Search the Special Collections and Archives Portal
Search Results
Siegfried Haderly oral history interview
Oral history interview with Siegfried Haderly conducted by Stefani Evans on October 30, 2024 for Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Haderly recalls his childhood in Manila, Philippines until his parents separated, his mother's move to the United States, and Haderly's move to join her in Las Vegas, Nevada after graduating high school. He describes working first as a dishwasher, and then as a busboy for various hotel/casinos including the Sahara, Desert Inn, and Sands. He then was hired as a bartender and joined the Bartenders Union Local 165 and has been a union member ever since. He shares his experience serving two years in the United States Army during the Vietnam War, and then moving to St. Paul, Minnesota and starting a family. Haderly describes his eventual return to Las Vegas in the 1990s, retiring, and his year-long trips back to the Philippines, and working part-time for family members. At the time of his 2024 interview, Siegfried Haderly was employed as a canvasser for Culinary Workers Union Local 226.
Archival Collection
Geoconda Argüello-Kline oral history interview
Oral history interview with Geoconda Argüello-Kline conducted by Barbara Tabach on February 12, 2021 for The Great Pause: Las Vegas Chronicles of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Geoconda discusses her personal background and how she came to be in Las Vegas. As the Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, she talks about how the union has handled challenging times during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subjects discussed include: Nevada Senate Bill 4, also known as the “Adolfo Fernandez Bill”; communication with membership; long term layoffs; food distribution to families.
Archival Collection
Francisco Rufino Parra interview, December 6, 2018: transcript
Interviewed by Barbara Tabach. Born in Mexico, Francisco was a child when his father received permission to immigrate to the US with his younger children. Upon graduating from high school in California, he moved to Las Vegas where one of his sisters lived. It was 1994 and jobs were plentiful; he would find his way through several positions. Then in early 2000 he was hired to be a dishwasher, on the graveyard, at the recently opened Paris Hotel. It was a Culinary Union job; by 2002 he was a shop steward and finding better positions at Paris. He continues to work at the Paris Hotel as a fry cook. In 2008, he was a citizen and proudly voted in his first presidential election.
Text
Transcript of interview with Burton Cohen by Claytee White, January 9, 2009
In this interview, Burton Cohen discusses his involvement in the Las Vegas casino industry, including booking entertainment for various hotels.
Burton Cohen's long casino executive career began in the mid-1960s when he accepted a proposition to become involved with the transformation of the Frontier Hotel. He left his south Florida roots and law practice to become a co-owner/general manager of the Frontier Hotel. Thus, began his highly regarded Las Vegas presence. For nearly four decades he served in the management of some of the Strip's most famous casinos: Flamingo, Dunes, Circus Circus, Caesar Palace, Thunderbird and the Desert Inn, which remains his favorite. In this interview, Burt reflects on the positions he held, the celebrities he hired and befriended, and offers a unique look at the behind the scenes marketing and entertainment strategies that he helmed. He shares stories of becoming entrenched in casino operations, his reflections of union experiences, and even anecdotes about moving his mother to Las Vegas.
Text