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Oral history interview with Junell Bowman conducted by Anna Huddleston on March 09, 2014 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Bowman begins by describing her early history as a singer in California, performing on the radio, different orchestras, and nightclubs before marrying her husband and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1958. Bowman discusses becoming a sketch artist after managing an unsuccessful business, doing portraits and caricatures of people in the casinos, at conventions, and on the Las Vegas Strip. She talks about the celebrities and entertainers she met and did caricatures for while working at casinos like the Stardust and Riviera, and the amount of work that went into being a professional sketch artist.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Danit Farwell conducted by Barbara Tabach on March 27, 2018 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview, Farwell discusses her early life in Morocco, antisemitism she experienced there, and being sent to Israel as a young girl. She recalls the hardships she faced while traveling to Israel, living in a kibbutz, and completing a teaching seminar to become a grade school teacher. Farwell talks about arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1974, her first impression of the city, and her decision to stay. Farwell describes becoming a member of Temple Beth Sholom, being a teacher there, and going to card dealing school. Lastly, Farwell talks about being a part-time card dealer at different casinos on the Strip.
Archival Collection
Series VII. Entertainers
Sands Hotel and Casino
Mixed Content
Series XXII. Social Functions
Sands Hotel and Casino
Mixed Content
Oral history interview with Muriel Parks conducted by Judy Drappo on February 26, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Parks discusses her personal history and the history of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Parks discusses her career working at UNLV as the Director of Admissions and Records, and how the university has changed over time. Parks also discusses the career of Maude Frazier and their personal relationship.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with LaVerne Ligon, B. J. Thomas, and Leonard Polk conducted by Claytee D. White on July 09, 2012 and July 18, 2012 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Ligon, Thomas, and Polk discuss their personal early dancing careers, their varied experiences in Las Vegas, Nevada during segregation, and working for
Archival Collection
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Lori provides a wonderful narrative of her Judaism, her love of teaching children and her devotion to family and music. She talks about growing up in Las Vegas and becoming a bat mitzvah, a rarity for girls in 1973. Throughout her life, including the period where she moved around with her Air Force husband, she sought Jewish connections to help her feel at home no matter where she was.
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In 1943, Cleophis Hill Williams was a teenager visiting her mother who had moved to Las Vegas. For most of her young life she had lived with her parents in Muskogee, Oklahoma and Paul Spur/Douglas, Arizona. The same year that she visited Las Vegas, she met her future husband Tom Williams, with whom she had nine children, all born and raised on the Westside. Tom worked construction and built their first home on G Street. For Cleophis, she focused her life on raising her children and, whenever possible, finding some precious time to read.
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