Search the Special Collections and Archives Portal
Search Results
LaVoie, Joseph, 1916-1995
Joseph Theodor LaVoie was a police officer and civic activist in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was born in St. Boniface, Canada on March 28, 1916. Around 1920, the family moved to Los Angeles, California. In 1939, LaVoie moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, and began work at the Rheem Manufacturing Company in Henderson. In 1946, LaVoie joined the City of Las Vegas Police Department as a motorcycle officer where he worked as a police officer for twenty years, retiring as a sergeant in 1966.
Person
Leavitt, Jack K., 1924-2005
Jack Leavitt was a land surveyor, engineer, and real estate developer in Southern Nevada who worked mainly in Las Vegas, Nevada. Leavitt was born on March 9, 1924 in Bunkerville, Nevada to Mike and Estella Leavitt. Leavitt graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1942 and attended the Heald Engineering College in San Francisco, California. After leaving college, Leavitt acquired work from an engineering firm in Nevada, but later quit to work for the Pioneer Title Insurance and Trust Company in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was employed for ten years.
Person
Mason, Brenda
Brenda Mason was born in Texas and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1960 when she was 11 years old. Her extended family left Texas as a result of pressure from the K.K.K.. Some of her early memories of attending integrated schools in Las Vegas include serving on a panel that discussed the impact of integration in the schools. Because of zoning changes, she attended Western High School in her senior year, and served as class president.
Person
Bush, Darrin S.
Darrin Bush was born January 08, 1948 in Las Vegas, Nevada. After attaining his education at St. Joseph’s Catholic School and Bishop Gorman High School, he earned his Bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Person
Poster, Jay
Jay Poster was born October 16, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in San Diego, California.
Music brought Jay Poster to Las Vegas for a brief time in 1974. Jay wanted to pursue a musical career and his cousin was a professional musician with the Nat Brandwynne Orchestra at Caesars Palace. Poster left Las Vegas to return home to San Diego and his studies at San Diego State University. It would be over a decade later before Jay returned to Las Vegas to live and this time it became permanent.
Person
Brinkerhoff, Donald Carl, 1930-
Don Brinkerhoff of Lifescapes International designed features of Las Vegas casinos such as the Mirage volcano, the Bellagio conservatory, the Wynn Las Vegas mountain, the Encore Casino gardens, and the surroundings of the Welcome to Las Vegas sign on the Las Vegas Strip. He grew up in the southern California suburb of El Monte.
Person
Canarelli, Larry (Lawrence D.)
Lawrence Canarelli was born in Roseburg, Oregon shortly after World War II. His family had no money and lived in a tent on the Umpqua River, foraging and living day-to-day. After their tent and everything they owned burned down, Canarelli’s family moved to various logging camps through Oregon and California. His father quit his job and unexpectedly left the family, leaving the 21-year old mother no choice but to put Canarelli and his three siblings in a Pentecostal orphanage.
Person
Kreisler, Leonard
Dr. Leonard Kreisler was born August 3, 1930 in Brooklyn, New York to post World War I European Jewish immigrants. Raised in the smaller community of White Plains, New York, he worked by his father’s side. Kreisler’s father was a cabinet maker and carpenter. Young Kreisler helped his Yiddish-speaking father write his contracts and guided him to increasing his prices.
Person