Sharon Walker is a real estate investor, retired stockbroker and former loan officer. She was born on December 8, 1949 in Toledo, Ohio, and moved to Las Vegas with her family in 1963, where they started Walker Furniture, a store which they later sold to the Alterwitz family. Sharon's father, Julius Walker, was also in the casino business, becoming an owner of the El Cortez Hotel and Casino with Jackie Gaughan. Her mother, Anne Walker was a founding member of the first local Hadassah, The Women?s Zionist Organization. Sharon continues the family tradition of being active in Hadassah as well as being a Board Member of Jewish Family Service Agency. In November 2014 she was an honoree of Hadassah Leadership. In this interview, Sharon describes her adolescence in Las Vegas and the differences in culture as compared to her childhood in Toledo, Ohio. She also recalls the Walker Furniture business, her father?s careers, and her uncles Ed ?E? Walker and Lou ?Paddock? Walker.

Sanford Akselrad is the rabbi at Congregation Ner Tamid. In this interview he describes his rabbinical training, coming to Las Vegas, and the growth of the congregation.

More inclined in his youth to pursue a career as a scientist than rabbi, Sanford Akselrad (1957- ) became the rabbi at Congregation Ner Tamid in 1988. Turning his tenure, Rabbi Akselrad has lead the congregation through its move from Emerson to Street to its permanent home on Green Valley Parkway and I-215 and shares a fun story about buying desks and chairs from the Clark County School District. He talks about many of the milestones including: Project Ezra which he started during the 2008 recession to help Jewish community members find jobs; the NextGen program which was initiated to bring young adults in their twenties and thirties back to the temple. For over twenty years Rabbi Akselrad was a member of the board of the Nevada Governor?s Council on Holocaust education, a topic that was the focus of his rabbinical thesis. He was the founding president of the Clark County Board of Rabbis and has served on the boards of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, Jewish Family Services, and the Humana Hospital Pastoral Advisory Board. He was also the chair of the Federation?s Community Relations Council (CRC). Rabbi Akselrad is a board member of the Anti-Defamation League Nevada region office and the Interfaith Council of Southern Nevada. Sanford Akselrad was born on October 6, 1957 in Oakland, California and raised in Palo Alto. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles and then went to graduate school at the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion. He spent the first year of his graduate program in Israel, the next two in Los Angeles, and the final two years in Cincinnati, Ohio. Rabbi Akselrad met his wife Joni in Reno, Nevada and married her during his third year of rabbinical school. The couple has two children, CJ and Sam. After his ordination in 1984, Rabbi Akselrad was associate rabbi of Temple Israel in Columbus, Ohio, one of the largest Reform congregations in the Midwest. His choice of career was inspired by his father, Sidney Akselrad, who was a prominent rabbi involved in social justice issues and the Civil Rights Movement. Sanford Akselrad has followed his father?s example of community involvement, both in Las Vegas and on a national level: he served on the board of the National Conference of Community and Justice (NCJJ), he was chair of the NCJJ's Inter-faith Council, and he is active in the Union of Reform Judaism (URJ).

On February 24, 1977, Coleen Mancini interviewed the claims manager for the Culinary Workers and Bartenders Insurance Fund, Agnes Gauger (born Coleen Evans on November 21, 1926 in Arkansas) in her home in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mrs. Gauger’s daughter, Traci Sturdivant was also present during the interview. This interview covers significant changes and growth in Southern Nevada, including gambling and other industries, family life and recreation, and early atomic tests. Mrs. Gauger also discusses housing in the Las Vegas, Howard Hughes, McCarran Airport, medical facilities and education in Southern Nevada.

On May 23, 1983, collector Elizabeth N. Patrick interviewed gaming professional John Grayson (born May 25, 1898 in Grayson, Missouri) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The interview covers John Grayson’s experience with gaming in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Also present during John Grayson’s interview is Billy H. Gray, a longtime gaming associate of his, who helps Mr. Grayson go into greater detail about key events.

On March 15, 1981 Lance Malone interviewed Sears Roebuck Division Manager, Earl A. Evans, Jr., (born March 3rd, 1935 in Alhambra, California) in Las Vegas, Nevada. This interview covers the history of Nevada and Mr. Evans’s life. During the interview, Mr. Evans discusses education, sports, employment, the weather and the railroad in Las Vegas. He also discusses transportation, recreation, community involvement, raising a family in Las Vegas, the development of Fremont and the Strip, and religious activities. Mr. Evans served as a Bishop for the LDS Church in Las Vegas and in regards to education, he served on the Clark County School Board.

On February 28, 1979, Jane Finfrock interviewed Mary Habbart (born 1897 in Boothwyn, Pennsylvania) about her life in Southern Nevada. Habbart first talks about her move to Las Vegas in 1920 and her husband’s subsequent employment. She also talks about the first casinos, the development of the university campus, visits of U.S. presidents, and the Mormon Fort. She also discusses the Helldorado Parade, flash floods, snowing in Las Vegas, her role in developing Sunset Park, her family, and her education.

Janice and Robert Spurlock were married in 1990 and each has a lifetime of Las Vegas memories. They have made Sandy Valley home for nearly 32 years. Together the couple recalls the people and places of Las Vegas' past from their points of view during this oral history interview. For Janice the stories begin in the 1930s after her family moved to Las Vegas from California. She was a youngster of about five. Among the topics she talks about is walking to Fifth Street Grammar School, graduating from Vegas High School, and fun had during Helldorado Days. In 1953, Robert arrived. He was a young man headed from Arizona to Colorado seeking work as a welder. He stopped in Henderson, Nevada and never quite made it out of the area. For the next two decades he worked construction and helped build many local landmarks. He shares stories about the range wars and about being accidentally exposed to radiation from the Nevada Test site.