Oral history interview with Georgia Adras (b. 1916) conducted by Robin L. Hayes on March 02, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Adras relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada from Farmington, Utah in 1936. This interview covers education, religion, ad raising a family in Nevada. During the interview Adras also discusses the building of the Boulder Dam, road conditions, grocery shopping in the early days, and the Strip.
Photographs from the oral history panel event held by UNLV Libraries for the Southern Nevada Jewish Community Project in February 2016. Panel participants are David Cherry, Michelle Dahan, Jessica Hutchins, Marty Weinberg, Cara Goodman and Heather Klein.
Audio clips from an interview with Barbara Raben. In these clips, Raben discusses moving to Las Vegas in 1991 and discovering the Jewish community here.
Oral history interview with Victor Givens conducted by LeGary Stowers on March 15, 1981 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Givens first talks about his family background and then talks about his educational, occupational, and residential histories. He then talks about the various qualities required of individuals who work in the casino industry, his beliefs regarding religion and gambling, and some of the motivations and goals that are present for those within the field of gaming.
Oral history interview with Gordon Christie conducted by Larry DuRussel on June 30, 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview Christie discusses working on the building of the MGM Grand Hotel, Fremont Hotel, Sahara Hotel, Desert Inn Hotel, and the Frontier Hotel. He also discusses religion, politics, family life in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the growth of Las Vegas.
Jerome Blankinship was born in Hollywood, California in 1933 to Herman and Helen Blankinship. Jerome grew up as an only child in a suburb of Los Angeles called Huntington Park. He spent his entire childhood in the suburb and finished high school there as well. Then he went on to attend the University of Southern California. He received a degree in education and wanted to be a school teacher, but after a short stint in teaching at the Los Angeles City School District, he discovered that it was not for him. He then went back to graduate school and earned a master's in counseling and guidance. After graduating he received a Rockefeller grant to attend seminary, which was a calling that Blankinship had been very interested in. He attended the same seminary school that Martin Luther King Jr. went to, Boston University, School of Theology in Boston. Once finished with seminary, Blankinship pastored a church in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. Then the Reverend was offered an opportunity in Las Vegas to start a new church. After visiting, Blankinship fell in love with Las Vegas and moved in the summer of 1966 and has been here since. In the interview he shares a vast amount of information about the Las Vegas valley during his early years in the city. Today Blankinship is the senior Chaplain at Sunrise Hospital.
Oral history interview with Karin Sporn conducted by Claytee D. White on May 25, 2023 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Karin Sporn grew up in Germany when her father was a member of Hitler's army. As a young woman, she converted to Judaism, and she shares how it was a difficult path. Much of her study and sacred rituals were done in Israel, and she shares that many signs along the way gave her encouragement, and she learned from others around her in Israel who shared their stories with Sporn. Eventually, her travel business brought her to Las Vegas, Nevada. After selling her and her husband's business, Sporn discusses how she was then free to volunteer for Jewish and civic organizations, and the leisure to sculp and to write her memoir, Just Peek Over the Fence.