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Alice Woodward oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Alice Woodward conducted by an unnamed interviewer in 1972 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Woodward discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1935 because her husband found a mining job in the state. She talks about her experiences teaching, the mining industry, and camping with her family. Woodward recalls her husband dying of asbestosis and discusses the smog levels in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Charles F. Razmic oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Charles F. Razmic conducted by Michael Braddy on March 12, 1981 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Razmic discusses moving from West Homestead, Pennsylvania to Las Vegas, Nevada in July of 1954 for a teaching assignment at Basic High School. He discusses the changes in Las Vegas such as the growth of hotels and casinos as well as the increasing population and employment opportunities. Lastly, Razmic discusses football.
Archival Collection
Hildred Meidell oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Hildred Meidell conducted by Greg Abbott on February 27, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Meidell covers a range of topics about living in Las Vegas, Nevada, from her and her husband’s time as tourists in the city and their subsequent retirement to Las Vegas from Los Angeles, California. Meidell describes the Las Vegas Strip, the interstate and highway conditions between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, as well as their numerous visits to Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam). Moreover, she speaks about the changing layout of the city, the increase in shopping centers and department stores, and the clothing stores inside of hotels. Lastly, Meidell talks about the prominence of churches in local communities, the atomic testing program and the structural damages these tests caused in her neighborhood, and the influence of the railroad and passenger train on the town.
Archival Collection
Marie Heher oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Marie Heher conducted by her daughter Sharon Heher on March 01, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In the interview, Heher discusses her early life in Boulder City, Nevada and Henderson, Nevada, as well as her education in Reno, Nevada and Las Vegas, Nevada. Heher also discusses the Helldorado parades and her experiences with the Union Pacific Train Depot in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Guy Hamblin oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Guy Hamblin conducted by Barry Merrell on February 22, 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Hamblin discusses moving from different towns in Nevada before settling down in Southern Nevada, viewing the above-ground atomic bomb tests, early Fremont Street, and his work on the railroad. Hamblin also discusses the demographic and economic changes that he has seen in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Robert Brown oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Robert “Bob” Brown conducted by Ian McLaughlin on February 23, 1981 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Brown discusses his background in the food business working for various hotels and restaurants in the city. Brown discusses some of the developments of the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, including the opening and closing of various casinos, as well as issues relating to the increasing crime rate, rise in air pollution, and growth in population in the city. Brown also mentions some of the entertainers from the Strip such as Wayne Newton and Frank Sinatra, and he describes the various recreational activities available to Las Vegans in and around the city. The interview concludes with Brown’s discussion about how means of transportation have evolved and how the city has grown since he moved to Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Irving Kirshbaum oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Irving Kirshbaum conducted by Cheryl Rogers on February 23, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Kirshbaum discusses the Riviera Hotel where he began working in 1955. He also talks about the landscape of the Las Vegas Strip in the 1950s, and the state of gambling, comps, customer service, and dealer training. Kirshabum discusses the treatment of minorities at the Riviera and in Las Vegas, Nevada generally.
Archival Collection
Irving J. Foreman oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Irving J. Foreman conducted by John Russell Foreman on March 16, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Foreman speaks about his career in the construction industry in Las Vegas, Nevada. He also discusses the changes in the construction industry from the 1950s to the 1970s, including the machinery used.
Archival Collection
Thomas A. Thomas oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Thomas A. Thomas conducted by Claytee D. White and Stefani Evans on March 02, 2017 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Thomas discusses his family background and upbringing in banking. He talks about his father, Edward Parry Thomas, his father's involvement with financing casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1960s, and the formation of the Thomas & Mack Company in 1992. Thomas remembers the company’s first projects in Las Vegas, construction of the Thomas & Mack Center, and developing the Las Vegas Digital Exchange Campus. Later, Thomas remembers his father’s involvement with the development of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and the company's help financing the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV. Lastly, Thomas discusses his partnership with Rob Roy of Switch data centers, and the future of Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Goldie Spicer oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Goldie Spicer conducted by Elmer Herren on February 12, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Spicer discusses working as a cocktail waitress. She also talks about the boom that Las Vegas, Nevada went through when the first casinos were being built, and when the construction of the Boulder (Hoover) Dam occurred. She discusses El Rancho, Twin Lakes, and the Taylor Ranch.
Archival Collection