Mark Fine was born February 10, 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio, and was raised with a strong Jewish identity. When Fine was in fourth grade, his parents moved the family to Shaker Heights, and again moved to Arizona during his senior of high school. Upon graduation, Fine enrolled at the University of Arizona and became a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. He graduated in 1964 with a degree in business administration with an emphasis in real estate.
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Don Cunningham, Jazz musician and Las Vegas resident was born in 1931 in St. Louis, Missouri. As a child he was heavily influenced by blues and jazz musicians such as BB King, Count Basie, and Ella Fitzgerald. Growing up in St. Louis Cunningham worked shining shoes and cleaning steps going to white neighborhoods working inside taverns. He received saxophone lessons from a family friend and joined the band attending a segregated high school.
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Tony F. Sanchez III was born in the Las Vegas’ Women’s Hospital. It was 1966 and the plot of land the hospital sat on near Eastern and Sahara streets was considered rural. It was on the desert of the east Las Vegas that young Tony would grow up, graduate from Valley High School, and then graduate from University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
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The Gertrude and Roosevelt Toston Photograph Collection is comprised of digital surrogates of photographic prints, slides, and ephemera documenting Gertrude and Roosevelt Toston's lives in Las Vegas, Nevada from 1958 to 2002. The collection mainly documents Roosevelt Toston's career as a newscaster for KLAS-TV and Gertrude Toston's involvement with the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Other images in this collection include photographs of Roosevelt Toston's childhood home in Epps, Louisiana and photographs of Gertrude Toston with her stepfather, Reverend Leo A. Johnson.
Archival Collection
The Billie Milton Grace Photograph Collection, approximately 1948 to 1960, consists of twenty black-and-white photographic prints and negatives depicting images of downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, the annual Helldorado Parade, the Marion Hicks family, local labor union dinners, Thunderbird Hotel employees, and various hotels and casinos.
Archival Collection
The Paul J. Richert Photograph Collection (approximately 1950-1951) consists of black-and-white photographic prints and negatives depicting the swimming pools at the Desert Inn and Flamingo Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Also included is an image of the Las Vegas High School Rhythmettes dance group and an image of the El Rancho Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Mayra Salinas-Menjivar’s tenacious spirit has given her confidence from a very young age. She was six years old when she boarded was on a plane from El Salvador to Los Angeles. Her companion was a woman she did not know and was not related to. All Mayra knew was that this woman would be the friend who would reunite her with her mother. This one life episode is part of the framework of attorney Salinas-Menjivar and her ability to explain the difference between child trafficking and a companion.
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At the time of this oral history, Meyer Lansky II had found a sentimental attachment to his namesake, Meyer Lansky, his grandfather. Though it was considered against Eastern European Jewish tradition, Meyer II’s parents had named him after the grandfather.
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In pop culture, Emmanuel Ortega is recognized as Babelito from Latinos Who Lunch, a podcast that he co-hosts with Justin Favela AKA FavyFav. Academically, he is known as Dr. Ortega, PhD, Marilynn Thomas Scholar in Art of the Spanish Americas at University of Illinois Chicago.
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Shirley Edmond and Althia Taylor grew up on Jackson Avenue where their parents owned Johnson's Malt Shop. Both women worked in the postal service until their retirements; Shirley worked for 36 years and Althia for 32 years. Shirley went into management but Althia loved mail delivery even after 14 dog bites. Mackie Edmond worked for the Stardust and interacted with MOB figures like Frank Rosenthal. He explains why people thought that era was better than corporate ownership.
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