On March 7, 1981, Elisabeth McLaren interviewed blackjack dealer, Roger H. Dudley (born August 10th, 1940 in Las Vegas, Nevada) in his home. This interview covers Roger’s recollections on growing up in Las Vegas. During the interview they further discuss Roger’s childhood, his parents, grade school, World War II, the atomic testing, the Mesquite Club, the development of the Strip, rodeos, Howard Hughes, Paradise Valley and changes in Las Vegas, Nevada.

When Shirley Mudra arrived in Las Vegas in 1966, she came tearfully. But as the wife of a Nevada Test site manager and mother of three young children, she was accustomed to adapting. Indeed, she adapted and remains a Las Vegas resident. Shirley and her husband Paul (above photo) met while both were in the Air Force. She was the daughter of a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, homemaker and railroad worker and describes her upbringing. She also talks about her joy of enlistment in the Air Force and the transition to being a wife, mother and her employment at the Department of Energy. Shirley's narrative includes details of early Las Vegas life, raising children here and becoming part of the changing community through friendships.

In this interview, Fiol discusses her experience as a a hidden child in the Holocaust and her family's history. She also talks about her involvement with the Las Vegas Holocaust survivors group.

Raymonde "Ray" Fiol is president of the Holocaust Survivors Group of Southern Nevada. A Jewish Holocaust survivor whose parents were killed in Auschwitz, Fiol was hidden by a Christian family of Resistance fighters during her childhood in Nazi-occupied Paris, France. She married American serviceman Phil Fiol and left Paris in 1957. The couple lived in New York City where she worked in inventory control. She retired to Las Vegas, Nevada around 2003 and became active in the local Holocaust Survivors Group. In 2007, she became president of the organization, which provides essential services to Holocaust survivors and helps them share their stories. Fiol is also a member of the Nevada Governor?s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust and the coordinating council of Shoah International. Her dedication to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and caring for survivors earned her the Nevada Senior Citizen of the Year award from the Nevada Delegation of the National Silver Haired Congress and the Aging Services Directors Organization in 2014, and in 2013 she was named Mensch Volunteer of the Year by the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas. In this interview, Ray reflects upon her traumatic childhood experiences, and shares how she learned details of her family?s history from a woman in France who had researched the destiny of the local Jewish community. She also discusses her involvement with the survivors group, and the positive impacts of its outreach activities, as well as goals to ensure future generations learn about, and from, the Holocaust.

On February 24, 1979, Suzanne Wright interviewed Stella Fleming (born December 1, 1897 in Victoria, Canada) about her experiences as a Las Vegas, Nevada resident and as a worker in the welfare department in Clark County. Fleming first talks about some of her work in welfare and specifically the early practices of the welfare administration. She also discusses her work as it related to the Works Progress Administration, the American Red Cross, and the Nevada Emergency Relief Program. Fleming also provided some anecdotes about her experiences in that field before moving on to discuss some of the historical aspects of Las Vegas, such as the atomic testing, specific landmarks and locations, and the development of the city.

From the Roosevelt Fitzgerald Professional Papers (MS-01082) -- Unpublished manuscripts file.