With the explosive growth of the Las Vegas Valley over the past 30 years, it is rare to find someone who has deep battle born roots that go back to the early mining days of Nevada. Nancy Cummings-Schmidt is an example of that rare kind of gem. As a fourth generation Nevadan, her family came to the state in the 1800s form Ireland and England. Looking to capitalize off of the mining boom in Virginia City, they transitioned to ranching. She spent her first years in Reno and when her father went off to fight in the Second World War, her mother moved to Herlong, California and sent her to live with her grandparents. Upon moving to Vegas for fourth grade, her mother remarried and worked for the Las Vegas Sun while Nancy attended the Fifth Street Grammar School and later became a member Las Vegas High School’s first graduating class in 1956. After graduating from high school, Nancy invested in the spirit of wanderlust as it carried her to study theatre at Texas Christian University (which sh

On March 13, 1981, Dana Jamerson interviewed Harold McKay (b. July 27th, 1903 in Dresden, Kansas) about his life as a teacher in Las Vegas, Nevada. McKay speaks about his education, his move from Chicago, Illinois to Las Vegas and how he began his career in education. McKay focuses on how and why he founded the Teacher’s Credit Union, his time working in administration and his business school, as well as the problems related to segregation and integration in the educational system. Lastly, he talks about the growth of the gaming and entertainment industry in Las Vegas, and his volunteer work with the Senior Citizen Center.

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.

Dr. Leonard Kreisler, MD, was born August 3, 1930 in Brooklyn to post World War I European Jewish immigrants. Raised in the smaller community of White Plains, New York, he worked happily by his father?s side. The elder Kreisler was a cabinet maker and carpenter, who Len describes as fiercely independent. Young Len keenly helped his Yiddish language father write his contracts and guided him to increasing his prices. At an early age, Len knew that he would become a medical doctor?little did he know what an amazing life was in his future. It was while attending the University of Vermont, College of Medicine that Len met his wife Joan. They married in June 1957. Joan became a teacher and later a real estate agent while in Las Vegas. This interview includes stories about his medical education and his thirteen year private medical practice in Peekskill, New York. This was followed by a career in occupational medicine and over seventeen years as the Medical Director at the Nevada Test Site for Reynolds Electric and Engineering Corporation (1973 ? 1990). During that time he was also elected Chief of Staff at University Medical Center (UMC) for two years and helped create the Children?s Miracle Network Telethon and the UMC Foundation. When he recalls moving to Las Vegas, his memories include jogging by Temple Beth Sholom and joining a minyan. He became a congregation vice president. When his career at the Test Site was halted, his medical adventure led him to be a maritime physician for a cruise liner. He also ran twice for Clark County Commissioner against Thalia Dondero. Dr. Kreisler is the author of several books: Death by Any Means (2005); Roll the Dice, Pick a Doc and Hope for the Best (2009); The Codes of Babylon (2010); Shortfall (2011); The Obligated Volunteer (2014) and In Bed Alone, A Caregiver?s Odyssey (2016).

On March 8, 1975, John Neal interviews Ruth Hazard (birthdate unknown, 67 years old) in her home about her memory of how Southern Nevada has changed economically. Hazard goes in-depth about her knowledge of municipal politics and her husband’s friendships with a number of Nevadan politicians. Hazard also briefly talks about her fascination with the above-ground atomic tests, speakeasies during Prohibition, and local anxieties about Las Vegas “losing its identity.”