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Melvin Green oral history interviews
Oral history interviews with Melvin Green conducted by Robin Fults on November 28 and December 1, 2014 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Green talks about growing up in Bonita, Louisiana and his education through college. He then talks about working for an architectural firm in Connecticut before being recruited to join a firm in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1986. He relates numerous stories about his childhood, discusses problems with discrimination and segregation in the South, and an example of discrimination from a Las Vegas furniture store in the late 1980s. He expands on his views of religion, spirituality, and politics, the importance of travel, of hard work, and commitment. He also gives examples of architectural projects that he has created.
Archival Collection
Lisa Song Sutton oral history interview
Oral history interview with Lisa Song Sutton conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Vanessa Concepcion, and Stefani Evans on November 19, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Lisa shares her personal history and childhood memories moving from Seoul, South Korea to Sierra Vista, Arizona at the age of five. She discusses her educational and professional pursuits in business litigation, bankruptcy law, entrepreneurship, modeling, and her time in the pageant circuit winning Miss Vegas and Miss Nevada in 2013. Lisa also talks about her activism and community engagement efforts to empower women within Las Vegas. She concludes her interview with insight into her Korean heritage, traditional celebrations, and religion.
Archival Collection
Stewart, Omer Call, 1908-1991
Omer C. Stewart (1908-1991) was Professor Emeritus of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado and a renowned scholar of indigenous religions, particularly peyotism. He was also an outspoken advocate for the indigenous nations of the United States. Omer C. Stewart and Martha C. Knack wrote a book together in 1984 titled As Long as the River Shall Run: An Ethnohistory of Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation.
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Transcript of interview with Suzie Chenin by Barbara Tabach, September 29, 2015
In this interview, Suzie discusses growing up in Las Vegas, with a strong community of friends, particularly within Temple Beth Sholom. She also talks about her real estate career, both in residential and commercial properties, highlighting some of the successes and challenges. She describes her working relationship with Milton Schwartz, as well her time working with the Greenspuns while selling advertising at the Las Vegas Sun.
Suzie Chenin was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in August of 1949. The next year, her parents, Joseph and Irene Chenin, moved the family to Las Vegas. Her father, a dentist, was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, becoming the first Jewish dentist in the state ? and only the thirtieth overall. After graduating from Las Vegas High School, Suzie attended Arizona State University. However, she quit school and moved to Los Angeles where she got a job with a large real estate developer. This was her first foray into the industry. A few years later, back in Las Vegas, Suzie got her real estate license, eventually starting her own brokerage firm, Chenin and Associates.
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Transcript of interview with Mike and Sallie Gordon by Adriane Massa, March 2, 1977
Mike Gordon speaks about their liquor stores and lists his occupation as a bartender. Among the civic organizations that he participated in were: Young Democrats, Eagles Lodge, Lions Club, past president of Temple Beth Sholom and B'nai B'rith Lodge. Together Mike and Sallie recall the growth and changes of the valley they have witnessed between the early 1930s and mid-1970s. Among his anecdotes is one about the carrying of payroll checks to Boulder Dam to avoid "interference" (robberies).
Mike and Sallie were among the very first people of Jewish ancestry to make their way to Las Vegas. They arrived January 26, 1932 to join relatives of Sallie?s who had moved to Las Vegas when the Boulder Dam construction began. They had married in 1930 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Soon they were involved members of a small but growing group of Jewish pioneers and helped found Temple Beth Sholom, the community?s first synagogue. Mike speaks about their liquor stores and lists his occupation as a bartender. Among the civic organizations that he participated in were: Young Democrats, Eagles Lodge, Lions Club, past president of Temple Beth Sholom and B?nai B?rith Lodge. Together Mike and Sallie recall the growth and changes of the valley they have witnessed between the early 1930s and mid-1970s. Among his anecdotes is one about the carrying of payroll checks to Boulder Dam to avoid ?interference? (robberies).
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Transcript of interview with Laura & Don Garvin by Michael Martocci, March 3, 1979
On March 3, 1979, Michael Martocci interviewed Laura (born in California) and Don Garvin (born in Goldfield, Nevada) about their lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. The two provide details on their family background, the first sources of water in Las Vegas, and the early city limits. They also describe their early occupations, religion, gambling, the Mormon Fort, and the effects of the Great Depression. The interview concludes with a brief discussion on the development of the Las Vegas Strip and recreational activities.
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Photograph of Midbar Kodesh Social Hall, Henderson (Nev.), November 10, 2016
Housed in the first building constructed at Midbar Kodesh Temple, the Social Hall provides space for gatherings. The Social hall was dedicated to the Feldman Family.
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Transcript of interview with Laura Sussman and Wendy Kraft by Barbara Tabach, February 17, 2016
They've been referred to as the two Jewish mothers who own a funeral home. At first glance that seems too simple a description. However, it is how they arrived at this description that tells a story of two women who moved here in the late 1990s and whose paths crossed as they became part of the Jewish community of Las Vegas. Laura Sussman arrived first. It was 1997. The Jewish Community Center, a JCC without walls as Laura puts it, hired her as its first executive director. She was from Ohio where there was a robust Jewish tradition. She was director for eight years; then executive director at Temple Beth Sholom. Wendy Kraft moved to the valley in 1999. She was a stay at home mom from Boston, who was accustom to volunteering in the Jewish community. Knowing no one and on the brink of divorce, the Jewish community became her life, a way to build a network of friends and keep her occupied just as it had been in Boston. The two women met through their work with the JCC and love followed. Several years later, in 2009, so did their new business, Kraft-Sussman Funeral and Cremation services. By February 6, 2015, Laura and Wendy had married. They had already formed a family with each other and their three daughters, Leah Sussman, Emma and Elyse Kraft. In this interview they discuss their joint sense of purpose that includes love of family, dedication to the Jewish community, pride in the LGBT identity, and providing caring services to those at the time of funeral services. They talk also of Jewish traditions related to death, the Jewish burial society known as Chevra Kadisha, and challenges of their industry. They share feelings about nonprofits and how they value being actively involved in the community.
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Felipé Goodan interview, April 1, 2019: transcript
Interviewed by Monserrath Hernández. Rabbi at Temple Beth Sholom since 1998, Felipe Goodman is a native of Mexico City. He identifies as a Mexican Jewish American, and shares the complexities of these.
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