On March, 14, 1981, collector Diane Donavan interviewed her neighbor, pharmacist Wayne Earl (born June 21, 1926 in St. George, Utah) at the collector’s home in Las Vegas, Nevada. This interview covers Earl’s early recollections of Nevada and his life after moving to Las Vegas in 1940. Earl also talks about World War II, McCarran Airport, Nellis Air Force Base, North Las Vegas politics, Jaycees, and the Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, Earl recalls his involvement in civic affairs, social and religious activities, including his affiliation with the Mormon Church.
Text
Oral history interview with Jill Roberts conducted by Barbara Tabach and Claytee D. White on March 20, 2018 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Jill Roberts discusses her position as the CEO of the Trauma Intervention Program (TIP) of Southern Nevada. She also delves into her part-time work at the coroner's office as a death investigator and discusses her personal background in Las Vegas, Nevada after she moved to the city in 1977. She describes the role TIP had during the aftermath of the October 1, 2017 mass shooting, where well-trained volunteers were dispatched to hotels, hospitals, and anywhere else the survivors reached in order to provide emotional and practical support. Throughout the interview, Roberts emphasizes that the assistance provided to those in a traumatic event depends on each individual's needs. She shares a few examples of what the TIP volunteers had helped with after the shooting, including listening to the survivors' stories as well as providing information on the situation, helping separated loved ones find each other, arranging travel for some survivors to go back to their homes, and procuring clothes and shoes for those who needed them. Roberts also discusses the gratitude TIP had received after the shooting, including the thank you cards sent by Sandy Hook High School.
Text
On February 29, 1980, Coleen Seifert interviewed Tony Grasso (born 1926 in Brooklyn, New York) about his career in gaming. Grasso first provides details on his background and how he ended up moving to Las Vegas in 1951 before talking about his experience as a dealer in some of the early casinos. He also talks a little about the different roles and games that casino workers deal and how players are invited to visit casinos. The interview concludes with a discussion on gaming unions and Grasso’s future plans. On a date that soon followed the above date, Seifert also interviewed Doug Charles (born 1954 in Brooklyn, New York) about his career in the gaming industry. Charles also talks about his family background, his arrival to Las Vegas in 1957, and the early development of the various gaming properties in Las Vegas. He later goes into detail over some of his experiences as a dealer, his opinions on mob control over gaming, and some of the political and legal issues that have arisen in La
Text
On March 14, 1978, Brian Corcoran interviewed Twenty-One dealer Daniel Kaminski (born November 17th, 1947 in New Jersey) about his life in Southern Nevada. The two discuss Kaminski’s occupational history and gambling practices amongst tourists. They then go in depth on the rise of gambling establishments across the United States and the impacts it may have on Las Vegas. The interview concludes with a discussion on the role of dealers in casinos.
Text
In this interview, Walter Weiss discusses how Judaism and boxing kept him out of trouble in his youth. Weiss grew up in the Boston area, and started boxing as a teenager. Weiss talks about his boxing training, becoming a runner for a bookmaker, and coming to Las Vegas in the 1950s to be a bookmaker for the Stardust Hotel, and working the slot machine floor. He had several different jobs in various casinos, and discusses different people involved in the gaming industry in Las Vegas.
Walter Weiss life story begins in a Malden, Massachusetts during the Great Depression. His early background was a blend of observant Judaism, secularism, and the effects of the era. He was a troubled youth whose older brother encouraged him to join him in boxing. As Walter explains: I was a wild kid and ... boxing saved my life. His aptitude for boxing led him to be a sparring partner in New York City's famous Spillman Gym. There he met and worked out with some of the greatest fighters of the era, including Rocky Marciano. He recalls how he turned professional while attending the University of Miami and how he first came to Las Vegas in 1958 to escape his personal troubles and find work with a local bookmaker. Thus began his diverse employment history in the casino industry. He details his various positions and the cast of famous and infamous characters of the times. For six years he return to New York and worked as a Wall Street broker before arriving back in Las Vegas in 1973. He talks about his property ownership, lobbying for an amendment to Senate Bill 208, his personal religious changes and a sundry of observations about the changes that occurred as the state took over gaming.
Text
On March 19, 1978, Russell L. Ellis interviewed former postal worker, Ray Christian (born 1927 in Las Vegas, Nevada). The two discuss Ray’s family history and his experiences as a Black man in early Las Vegas. Ray Christian compares the experiences of his childhood with that of his children in Las Vegas. The interview concludes with Christian expressing how Las Vegas has grown and that there are more opportunities available for his children to pursue.
Text
On the corner of 7th street and Clark, and beside the tennis courts of Las Vegas Academy, stands the law office of attorney Eva Garcia Mendoza. Eva has worked in her office since 1982, and in this time she has helped the Las Vegas community work through civil and immigration cases besides aiding in a myriad of other ways. Eva Garcia Mendoza was born in 1950, in the town of McAllen, TX-an environment that perpetuated hatred of Mexican Americans. Eva recalls the racism she endured; for instance, being spanked if she spoke Spanish in school, and her family facing job discrimination because of her skin color or her last name. Being an ethnic and financial minority was difficult, and Eva remembers nights as a child when she would cry herself to sleep. Eva showed resilience in the face of adversity as she states, “you rise to the level of your teachers’ expectations.” With the encouragement of her band professor, Dr. L.M Snavely, she began higher education at Pan American College. She moved to Las Vegas in 1971 and began to work before being accepted at UNLV to study Spanish literature. She graduated in the class of 1973. In 1975, Eva applied to become a court interpreter, a decision that would drastically change the trajectory of her career. She earned the coveted position and began to work beside Judge John Mendoza who was the first Latino elected to public office in the state of Nevada. Several years later John and Eva would wed. Judge Mendoza passed away in 2011. Eva talks about how extraordinary his legacy is-from his professional achievements to a story about his v football days and the 1944 Dream Team, this true story even piqued the interest of Hollywood writers. Through her work, Eva began to notice how she was more than qualified to become a lawyer herself, so she applied and gained a full ride scholarship to the Law School of San Diego University. Eva describes the struggles of attending school in San Diego while her spouse and children were home in Las Vegas. Despite the financial difficulties, being one of few minority students, and becoming pregnant her second year, Eva was able to finish her remaining university credits by returning to Las Vegas and working with Judge Mendoza. Together, they started the Latin Bar Association. Eva began her own practice in 1981 and would later partner with Luther Snavely, who was the son of her band teacher that helped her to attend college so many years back. Today, Eva has a new partner at her office and hired her son to work as a secretary. Eva also tells of the office’s mysterious history, of which includes a ghostly figure many clients claimed to have seen in the reception room. Eva recounts many of her professional achievements, such as petitioning to start the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Nevada Chapter, representing celebrities, winning the unwinnable cases such as against the Nevada Test Site. Eva talks about current events, such as today’s immigration laws, the discriminatory practices of revoking birth certificates from those born in Brownsville, TX., and about the importance of the #MeToo movement. Eva and her family have a great fondness for Las Vegas. The support for the Latinx community in Las Vegas greatly contrasts that which she experienced as a child in southern Texas. She describes wanting to take her children and grandchildren to visit her old home in McAllen, TX where her family grew up on the “wrong side of the tracks.”
Text
In 1962, Elizabeth “Betty” Krolak moved from the Midwest to Las Vegas with her husband and six children. Not only would the drier desert climate benefit her youngest daughter’s health due to asthma, but the family hoped the Las Vegas economy would be beneficial for their future. Prior to her arrival in Las Vegas, Betty worked briefly as a secretary for the New York Central Railroad before becoming a stay-at-home mom and active member of the PTA. Upon their arrival in Las Vegas, Betty’s husband enrolled in a real estate class, but was unable to complete the program. Betty, not wanting to waste the $80 they had spent on the class, decided to attend in his place. This decision led to life changing events for Betty and her family over the next four decades. After taking the real estate class and passing the test, Betty became a licensed Nevada real estate broker in October of 1963. She initially went to work for Pyramid Realty and, in 1964, she opened her own office, Clark County Realty. After her divorce in 1967, Betty was left with “six hungry children” to feed and no child support or health insurance. She recalls how the benefits of being in real estate really became apparent during this period of her life. While real estate required long hours seven days a week, it also afforded a single mother flexibility that other careers would not have offered. Likewise, a woman could make more money in real estate in the 1960s and 1970s than most other careers provided, which was particularly important for Betty who was committed to raising her children without public assistance. Betty’s oral history chronicles the growth of the Las Vegas Board of Realtors which has grown into what today is the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR). She recalls how, in the 1960s, meetings took place in bowling allies and the primary role of the GLVAR was to provide networking opportunities and represent the Code of Ethics for realtors. However, the Board was dominated by males, with the role of women members confined to planning social events and arranging for refreshments. In 1968, Betty and several other women realtors set out to change this by initially establishing a local Women’s Council within the Board. In the years following, Betty became the first women to be an Executive Board Member. Today, more than half the members of the Executive Board are women. Betty’s oral history also speaks to many changes within the real estate industry over the past four decades, some positive and some not so positive. She recounts the 1960s to the 1980s, when casino workers’ main source of income came from tips which were often unreported, creating challenges in getting casino workers qualified for home loans because they did not have the ability to document their source of income. Likewise, single women had a hard time qualifying for home loans because they only had one income and, in those days, it rarely was enough to qualify for a mortgage on their own. Also during this period, realtors primarily focused on the resale market because builders wanted to work directly with buyers, but changes in the real estate market eventually led builders to realize the benefits of allowing realtors to sell new houses, too. During her career, Betty also experienced the rise of real estate franchises, beginning with Century 21’s arrival in Nevada, the development of Multiple Listing Service (MLS), changes to educational requirements, approaches to settling disputes, and new approaches to ethics violations. Perhaps the biggest change Betty’s oral history speaks to is the personal approach to selling real estate that has been lost over time. In the early days, brokers sold houses right alongside the sales agents. Today, however, regulations have placed brokers in a position where their primary role is to manage sales people, not sell houses. Also, realtors used to interact with other realtors, title company personnel, and mortgage lenders before technology, such as fax machines and computers, came along. In the early days, documents were transferred in person allowing people in the industry to get to know one another through these personal interactions. Today, everything is done electronically and it is rare to actually know the person on the other end. Selling real estate has lost a lot of its personal touch, according to Betty. In addition to being the mother of six children and running one of the largest real estate offices in the area, Betty also found time to give back to the community through her volunteer work with the Salvation Army. She was instrumental in establishing Southern Nevada’s Angel Tree project, which provides Christmas presents to children who otherwise would not receive them. She was also appointed by Governor Michael O’Callahan to the State of Nevada’s Real Estate Commission, making her the first woman to serve on the Commission. Betty’s career in real estate allowed her to witness and implement many changes that still impact the industry today. When Betty began her career, Las Vegas’ population was just over 45 thousand. By the mid-1990s Green Valley, Spring Valley, North Las Vegas, Summerlin, and Sun City had been developed and the Valley’s population exceeded 1 million people. Betty Krolak’s career merged with the real estate boom as she helped find homes for those who wanted to make Las Vegas their home. She made sure the real estate industry’s growth included women, training mechanisms, and ethics which continue to benefit realtors, home buyers, and home sellers to this day.
Text