Oral history interview with Leonard R. Fayle conducted by Jennifer Sealey on February 21, 1980 and March 06, 1980 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Fayle discusses his family history and life in Gene, Goodspring, and Sandy Valley, Nevada. He also discusses his involvement in organizations, early mining, religion, and prostitution.
Oral history interview with Edmund "Ed" Fleming conducted by Mark Lucas on February 08, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview Fleming discusses mining practices in Southern Nevada and his teaching experiences in Pahrump, Nevada, Goodsprings, Nevada, and Las Vegas, Nevada. He also discusses religion, transportation, and culture in Las Vegas.
Oral history interview with Laura and Don Garvin conducted by Michael Martocci on March 03, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. The Garvins provide details on their family background, the first sources of water in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the early city limits. They also describe their early occupations, religion, gambling, the Mormon Fort, and the effects of the Great Depression.
Helen Mott Cecil was born in 1916 and grew up in Las Vegas. Her grandparents were miners and her grandmother owned property on the Westside. She recalls a friendly neighborhood and walking back and forth to school with neighborhood children. The family moved several times finally settling at 601 South Main Street. While attending Las Vegas High School she participated in several Helldorado parades with her father and brother. At the age of 15, Helen remembers the constriction of the first downtown post office. When the Hoover Dam started in 1931, her father was the under-sheriff. One of his duties was distributing health cards to prostitutes. Her memories include Saturday night dances in Anderson's Mess Hall in Boulder City, atomic bomb testing at the Nevada Test Site walking to church services on Fremont Street, Woodlawn Cemetery, the old Henderson Townsite and meeting President Roosevelt at the Hoover Dam dedication. As a high school student she served as president and counselor in her Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In 1934 she graduated from Las Vegas High School. Helen held numerous jobs before getting married at the age of 26-bookkeeper, movie theatre usher, telephone operator, and secretarial work. Her husband Bill worked at all three post office locations in the Las Vegas area. At the age of 91, Helen and her sister still live and enioy life in Las Vegas sharing their many memories of early Las Vegas.