Interview with Rabbi Shea Harlig by Barbara Tabach on March 5, 2014. In this interview, Rabbi Harlig discusses the Chabad movement of Orthodox Judaism and establishment of Chabad centers in Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. Rabbi Harlig talks about the property he has acquired for Chabad, and its outreach programs, including supervision of kosher kitchens in hotels. This interview was conducted for the Ward 1: West Charleston Neighborhoods oral history project, and therefore includes zoning and neighborhood discrimination issues, and a tour of the property.
Rabbi Shea Harlig arrived in Las Vegas in 1990 and settled in the Artesian Heights neighborhood of Las Vegas. As Director of Chabad of Southern Nevada, Rabbi Harlig focuses on religious outreach, education and social services, and has helped establish seven Chabad locations throughout the community and also built a school and educational program of the highest standards.
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In this oral history, the long married couple Henry and Anita Schuster recall the history of the 1930s and how they eventually met and created a life together. Their childhoods were distinctively different, but charter a future where they would inevitably meet. Born in Germany in 1926, Henry recalls the dawn of Hitler and the Nazism. His mother would arrange for his evacuation to France, where he would not know her fate or that of his two sisters for a number of years. Along with hundreds of other displaced children, he escaped to America and lived with relatives in Louisiana where he finished his schooling and joined the US Army. Anita on the other hand grew up with her family in New York. They share the story of meeting when she was 16, falling in love and marrying in 1948. They had four children and moved several times before settling in California. They retired to Las Vegas in 1993. Henry's recollections include childhood memories of the Holocaust and its affect on his family, including the loss of his mother and one of his sisters. Finding his surviving sister Bertel (Betty Kale) after the war is a heartwarming tale of survival. The Schusters are part of the approximately 300 members of the Holocaust Survivor Group that has settled in southern Nevada and Henry was President Emeritus of the group. He published his memoir, Abraham's Son-the Making of an American, in 2010.
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Janice and Robert Spurlock were married in 1990 and each has a lifetime of Las Vegas memories. They have made Sandy Valley home for nearly 32 years. Together the couple recalls the people and places of Las Vegas' past from their points of view during this oral history interview. For Janice the stories begin in the 1930s after her family moved to Las Vegas from California. She was a youngster of about five. Among the topics she talks about is walking to Fifth Street Grammar School, graduating from Vegas High School, and fun had during Helldorado Days. In 1953, Robert arrived. He was a young man headed from Arizona to Colorado seeking work as a welder. He stopped in Henderson, Nevada and never quite made it out of the area. For the next two decades he worked construction and helped build many local landmarks. He shares stories about the range wars and about being accidentally exposed to radiation from the Nevada Test site.
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William Dean Whitaker was born in 1925 and raised in a suburb of Los Angeles, California. Dean, as he is known, talks briefly about his parents and his brothers, for his youth quickly ended when he joined the Air Force and became an aviation cadet once he had turned 18 years old. The year was 1943 and World War II was raging. He became a member of the 398 th Bomb Group and flew twenty missions before being captured by the Germans. In this oral history, Dean talks with vivid recollection of the day he was captured and details of being a POW in Germany. Among his anecdotes are those of his mother's unwavering belief that he would return home, the humanity of a German soldier, and of meeting Gen. George Patton. Included are photos and excerpts from his personal history of his life during the war. Dean and his wife Lucille moved to Las Vegas in 1990.
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Oral history interview with Christina Gruber conducted by Barbara Tabach on March 2, 2019 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Gruber shares her experience living in Las Vegas, Nevada since 1997 and as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), mother of two, and physical fitness enthusiast. She recalls being shot during the Route 91 Harvest Festival and being rescued by strangers. She recalls the chaos of the evening, but also how strangers worked together to comfort each other amidst the terror. She discusses dedicated her athletic races to those who were murdered that evening, and how it has helped her recovery.
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From the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Theta Theta Omega Chapter Records (MS-01014) -- Chapter records file.
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Details of advertising campaign to promote the bond election
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