The collection is comprised of architectural records (1947-2001) of American architect, Homer Rissman and the architectural firm, Rissman and Rissman Associates Ltd, a partnership of Homer Rissman and his brother Marshall. The collection includes 825 items from over 40 major projects and over 110 minor projects. The Rissmans' work represented in the collection focused on Las Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe, Nevada, Los Angeles, Southern California, and Arizona, with Homer's early career design work in Chicago, Illinois. The materials feature hand-drawn architectural drawings, ranging from pencil and ink on tracing paper preliminary sketches to ink on Mylar (TM) construction documents, and a number of artist’s renderings, used for presentations and promotional materials. The drawings also contain work from a number of consultants, engineers, and other architects who collaborated on the development of the various projects. The collection includes architectural drawings for: hotels, casinos, integrated casino resorts, office towers, multi-family residential developments, and custom single-family homes.
Archival Collection
Aerial view of Las Vegas Strip, 1952, from the Flamingo Hotel looking north. Downtown Las Vegas can be seen in the distance.
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Oral history interview with Thomas Barbarite conducted by Dennis Chamberland on March 03, 1981 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Barbarite discusses his time at the Four Queens Hotel and the Dunes Hotel as a dealer as well as his work as a pit boss at the Flamingo Hotel, the Aladdin Hotel, and Caesars Palace. Barbarite also discusses the involvement of the mob in Las Vegas, particularly the influence of Bugsy Siegel in the operation of various properties.
Archival Collection
