Kay Dwyer was born August 30, 1934 to James and Eileen Crawford. Her father attained a job as an accountant with Basic Magnesium Incorporated in 1942. This meant that the family moved to Henderson, Nevada, which was a brand new community back in the early 1940's. The BMI plant, which manufactured magnesium for bombs and other war materials, is discussed throughout the interview. The interview begins with Kay reading a composition that she wrote entitled, "Our Summer of 1942 and More." In the reading she talks about the early years of her life when she first moved to southern Nevada. Kay gives remarkable details about the towns of Basic and Henderson (Basic became the town of Henderson) were like during this historic period. In 1952, she graduated from Basic High School and then moved to Los Angeles to attend Pepperdine University for two years. She moved back to the Las Vegas area and started a family with Stanly Hardy with whom she had three children. Sadly, at age 31 Stanly passed away from pancreatic cancer. After a break, Kay decided to go back to school and graduated from Nevada Southern University (now UNLV). Upon graduation, she immediately began teaching at Clark High School. In 1968, Kay married George Dwyer after being a widow for five years. Later, she taught at Las Vegas High School where she would go on to spend the next 25 years until 1995. This interview is an excellent resource for quality information pertaining to the early years of Southern Nevada. Kay Dwyer's extraordinary experiences provide us with a special look at the history of Las Vegas.

On March 13, 1976, Robert Pearce interviewed attorney Marion B. Earl (Born September 13, 1897 in Bunkerville, Nevada) at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. Marion relocated to Las Vegas in 1923. During the interview Marion discusses serving as a member of the board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce, and then being elected president of the chamber in 1941. He also discusses being elected justice of the peace in 1934, and serving for two terms. He offers additional insight on the growth of Las Vegas and the history of Southern Nevada.

Tom Ehlen is a professional trumpet player. He played with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Frank Sinatra, Burt Bacharach, and many others. He made his home in Las Vegas and played in the bands of various casinos. Tom now plays for the Las Vegas Classic Jazz Band at the Gold Coast and is in shows such as The Producers.

Dr. Dave Emerson was born in Littleton, Massachusetts. His father, a mining engineer, moved the family to Mexico twice, once when Dave was one year old and again when he was seven. In 1938, his father retired to work on his apple orchard in Littleton. Dave helped with pruning, spraying and dusting for insects, and hauling apples to the cider mill. Dr. Emerson graduated from high school in Littleton in 1945 and joined the army. Because he was only 17, the army sent him to Norwich University in Vermont until he turned 18. He then went on active duty until December, 1947. After he mustered out, Dartmouth College accepted his credits and he completed courses through his junior year. He was then called back to active duty in the Korean conflict, and was assigned to the Army Chemical Center in Maryland. After his army stint, Dr. Emerson worked a summer for Dow Chemical as a research engineer, and then returned to Michigan to pursue a Master's degree. He met and married his wife during this time. After completing his doctorate, Dave went to work for Shell Oil Company. Dave spent six years with Shell and decided to turn to teaching. He took a job at a branch of the University of Michigan. He worked there 17 years, doing research, teaching, and even spending a little time as chairman of the Division of Art, Sciences, and Letters. He was then notified of an opening at UNLV for dean of the College of Science, Math, and Engineering. In 1981, Dr. Emerson and his wife moved to Las Vegas, and he began teaching chemistry classes. He was instrumental in building up the engineering department through distance education for students who needed credits in math, computer skills, or electrical engineering. He also helped put together and sell the idea of a strong engineering school at UNLV, and then worked to gain accreditation for civil, mechanical, electrical and other areas of engineering. After retiring in 1998, Dr. Emerson worked on the self-study for the year 2000 accreditation. He still does research at UNLV on a volunteer basis. He and his wife continue to enjoy their home here in Vegas as well as their travels around the country.

On March 20, 1978, DeeAnn Coombs interviewed Robert M. Fisher (born 1945 in Las Vegas, NV) about his experience growing up in and living in Southern Nevada. Fisher first discusses his background and upbringing, from being born at Nellis Air Force Base to attending several schools in Las Vegas and joining the U.S. Navy. Fisher also talks about the development of Las Vegas, particularly the Strip properties, and the various recreational activities in which he would participate, such as water skiing, drag racing, and skydiving. Fisher also talks about his work at the Nevada Test Site, including his work as a draftsman for the underground atomic testing.

Dancer Charles Nur Fernald first came to Las Vegas in 1963 to perform for five weeks in the Kay Starr Show at the Sahara Hotel and again in 1964 working with Donn Arden for three months at the Desert Inn Hotel. Born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1939, Charles moved several times to various places in Arizona and southern California with his parents, Charles Knox Fernald and Marguerite Marie Higgins Fernald, and half-siblings before settling in Hollywood, California, where he remained (except for his short stints in Las Vegas) from 1961 to 1967. In January 1968 Charles came to Las Vegas to perform with Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca at the Flamingo Hotel. After the show closed Charles auditioned for Donn Arden to dance in the Lido de Paris show at the Stardust Hotel, where he remained for sixteen years, 1968 through 1984. He remains the only male dancer who performed with Lido through five different, consecutive productions. In 1969 Charles met his partner, Aquiles Garcia, who was a dancer at the Dunes Hotel. The couple remain in Las Vegas and have been together forty-five years. Charles’s father was very poor and left school after the third grade to go to work and help support his family. He was born in 1889 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the fifth of eleven children. As an eight-year-old he became a “groundhog,” a digger of New York’s underwater tunnels, who helped build the Holland Tunnel. At fifteen he made more money than his father selling newspapers, fresh fruit, and clothing door to door or from the street corner. According to Charles, his father “drank too much, ate too much, smoked too much, and loved too much.” As an only child, Charles’s mother had a very different upbringing from his father, although her family too was very poor. She was born in Detroit in 1902 to a railroad switchman father and mother who not only scrubbed the floors of wealthy Detroiters but also cooked meals for twenty-one boarders at a rooming house. Marguerite’s parents worked hard so they could send their only child to Catholic school and the Detroit Conservatory of Music.

John Foley is the youngest of five sons bora to Roger T. and Helen Foley. John's grandfather, Thomas L. Foley was an early transplant to Nevada when he headed for Goldfield in 1907. By 1910 Grandfather Foley had persuaded his son Roger T. to move west - it was a boom time. Roger who was finishing law school in Chicago passed both the Nevada and California bar exams in 1911. Two years later he married Helen who he knew from Chicago and with that launch a legal dynasty in southern Nevada: Roger, Thomas, George, Joseph and John. Each son would enjoy participating successfully in the history of Las Vegas. In this series of interviews, John shares his personal accomplishments as well as mentions his brothers contributions and service to the community. He talks about being young men, his brothers going off to war, the part-time jobs made available by the ever changing landscape of the area, new jobs and growth. He attended Fifth Street Elementary School and Las Vegas High School, actively encouraged the creation of the Boyd Law School at UNLV, and was elected a Nevada State Senator among many other activities as well as being father to his six children. John witnessed Las Vegas outgrowing its "little sister to Reno" role and now enjoys bragging that a fourth generation of Foleys lives in Las Vegas, many of whom carry on the family tradition of being lawyers.