HENRY SHEPHERD MOVED FROM A LIFE OF SHARECROPPING ON A PLANTATION IN TALLULAH, LOUISIANA, WHERE THE PRIMARY CROPS WERE PEANUTS AND CORN. HE FOUND THE WORK IN LAS VEGAS REFRESHINGLY DIFFERENT AND LESS TAXING. HE WORKED AS A BARTENDER AT THE SANDS HOTEL, “THE PLACE TO BE.” HENRY WAS ABLE TO SEND HIS DAUGHTER TO COLLEGE. DURING THE PERIOD OF THIS 2014 INTERVIEW, SHE WAS WORKING ON HER DOCTORATE. THIS ONE GENERATIONAL ADVANCEMENT WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE CULINARY WORKERS UNION LOCAL 226. HIS VERY FIRST COCKTAIL PREPARED FOR A CUSTOMER WAS QUITE MEMORABLE. AFTER TRAINING WITH FREDDIE SALATTO, FREDDIE SAID, “HEY, WE WANT YOU TO WAIT ON THAT BLACK LADY,” I’M LIKE, “WHO IS SHE?” HE SAID, “LENA HORNE.” “I MIXED A MARTINI FOR HER.” THE CULINARY UNION GAVE HIM FLEXIBILITY. LEAVING THE SANDS, HENRY WENT TO THE LANDMARK, AND THEN CIRCUS CIRCUS. THE LUXOR WAS HIS FINAL STOP IN A CAREER THAT SPANNED OVER THREE DECADES. THIS FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT TO FIND BETTER AND BETTER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES, WAS POSSIBLE BECAUSE THE CULINARY UNION SERVICED ALL THOSE LOCATIONS. LIFE IS GOOD.
Bejamin Lesser escaped Poland to temporary safety in Hungary in 1943. He was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and other concentration camps. He survived and was liberated from Dachau in 1945.
The view of where the Hoover Dam was to be built on the Colorado River in Black Canyon. Typed onto the front of the page: "Boulder Canyon. The dam is calculated to be 200 feet wide at the base, 600 feet high above water level, 1,000 feet wide at the top and extend 130 feet below water level at bedrock. This great dam would be capable of holding a year and one-half average flow of the Colorado River. Every dollar expended in this gigantic enterprise will pass through Las Vegas, Nevada - the Gateway to the Boulder Canyon Damsite - 36 miles away. The families of many of the men employed during construction days will reside in Las Vegas which will mean an increase in population and business. The power generated by the dam will mean wonderful possibilities in agriculture and mining; a smelter, factories, and other industries which will make Las Vegas the metropolis of Nevada."