Joyce Moore's family moved to Las Vegas from Chicago in 1953, when she was eight years old. She attended Rancho High School, married and had three daughters, and currently lives in Las Vegas. Joyce's father was in the gaming industry and her mother was a nurse. Growing up in Las Vegas meant going to shows with her mother, spending summer days in the pool at the Showboat Hotel, and riding horses to the Last Frontier. While a teenager at Rancho High school, Joyce worked at several movie theaters including the Huntridge, went to school dances and marched in the Hellodorado Parade. After her divorce, Joyce returned to work to support herself and her children, first at the Daily Fax then later on the Strip at the Aladdin and Circus, Circus doing a variety of office and accounting jobs. As a lark she and a friend applied to work as cocktail waitresses at the MGM; she was hired and spent the next five years in a job that was by turns interesting, exhausting, frustrating and fun. This interview covers several periods of Joyce's life - her childhood, teen years, and early adult life - and what it was like to grow up, live and work in Las Vegas in from the mid-1950s until the mid-1970s.
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Interviewed by Irene Rostine. Janet Savalli's family moved from Phoenix, Arizona, to Henderson, Nevada, in 1945 so her father could work at the Basic Magnesium plant. A few years later, when she was a junior in high school, Janet began her 46-plus years career at the Southern Nevada Telephone Company, which eventually became Sprint. During that period she held several positions, including operator, supervisor, schedule clerk, trainer, investigator, and community relations coordinator. Janet also talks about the atomic bomb testing at Camp Mercury and Camp Desert Rock near Las Vegas. Janet credits the atomic bomb testing with jump-starting the second wave of growth Las Vegas experienced following World War II. This growth had a particular influence on the telecommunications industry's need to expand in Las Vegas.
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Interviewed by Claytee White. Dr. Liu is the City Manager for the City of North Las Vegas. Discusses housing, diversifying the economy, Apex, Faraday and negotiations to secure that business for North LV.
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For the first 19 years of her life, Mary Martell Shaw called Central America home. Then thanks to misrouted luggage, she met the love of her life Rollin H. Shaw, a civil engineer, at a time in when his atomic energy career was taking off. In October 1943, they married in Costa Rica and for the next two decades traversed the country: Hawaii to California to Panama—wherever a project required Ronnie's engineering skills. Mary supported her husband every step of the way, with every new location. As a traditional homemaker of the era, she became adept at raising their four kids while packing boxes, enrolling them in school and setting up a warm home wherever they landed. The move to Las Vegas in September 1964, however, left her a bit challenged: there was a shortage of adequate housing, a concern for where to send her two daughters and two sons to school, and the feeling that they wouldn't be here long. Years later, Mary and Ronnie would retire to the city where their roots ran deepest, Las Vegas. With great wit, Mary recalls the long absences demanded by Ronnie's work with the Atomic Energy Commission. She also tells stories of the great fun they and their fellow Nevada Test Site employees had at parties, of her learning to paint with watercolors, and the pride she has of all her children's successes based on their education in Las Vegas.
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Ron Current's heart was always in the right place, with respect to social activism and his dedication to empowering the black community in Las Vegas. Inspired by Black Panther Party founders, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, Ron started the Black Panther Party Las Vegas Chapter. He was also the director of public relations for the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression; an organization created to work in tandem with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP, to eliminate racial inequality. Ron describes the overall atmosphere of the Westside community in Las Vegas during the early days, as chaotic, drug infested, and riddled with daily gang related shootings. He also recalls the historic preservation attempts made by leading members of the Westside community, such as Sarann Knight Preddy. Ron recalls working at the University Medical Center while recruiting for the Black Panther Party Las Vegas Chapter. This interview demonstrates the power of love. As the founder and leader of the Black Panther Party Las Vegas Chapter, Ron was named one of the most influential blacks in Las Vegas by the Sentinel Voice. He recalls utilizing his hands-on leadership approach towards capacity building and the successful implementation of community mobilization strategies and methods. He was a champion for educational equity, equal access to employment opportunities, and economic equality in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Margaret McGhie was a Depression era child who grew up in western Nevada, where her grandparents were ranchers. Her mother, a native Nevadan, married an Italian immigrant, and she recalls moving a lot. Margaret attended a business college in Reno and eventually moved to Las Vegas, where she worked for Basic Magnesium (BMI) in Gabbs, NV and then later for a remanufacturing company where she verified rocket measurements. Only 16,000 people resided in Las Vegas in post World War II days when she moved there for work as her husband returned from military service. At the time lots for homes were selling in the new development of John S. Park. Using the GI bill the young couple became one of the first home owners on the street. The land had formerly been a ranch and orchard making it a beautiful spot. Due to post-war building material shortages it took nearly two years to finish the house construction. To this day Margaret lives in the home where she and husband raised four children. She recalls the neighborhood fondly and describes some of the activities that kept them busy, where they shopped, and how her children attended John S. Park Elementary School and then the local parochial schools. She describes how the town changed from a 10-minute cross-town drive and how the fact of living close to the Strip had little impact on their life. People moved from the neighborhood as the city grew, she says, moving to newer and nicer homes in Spanish Oaks and then Summerlin. The John S. Park neighborhood has changed from a formerly large Mormon demographic to a notable increase of Latino population. She sees the historic designation as a signal of pride in ownership for residents.
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On February 21, 1979, Dan Buress interviewed Bernice Johnson (born September 13, 1919 in Los Angeles, California) in her home in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two discuss Mrs. Johnson’s personal history and her reasons for moving to Las Vegas. Johnson describes moving between Southern California and Las Vegas while her husband worked for the railroad company. The interview concludes with Johnson recalling her memories of the Von Tobel family and the rapid population growth in Las Vegas after the construction of the Nevada Test Site.
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On March 12, 1977, Lance Kenny interviewed realtor, Doris Evans (born in Dexter, Missouri) at her place of business, Doris Evans Realty, located at 1100 Cahlan Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada. This interview covers Boulder City and Las Vegas [1937-1977]. During the interview Doris discusses real estate, local hotels, early transportation, and social recreation. She also mentions the nuclear tests, crime, environmental changes, and marriage and family life in Boulder City and Las Vegas. Doris’s business partner, Patty (Renette Beringer), is also present during the interview and helps Doris recall the year they started Doris Evans Realty in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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On March 20, 1976 Caroline Logsdon interviewed Pauline Barlow (unknown date or place of birth) about her life in Southern Nevada. Barlow first talks about her move to Las Vegas at a young age, her church membership, and her membership in social clubs. She also talks about gambling, the atomic testing, and the changes she has seen over time in Las Vegas. On April 7, 1976, Logsdon also interviewed Katie Ford (born 1929 in Ely Nevada) about her life in Southern Nevada. Ford talks about her early life and education in Nevada in Beatty, Nevada, her work with her family-owned gas station and hotel, and some of the early buildings in Beatty. She also discusses early recreational activities, the atomic testing, economic and environmental changes, improvement in technology, and social changes.
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Interviewed by Dennis McBride; work with National Park Service including time at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area
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