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From the Clark County Economic Opportunity Board Records -- Series I. Administrative. This folder contains reports, correspondence, and rosters of the Economic Opportunity Board of Clark County, Nevada from 1964 through 1970.

On February 17, 1980, Judith Chavez interviewed Thelma Coblentz (born 1911 in New Jersey) about her experiences in Southern Nevada. Coblentz first talks about her move to Lovelock, Nevada, where her husband provided medical care as one of the first physicians in the small town. She later talks about her move to Las Vegas and some of the services she helped to provide at Nellis Air Force Base. Coblentz later describes Downtown Las Vegas, specifically the development of the casinos and shopping businesses. She later talks about the rainstorms and dust storms that the city would experience before recalling some of the entertainers who would perform on the Las Vegas Strip. The interview concludes with a discussion on the first physicians in Las Vegas and the increasing population of the city.

Michael Signorelli, long-time Las Vegas resident and builder of many local homes, apartments and hotels, describes his upbringing, career, and stellar reputation as part of the “Building Las Vegas” oral history project. Raised in Rhode Island, the only child of an Italian-American father and a Southern Baptist mother, Michael’s early life was influenced by his father’s disability as a World War Two veteran and his non-English speaking paternal grandparents, who owned and ran a grocery store. Talking of his experiences in helping them run the grocery store he says, "I became a businessman at the age of twelve." His military service during the Vietnam War landed him at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas. Once here, Michael furthered his education at UNLV, obtaining both his MEd and PhD degrees. In Las Vegas Michael began his work in the housing arena working for Sun Home Builders and his non-profit work, helping to raise funds for the newly formed Rape Crisis Center. Signorelli went on to work for Howard Hughes's Summa Corporation, where he successfully fought against a discrimination lawsuit brought by twenty-one female dealers. In 1978 Michael started his own company, Nicro Corporation, and began building homes in the Las Vegas valley with land he acquired on a hand-shake and a verbal contract. He continued his non-profit work, which included coordinating Lady Bird Johnson’s Green Thumb project for Nevada and the Pacific Northwest. In the 1980s Signorelli was recruited by the Fitzgerald Group, where he was involved in non-gaming operations for their many hotels, cattle ranch, and an in vitro clinic. In this interview, Signorelli describes his non-Las Vegas building projects in Mesquite and Laughlin. He built the Mesquite Star hotel and casino by overcoming multiple hurdles around water access and money. Despite twice obtaining a loan for one hundred million dollars, he was never able to successfully complete the Laughlin hotel and casino, due to legal issues from his partner’s family trust. Signorelli also shares his idea for a unique hotel and casino called the Nev Star that involved his successful negotiation of a waiver to Senate Bill 208. Signorelli concludes his interview by talking about his ownership of the world-famous Golden Steer Steak House restaurant, which opened in 1958. Under Signorelli’s ownership the Golden Steer has been featured in national publications and claims many legendary fans such as NACAR driver Mario Andretti, who in 2016 celebrated his seventy-six birthday at the Golden Steer. Signorelli’s love of Las Vegas and its many positive traits come forth as he talks about his daughter and her achievements and suggests Vegas promoters should do a better job about what great schools, medical care, and government we have in Las Vegas.

As Sari and Paul Aizley recall their separate childhoods and journeys to Las Vegas, their work and volunteer histories, their efforts to build a better society, and their life together they speak to each other as much as they respond to questions about their observations on the growth of the Las Vegas urban environment and their contributions to Southern Nevada's cultural development and a just society. In this interview, Sari and Paul speak to the cross-town commute and the physical UNLV campus in the late 1960s; the growth of the UNLV Math Department; the evolution of UNLV's Continuing Education; the State's North-South funding rivalry as reflected in the built environments of University of Nevada in Las Vegas and in Reno; plans to build a paleontology research facility at Tule Springs National Monument; the Review-Journal's "Ask Jessie Emmet" Real Estate column; local ACLU offices and politics; Fair Housing; transgendered persons; the Nevada State Assembly, and Class! magazine for Clark County high school students. Sari and Paul smile at each other as they recall how the editor/publisher met the bearded math professor and fell in love—despite the fact that they tell slightly different versions of their initial meeting(s). Sari passed away November 1, 2017, three days shy of one year after she participated in this interview.

Keny Stewart often sits in his backyard and hears the train whistle. In that moment he thinks about what Las Vegas must have been like in the 1940s—a moment made more meaningful by living in historic John S. Park Neighborhood. He enjoys his place, a place he has called home for 20 years. He was there for the beginning of the neighborhood "renaissance". Keny moved from California to Las Vegas in 1984 to work as an entertainer. One day a few years later he accidentally drove through John S. Park neighborhood, admired the architecture of the homes and the nostalgic feeling. Soon he was a homeowner, restoring his investment, a labor of love. At the time he worked nights on the Strip and restored his house day. Along the way he made a career change to educator/librarian for grade school level. He is a former neighborhood association president. He remembers the neighborhood's battle to maintain its integrity as it went up against local casino developer Bob Stupak's (whose home i