Oral history interview with Verlean Whitley conducted by Jasmine Smith on November 26, 2014 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Whitley talks about her parents and upbringing in Arkansas and traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada by bus in her late teens to live with relatives. She continues discussing her marriage and work, her church and community activities, and efforts to encourage voting in the late 1960s. She also mentions her involvement with the NAACP, her concerns about the closure of F Street in 2008 and her hopes for the revitalization of the Westside community.
On February 7, 1977, collector Enrico Messina interviewed Edith Leavitt (born April 12th, 1924, in St. George, Utah) at her home in Las Vegas, Nevada. In this interview, Mrs. Leavitt talks about teaching in Southern Nevada, including in the Virgin Valley and in Las Vegas. She also discusses the changing education system in Southern Nevada during her time as an educator.
On June 26, 1975, Sharon Hildebrandt interviewed Dorothy Ross Fletcher (born 1936 in Las Vegas, Nevada) about growing up in and living in Southern Nevada. Fletcher first talks about that various towns in which she lived while growing up before discussing the schools she attended. She also discusses the changes in schools, her involvement in politics, church activity, gambling as a recreational activity, and prominent visitors who came to Las Vegas. Fletcher also talks about living in Nevada during World War II, the atomic testing, environmental changes and extreme weather, and the social changes in Las Vegas. The latter part of the interview involves discussion of real estate, the introduction of air conditioning for cooling, changes on the Las Vegas Strip, recreational activities available to youth in Las Vegas and the increase in the nonnative population.
Oral history interviews with Madeline Taylor Knighten conducted by Blanche Uehling on September 17, 1974 for American Association of University Women Boulder City Branch and the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Knighten discusses her life in Boulder City, Nevada in the 1930s and the construction of Hoover Dam. She remembers the Six Companies, Inc. housing, stores, and Boulder City manager Sims Ely. Lastly, Knighten talks about early businesses and the first church in Boulder City.
Oral history interview with Danel Boone conducted by Daniel Pope on February 22, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. During this interview Boone discusses why he came to Las Vegas, Nevada, the Helldorado parade, church activity, and the weather. Boone also discusses city parks, Boy Scouts, schools, above ground atomic tests, local history of Southern Nevada, and the ways in which Las Vegas has changed over the years.
Lou Larrimore (left), an unidentified woman, and Wilbur Clark driving a cart at the Desert Inn Golf Course, Las Vegas, Nevada, circa 1950s. The Roman Catholic Guardian Angel Cathedral is visible in the background at right.