Oral history interview with Patricia Trent Morrissey and Michael Morrissey conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee White on June 19, 2025 for the Game On! An Oral History of Las Vegas Sports project. In this interview, Patricia recalls growing up in Las Vegas, attending the Bubble Swim School, and being a lifeguard in the summer. Her father, Bruce Trent, was the city’s first Superintendent of Parks and Recreation. Michael recalls his childhood, also growing up in Las Vegas and playing football at Bishop Gorman High School. He also shares his perspective, as Patricia’s husband, being heavily involved in football and growing close with her family. They frequently played golf together, enjoyed sporting events, and at one point they all sat down to learn more about Bruce’s life. Patricia and Michael describe the effort they put into getting a park named after her father, and how satisfying it was to have that ceremony. They were both also heavily involved with Opportunity Village in its early years, and describe the experience of watching Opportunity Village grow with the help of Christina Hixson into the multi-facility non-profit it is today. Digital audio and transcript available.
Archival Component
Oral history interview with Elena Newman conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on April 11, 2022 for the Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Newman discusses her childhood in Dagupan, Pangasinan, Philippines. At the age of eighteen, she moved to Singapore for better work opportunities to help support her family. After meeting her husband, the couple moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Since moving to Las Vegas, Newman has spent her time working as both a guest room attendant and shop steward at Mandalay Bay. She is also a part of the Culinary Workers Union, and she discusses how helpful the union is to the livelihoods of the many workers in the casino industry.
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From the Lincy Institute "Perspectives from the COVID-19 Pandemic" Oral History Project (MS-01178) -- Elected official interviews file.
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Oral history interviews with Vassili Sulich conducted by Gerald A. Villa on March 23 and May 4, 2002 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In these interviews, Sulich recalls his upbringing and his experiences as a child during World War II, his study of ballet, and the beginning of his professional life with several ballet companies in France. He then recounts his move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1964 to produce the Folies Bergere (Las Vegas) at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino, a position he held for nine years. In 1972 he began teaching ballet at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and formed the Nevada Ballet Theatre. He continues talking about his philosophy of dance, the changing perspective of male ballet dancers, and the process of working as the artictic director of a ballet company, and the extreme toll constant practice and performance have on the physical and emotional state of dancers. Finally, he discusses his resignation from the Nevada Dance Theatre and a ballet he choreographed in his mother's memory.
Archival Collection
Oral history presentation by George Kielak to an unidentified group recorded on February 1, 2007. In his talk, Kielak explains that he was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1929 and was nine years old when Germany occupied the country. He describes what it was like living under the German occupation forces and comments that of all the occupied countries during World War II, Poland suffered the most severe restrictions and punishments. He then outlines the progress of the war from 1939 to 1944, a period in which he joined the Polish resistance movement. He explains that after the resistance fighters rose up against the Germans in 1944 Russia would not help, leading to the collapse of the movement, his capture by the German forces, and his seven month internment in a POW camp. He describes immigrating to England at the end of the war because Poland became part of the Soviet Union. After serving in the British Army, he immigrated to the United States in 1950. At the end of the presentation he shows maps and photographs and answers questions from the audience.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Ruby Gordon conducted by Claytee D. White on October 29, 2004 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Gordon talks about her birth and early upbringing in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and Las Vegas, Nevada, where her parents moved when she was seven years old. She discusses her parent's decision to move for better opportunities and the kind of work they did, then speaks extensively about her education through high school, her early marriage, and raising six children. She also talks about the difficulties that mothers faced while trying to work and raise children, especially those with health issues. Later she talks about her involvement with the Elks fraternal organization and explains that there were different lodges for whites and Blacks, based primarily on location, the lodges regularly interacted and worked together on civic and charity programs. Finally, she expands on her own work history in early childhood education, working for the state, and for Child Haven.
Archival Collection
The collection is comprised of Dr. Charles L. Adams' committee, senate, and association meeting minutes, correspondence, and records from 1960 to 1988 collected while he worked in both the Department of English and the Graduate Studies division of Nevada Southern University (NSU) and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The collection documents the establishment of the graduate studies program at NSU before it was UNLV. The collection also includes early information about the Department of English including memoranda and course schedule planning.
Archival Collection
