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Lawrence Hadland oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Lawrence Hadland conducted by Lorraine Owens on February 02, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Hadland offers insights into local business, family life, jobs, and the overall community of Las Vegas, Nevada. He also discusses the military and the local airport.
Archival Collection
Angelo Pedot oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Angelo Pedot conducted by Steve Mathwig on March 14, 1981 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Pedot discusses moving to Nevada to work at the Basic Magnesium plant. Pedot also shares memories of Las Vegas, Nevada as more casinos were built.
Archival Collection
Herb Tobman oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Herb Tobman conducted by Deborah Fischer on March 13, 1981 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview Herb Tobman talks about moving to Las Vegas, Nevada while working for Standard Oil as a tire, battery and accessory salesman, then working for the Moulin Rouge as the general manager in 1955. He gives a description of the hotels on Las Vegas Boulevard and downtown. Tobman then discusses the types of gambling that were popular. He also talks about the accommodations, transportation, entertainment, and the economy.
Archival Collection
Clara L. Porter oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Clara L. Porter conducted by Mary Katuin on April 24, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Porter discusses her childhood in Las Vegas, Nevada and her time in the Las Vegas school system. Porter discusses her experience running for the Henderson, Nevada city council and expresses her opinion about the political system in Nevada and that voters should have more awareness of the candidates for whom they choose to vote. Porter also describes entertainment in Las Vegas, how Las Vegas has changed since the 1950s, and more of her personal history.
Archival Collection
Howard Warner oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Howard Warner conducted by Virginia Lacouture on July 04, 1976 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Warner discusses arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada as a special agent with the intelligence division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Warner then describes the expansion of businesses as the population increased in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Claytee D. White oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Claytee D. White conducted by Stefani Evans on November 2, 2023 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Claytee D. White, founding directory of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries, celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the OHRC by contributing her oral history to the collection.
She begins by explaining how the system of sharecropping worked in her family near rural Ahoskie, North Carolina, and she talks about the field work involved in raising cotton, tobacco, corn, and peanuts. The fifth of eight children and the first daughter, she shares memories of going into town with her mother, of admiring her women teachers, and of attending North Carolina Central College (now University) for two years before moving to Washington, D.C., and working for the telephone company.
After recalling her two years in D.C. and 22 years in Los Angeles, California, she describes "running away" to Las Vegas, Nevada in the early 1990s. Here, at the History department at UNLV, she recalls learning to conduct oral histories. White shares memories of her first interviews with Hazel and Jimmy Gay and Lucille Bryant. She talks of matriculating to the College of William and Mary for her PhD and of returning to Bertie County to live with her mother and administer the office of The Shaw University Center for Alternative Programs in Education (CAPE). She describes how she was offered the position of OHRC founding director, why it matters that she was an "opportunity hire," and how it feels to be the only Black person in a room.
Archival Collection
Richard J. Ronzone oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Richard J. Ronzone conducted by Edna Goodman on March 08, 1985 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Ronzone discusses education in Tonopah, Nevada, and his early life in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ronzone also discusses his business, “Ronzone’s Department Store,” and the growth of local businesses in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ronzone then gives his opinions of the changes that occured in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Gayle Wallace oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Gayle Wallace conducted by Steven Stover on February 13, 1972 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Wallace discusses his personal history and the history of Las Vegas, Nevada. Wallace begins by describing his father's career as a mechanic working on the construction of Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam). Wallace then describes moving to North Las Vegas, Nevada, what life was like in the developing city, and living in a tent. He talks about his career as a floral designer, how Las Vegas has changed, and recreational activities in the city.
Archival Collection
Josephine Bruns oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Josephine Bruns conducted by Christopher Wong on March 9, 1975 and March 12, 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Bruns discusses her family background, recreational activities, transportation, entertainment, and the growth of businesses in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bruns also talks about the Stewart Ranch and the Union Pacific Railroad.
Archival Collection
Ruth E. Hazard oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Ruth Hazard conducted by Jeff Crampton on March 27, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Hazard offers an overview of life in early Las Vegas, Nevada from 1931 to 1977 including atomic testing.
Archival Collection