Search the Special Collections and Archives Portal
Search Results
Mara Braun oral history interview
Oral history interview with Mara Braun conducted by Barbara Tabach on September 09, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Braun discusses growing up in Puerto Rico, family life, and moving to Indiana in the 1960s. She describes summer visits to Mexico City, Mexico, meeting her husband there, and converting to Judaism. Braun talks about her experiences as a Puerto Rican Jewish convert living in Mexico City, and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1975. Later, Braun discusses how she got started in catering and opening her catering business, Le Royal Dreams. Lastly, Braun talks about her diverse clientele.
Archival Collection
Transcript of interview with Stella Butterfield by Joanne Goodwin, October 14 & October 25, 2005
Interviewed by Joanne L. Goodwin. Stella Butterfield's family, the Goldbergs, was Jewish, and she was born in the Bronx. During World War II she worked for the Coast Guard in the steno pool in Washington, D.C. Stella moved to Santa Monica a few years later while the war was still going on and worked briefly as a riveter for Douglas Aircraft and then as a teletype operator for the Air Force but at Douglas Aircraft. Because she had a hard time getting a job because of antisemitism, she changed her name to Gilbert. In December of 1948 she went to the Canal Zone in Panama to be the secretary of the commanding officer of the Panama Supply Depot. Stella was also a law reporter for court martials. She met Frank Butterfield, who was stationed there, and married him in 1952. He was transferred back to the United States, and they lived in Massachusetts. Then they moved to Los Angeles, and in 1953 they moved to Las Vegas, where she was a court reporter at Nellis Air Force Base. Then they moved to Mexico City, then back to California where she worked as a legal secretary. In early 1955 they moved back to Las Vegas, and Stella worked as a federal court reporter for Judge Roger T. Foley.
Text
David and Heidi Straus oral history interview
Oral history interview with David and Heidi Straus conducted by Barbara Tabach on November 06, 2015 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. The Straus family talks about growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Rancho Nevada Estates neighborhood, and changes in the city since the 1960s. David and Heidi talk about their parents and their careers as a lawyer and business owner, respectively.
Archival Collection
Posin, Madelyne, 1925-
Person
Karp, Elliot B.
Elliot B. Karp was born October 10, 1955 in Mineola, New York. Karp grew up in Long Island, New York. He received a bachelor's degree in political science from Stonybrook University and a master's degree from the Benjamin S. Hornstein Program in Jewish Communal Service at Brandeis University. Karp was Director of Financial Resource Development for over 15 years at the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, Ohio and Director of Leadership and Human Resource Development for six years at the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Person
Transcript of interview with Rabbi Mendy Harlig by Barbara Tabach, October 18, 2017
Known throughout the Las Vegas community as Rabbi Mendy, Mendy Harlig is a leader of the Chabad in Las Vegas, which was introduced to the valley in 1990 by his brother Rabbi Shea Harlig. Since his youth spent growing up in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, where he was surrounded by Hasidic Jews, Rabbi Mendy seemed destined to become a Chabad rabbi. During the early 1990s he often visited Las Vegas and assisted his brother at the Chabad of Southern Nevada. Then in 1997 he met and married Chaya Harlig and the couple permanently relocated to the valley to be the spiritual leaders of the Chabad of Green Valley. As their family grew, so did their importance to the Chabad movement in Las Vegas. During this interview, Rabbi Mendy touches upon the nature of Chabad teachings and observance in the so-called “Sin City” persona of Las Vegas. He also shares about his participation in the Las Vegas Metro Chaplaincy program. He particularly reflective of his active role immediately after of the horror of the October 1 mass casualty at the Route 91 country music festival and his perspectives afterwards.
Text