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.”
When Barbara Agonia arrived in Las Vegas in 1969 to pursue a Master's Degree in English, the University of Nevada Las Vegas was barely ten years old and the population of Las Vegas was just approaching 160,000 residents. At the time, she was 35 years-old and it was a decision and move that would forever change her life and higher education in Clark County. Barbara Agonia was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1934 to Robert Lewis Klinefelter and Suzanne Carter Klinefelter. At the time of Barbara's birth, her father worked for Brown Shoe Company in St. Louis. The family moved to Bunker Hill, Illinois when Barbara was still an infant. This was Mr. Klinefelter's hometown where a portion of the extended family still resided. In the late 1930s, Mr. Klinefelter got a job in a brass mill near Alton, Illinois, and he commuted there daily. When the United States entered World War II, Mr. Klinefelter tried to enlist in the army, but was rejected because he had two small children and because he worked in an essential industry. He decided to work in a non-essential industry and took a job at Montgomery Ward in Oak Park, Illinois. Barbara was in the third grade that year. Still unable to enlist, Mr. Klinefelter moved the family to Wabash, Indiana, and began working for General Tire in 1943. They moved to Logansport, Indiana in 1947. Agonia recounts that education has always been a significant part of her life, with the importance of a good education stressed in her life from early childhood forward. After graduating from high school in Logansport, Indiana, she attended Hanover College in southern Indiana, enrolling in 1952. Her educational experience at Hanover included a year studying abroad at the University of Exeter in Devonshire, England—an experience which Agonia credits as further cementing her commitment to education and her love of literature and language. She graduated from Hanover in 1957 with a double major in English and speech/ theater. Agonia spent her first years out of college teaching high school English, speech, and theater in west central Illinois and the next eight in northern Illinois. A little over ten years into her career, at the age of 35, she decided to pursue a Master's degree in English. Her sister, Martha, who at the time lived in Las Vegas, suggested checking into programs offered at the city's newly formed university. In 1969, Barbara moved to Las Vegas and enrolled in the English Department at UNLV. As Agonia was completing her degree in 1971, the community college system in Nevada was emerging and seeking faculty for the up and coming institution. Curious to know more about the new system, Agonia scheduled a meeting with the person in charge of hiring. Two hours later, she walked out with a contract in her hand, one of eight new faculty members at Clark County Community College, now known as College of Southern Nevada. In her early years with the college, Agonia did a great deal of public speaking on behalf on the newly formed system, promoting the new institution and reaching out to potential students. At the same time, she taught full course loads in composition and literature, and eventually became chair of the English department. Her new position and public speaking work on behalf of the college not only provided her contact with the local Las Vegas community, it ultimately became the catalyst in spurring her passion for community involvement, particularly working on behalf of women within the community. • • Vll As the 1980s approached, Agonia became actively involved in rape crisis education, at the urging of Florence McClure. Then, in 1980, Agonia was again in on the ground floor of community programming, when she and Beverly Funk, at the urging of Judith Eaton, the president of Clark County Community College, established a Women's Center on campus. The Center was initially set up to help women in a variety of life circumstances, including women who were wanting to return to school or who were new to the process of school altogether. The center eventually became the Re-Entry Center offering skill development, tutoring programs, and other forms of assistance for anyone interested in returning to school. In addition to her involvement in and commitment to public education, Agonia has also been involved in the Soroptimist International organization for business and professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls in local and international communities. In the Las Vegas area, Soroptimist International of Greater Las Vegas worked to establish the Rape Crisis Center and the Center for Domestic Violence, which later became SafeNest. Agonia has been working with the organization since 1982. Through Soroptimist International, she also became involved in Friends of the Nevada Wilderness, an organization devoted to designation and long-term protection of Nevada's wilderness areas. As the representative for Soroptimist International, she traveled to Washington to lobby and testify in front of the senate for the establishment of Great Basin National Park. Agonia's work in the Las Vegas community over the past forty years has been significant. She counts Florence McClure, Geneva Douglas, and Jean Ford amongst her greatest influences. As she notes in her oral history, "I learned how to be radical from those women." She happily embraces the label of radical. This attitude surfaces throughout Agonia's experiences and recollections, and underscores her work and dedication to the interplay of local education and women's issues within Nevada.
Oral history interview with Cindy Baca conducted by Barbara Tabach on May 22, 2019 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. Cindy Baca, born and raised in Las Vegas, talks about her family and occupation as a librarian at Escobedo Middle School. Cindy's twin daughters were present and injured during the Route 91 Festival and October 1 shooting. She describes their experiences and the Random Acts of Kindness project she piloted at her school after the incident.
A resident of Southern Nevada from the age of three, Susan Watson shares her memories of growing up and living in Las Vegas. After a year in Boulder City, Susan's father bought an old army barrack and converted it to a home in North Las Vegas; Susan remembers playing in the desert with her siblings and attending elementary and middle school before starting at Rancho High. Watching her mother design costumes for Strip performers and beautiful dresses for her own high school dances no doubt helped Susan develop her own sense of taste and style - something that she would put to good use over many years as an interior designer. Before that though, Susan shares her memories of what life was like in the Las Vegas of the 1950s and 1960s: cruising Fremont Street; movie nights; after-school work; favorite teachers; lunches on the lawn; and dance club. All combine to paint a vivid picture of a smaller town and a simpler time in the Las Vegas valley.
Oral history interview with Kimberly and William King conducted by Claytee D. White on November 27, 2017 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Kimberly and William King discuss the October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada and their experiences from that day. They talk about attending the Route 91 Harvest festival and their struggle to find safety and obtain medical medical attention for William after he was shot. Kimberly describes her feelings regarding the city prior to the shooting and how her perspective on Las Vegas has changed. The couple finish the interview with a discussion of life after the shooting, especially in regards to love and community.
Oral history interview with Linh Fee conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Stefani Evans, and Jerwin Tiu on February 4, 2022 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Linh Fee talks about her family life growing up in Oahu, Hawaii, how her parents met in Vietnam, and memories of her childhood with her six siblings. She shares how she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to find work after graduating from college at the University of Hawaii and her brief time working in the hospitality industry as a cocktail server. Fee discusses her career change to become a dental hygienist and life with her husband and three children.
Oral history interview with William O'Neill McCurdy by Claytee D. White on January 26, 2022 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, McCurdy describes his childhood growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada, graduating from Valley High School, and attending Western Nevada College in Carson City, Nevada. He worked for many years for the Parks and Recreation department, and has served on numerous boards including the Citizens' Advisory for Regional Transportation (RTC), Habitat for Humanity Board of Director, Mineral County Economic Advisory Committee, City of Las Vegas Community Block Grant Advisory Board, and Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority Commission. Currently, McCurdy owns McCurdy & McCurdy Media Group, a political consulting and advertising firm which has assisted numerous political candidates in fulfilling their dreams of helping to govern Las Vegas, Clark County, the State of Nevada, and even in the United States Congress.
Oral history interview with Paul Chestovich conducted by Barbara Tabach on March 7, 2018 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, doctor Paul Chestovich describes the events on the night of the October 1, 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada at the University Medical Center (UMC). He discusses how he heard about the shooting and rushed to UMC to help the patients as a trauma surgeon. Doctor Chestovich shares some specific cases from that night and his emotional reaction to the shooting.
The collection is comprised of drawings (1950-1990) completed by American architect Martin Stern and/or his architectural firm, Martin Stern Jr., AIA Architect and Associates, and contains 400 cubic feet of materials including 710 drawings from over 300 different projects involving over 100 buildings. Stern’s work focused on the resort centers of Las Vegas, Nevada; Reno, Nevada; Lake Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada; and Atlantic City, New Jersey. The materials feature hand-drawn architectural drawings, ranging from pencil and ink on tracing paper preliminary sketches to ink on Mylar (TM) construction documents, and a number of artist’s renderings, used for presentations and promotional materials. The drawings also contain work from a number of consultants, engineers, and other architects who collaborated on the development of the various projects. The collection includes architectural drawings for: hotels, casinos, integrated casino resorts, office towers, multi-family residential developments, and custom single-family homes.
Oral history interview with Katrina Sandigo conducted by Nathalie Martinez and Barbara Tabach on August 28, 2020 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Katrina talks about her family's history and her grandfather's immigration to the United States from Nicaragua. She discusses her education and her time spent studying at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) and her work with the Clark County School District (CCSD). She is currently the Education Director for Nevada's Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Katrina also shares her religious faith and how she is active in the Jewish community of Las Vegas.