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Peg Crockett oral history interview
Oral history interview with Peg Crockett conducted by Claytee D. White on May 21, 2012 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Crockett begins by discussing her move to Las Vegas, Nevada as a child in 1937 with her family. Crockett then describes meeting her husband, George Crockett, the owner and operator of Alamo Field, known today as McCarran International Airport. Crockett chronicles earning her pilot's license at eighteen years old and operating the air field with her husband in the late 1940s. Crockett then recounts meeting Howard Hughes when he landed his plane at Alamo Field and his involvement both in Las Vegas and aviation. Lastly, Crockett talks about ongoing development and construction of new casinos in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Jose Luis Vinas oral history interview
Oral history interview with Jose Luis Vinas conducted by Nancy Hardy on May 27, 2003 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Vinas begins by describing his upbringing in Spain and his early interest in art. He discusses studying art and fashion design under his aunt, and later becoming a costume designer for stage shows in Paris, France. Vinas then describes moving to the United States to design costumes for the Casino de Paris and Vives Les Girls shows at the Dunes Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1960s and 1970s. Vinas talks about his experiences in show business and prominent people he has worked with, most notably Frederic Apcar, on productions over the years.
Archival Collection
Brittany Castrejon oral history interview
Oral history interview with Brittany Castrejon conducted by Claytee D. White and Barbara Tabach on November 9, 2017 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Brittany Castrejon details her experiences during the evening of the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. She describes the Route 91 Harvest Festival set-up and details the events of that night, which she experienced alongside her 14-year-old cousin and a few friends. Castrejon tells her story of trying to find safety from the chaos during the entire ordeal, eventually finding refuge for the remainder of the night at the Tropicana hotel. She ends the interview by discussing her adjustment to life after the shooting and her post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as what she has learned from the experience.
Archival Collection
Paris Oddo oral history interview
Oral history interview with Paris Oddo conducted by Claytee D. White on July 20, 2017 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Oddo discusses her early life in Detroit, Michigan. She recalls moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1984, becoming an electrician, and being a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (I.B.E.W) Local Union 357. Oddo talks about completing a five-year apprenticeship program offered by the Union, and her experience as a female electrician. She remembers her employment at the Nevada Test Site, working closely with radioactive materials, and being diagnosed with illnesses due to radioactive exposure while at the Nevada Test Site. Lastly, Oddo expresses her concerns over nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain.
Archival Collection
Audio clip from an interview with Treva Roles by Judy Harrell on February 12, 2014.
Sound
Transcript of an interview with Tom Kerestesi by Wendy Starkweather on October 3rd, 2013
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Audio clip of an interview with Tom Kerestesi by Wendy Starkweather on October 3rd, 2013
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Transcript of interview with Kathleen Harney by Claytee D. White, July, 19, 2010
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Sook-ja Kim, February 12, 1996 and April 6, 1996: transcript
The Kim Sisters, composed of three sisters, Sook-ja, Ai-ja, and Mia, came from Korea to Las Vegas in February 1959. Their first contract in America was to perform at the Thunderbird Hotel for four weeks as part of the China Doll Revue, the main showroom program. This engagement led to a successful career. Their popularity reached was at its height at the end of the 1960s when they performed throughout the United States and Europe. Sook-ja Kim is the oldest of the sisters. After his sister Ai-ja died in 1987, Sook-ja teamed up with her two brothers and continued to perform until 1989. Now semi-retired from show business, with occasional performances in Korea, she is working as a real estate agent. In this interview, she talked about her childhood, her career, and the family she has built since coming to America. Sook-ja was born in 1941 in Seoul, Korea as the third child of seven in a musical family. Her father was a conductor and her mother, a popular singer. After the Korean War, her mother arranged to send the Kim Sisters to America. When they came to Las Vegas, there were virtually no Koreans in the area. They depended on each other to take care of themselves. Some of the difficulties they had to adjust to in American were language, food, and cultural differences. Over the span of almost forty years in America, Sook-ja became acculturated without discarding her ethnic identity of family priorities. Her life-long guiding principle has been to adopt certain American values while continuing to keep her cherished Korean ethnic values. Through their performances, the Kim Sister informed the audience about Koreans and their culture. As the oldest of the group, Sook-ja was entrusted the care of her sisters, and later her brothers, the Kim brothers. Once she settled in Las Vegas, she brought more than forty members of her extended family to the city, contributing to the growth of the Las Vegas Korean community.
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"Impact of Stereotypes of Mexican Americans Created by Selected Films: 1920s-1960s" paper by Roosevelt Fitzgerald
From the Roosevelt Fitzgerald Professional Papers (MS-01082) -- Unpublished manuscripts file. Presented at the Social Science Conference of the National Social Science Association, Newport Beach, California.
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