover include their early lives and arrivals to Las Vegas, and the history of sex reassignment surgeries beginning in the 1930s.
Archival Collection