AN INTERVIEW WITH ADELE BARATZ
An Oral History Conducted by Claytee D. White
March 19, 2007
The Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project
Oral History Research Center at UNLV University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas
i ©Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project
University of Nevada Las Vegas, 2014
Produced by: The Oral History Research Center at UNLV - University Libraries Director: Claytee D. White Project Manager: Barbara Tabach Transcriber: Kristin Hicks Interviewers: Barbara Tabach, Claytee D. White Editors and Project Assistants: Maggie Lopes, Stefani Evans
ii The recorded Interview and transcript have been made possible through the generosity of a
Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grant. The Oral History Research Center enables students and staff to work together with community members to generate this selection of first- person narratives. The participants in this project thank University of Nevada Las Vegas for the support given that allowed an idea the opportunity to flourish.
The transcript received minimal editing that includes the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader's understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. In several cases photographic sources accompany the individual interviews with permission of the narrator.
The following interview is part of a series of interviews transcribed under the auspices of the Southern Nevada Jewish Community Digital Heritage Project.
Claytee D. White Director, Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas
iii This is Claytee White and I'm with Adele Baratz. It is March 19th, 2007, and I'm in her home here in Las Vegas.
So how are you today?
Fine, thank you.
Wonderful. A few minutes ago you were saying something about this nice warm weather that we're having. This is not your cup of tea?
Well, it used to be in my youth. But now that I've gotten older, it's a little bit harder for me to take. But when I was growing up here in Las Vegas, it didn't bother me. We didn't even have air-conditioning then.
So when did you move here?
Nineteen twenty-eight.
So may I ask how old you were in 1928 when you moved here?
About two.
Wow. So you have spent all of your life in Las Vegas.
Practically all of it in Las Vegas.
Tell me where the family came from originally.
Well, originally my parents were both born in Russia, but they came to this country. My mother came when she was about fourteen by herself with a cousin who was fourteen.
Oh, my. Oh, my.
Because her father at the time worked for the czar and it was very hard for the Jewish people.
Even then it was hard. He was afraid because my mother was somewhat of a socialist. So he thought it would be best if she got out of the country. And she had a couple of brothers that were already living in United States.
1 A socialist at fourteen?
Yeah. My mother was something else.
Well, tell me what is wrong with our school system because our fourteen-year-olds don't read the newspaper. They don't even know we're at war. What happened?
I don't know. I don't know. But I do believe that people who have been oppressed to somewhat are more apt to look at things and look at other things than people that have had it too good. I'll tell you something. With the generation today I blame my generation because we didn't have it good when we were young. There was the Depression. I can remember in Las Vegas what I went through when we were young. And so we wanted our children to have it better and this is where the problem has come in.
But you think you overly compensated.
That's right. That's right.
So tell me about growing up in Las Vegas.
Well, I came here when I was two. As I said, we did not have any—we didn't even have swamp coolers then. Of course, my folks were quite poor when we came here. They came here when they decided to build the Hoover Dam. Now, my father didn't work on the dam. My father was from New Jersey; my mother was from New York. My father got mad at his family. My father ran away from home and joined the army when he was about fifteen or sixteen. Before that he sold newspaper on the trains. Then he went on the Mexican border with General Pershing to fight Pancho Villa. And then when First World War started, he went with General Pershing with the first expedition force and then he stayed after the war. He was in General Pershing's armor guard after the war. And he was out West. He liked it out here, plus the fact that he was a young kid and they were all young. They didn't have much to do down on the Mexican border. So they
2 used to go to fortune tellers and a fortune teller told my father one day that he would make a lot
of money in raw land.
So when they came to Las Vegas—because they had originally moved to Huntington
Beach, California, but things didn't go well there. So they came here. My father worked for a—
well, he was going to real estate, but in those days real estate was very hard because you'd make
a deal one day and the next day someone would come along with another deal and so they would
forget about this deal. You know what I mean? They wouldn't hold true to their word, so to
speak. So he went to work for somebody who ostensibly sold grocery supplies, but it was really
bootlegger supplies because this was during Prohibition. My mother cooked and sewed for
people because before my mother got married she was a blouse designer.
In New York?
In New York, yeah.
So, okay. Do you know which factory she worked in?
No, I have no idea. But I can tell you this. She was a socialist to the core because she was busy
when they formed the Garment Workers Union. She was busy. She was busy with you Eugene
V. Debs when he ran for president. So once again, her family shipped her off to Canada where
she had a sister that lived just till things...so she was there for about a year and then she came
back and eventually she met my father.
So do you have the story of your parents written someplace?
Several people have asked me the story of my parents and I've told several people the story of
my parents. There's a book coming out. It's being edited by Dr. Green from—
Yes.
Now, a million people have told him to interview me, but he won't interview me because I think
3 the only thing he wants is to interview people that have something to do with gambling. I really do. Because I noticed that—I know a lot of people have said, "Why don't you interview Adele
Baratz?" But I've never heard from him. They've given him my phone number and everything.
He's never interviewed me. But he's editing this book. Because yesterday I was at a program and they had two authors. One, his last name was Jaffe and he talked about the mob that had to do with waste materials and stuff like that and what's happening in the leaching out into the earth. And the other one was—what's his name? He wrote that Sun Sin...
Oh, yes, Sun, Sin & Suburbia. I don't know his name, but I see it in the newspaper all the time.
Yeah, I have his book. In fact, when I was there I bought his book.
I have the book, too.
I went up to him and I asked him to autograph it and I told him how long I lived here. And he says, "Well, how come I didn't interview you?" I said, "I don't know." But this Dr. Green he told me is editing the book. The man that wrote it is from Reno and it's the histories of the Jews of Las Vegas is the book. Now, I don't know when it's coming out. He had told me in the spring. But I think he broke his ankle someplace along the way and he was kind of laid up for a while. So anyhow, but I'm in that book.
So how did your parents meet?
My father was living in New Jersey and my mother had heard this—I don't know whether she was a distant relative or a friend of a friend who had gone to Russia to see her family. I don't know if this was after the war or before. I don't remember. It must have been after the war. So they went looking for her because she lived in Paterson, New Jersey. So they said they don't know where she is, but around the corner—and my grandmother's named Zippy—lives Zippy;
4 you can go ask her because she knows. Well, my mother went there I guess with a friend. My
grandmother had four sons. Three or four; I can't remember. I think it was three sons. Anyhow,
so my mother went over there and here all these boys come along. And that's how they met.
So what is your mother's name?
My mother's maiden name was Leeboff, Rebecca Leeboff was her name.
Okay, Rebecca?
Rebecca. And my father's name was—though everybody called him Al, Al Salton,
S-A-L-T-O-N. So that's how they met.
So now, how is your story going to get into that book that you were just talking about?
Well, he was interviewing more about what the Jewish community and stuff like that when they
came to Las Vegas and things. I was interviewed once before about the temple. Somebody wrote
an article for one of these slick magazines and I don't know which one it was. It was about
Temple Beth Sholom and they interviewed me for that, too. So I know. And then somebody
asked me some questions the other day about the temple and I said, "Well, if you would have
asked me ten years ago, I would have remembered more."
So was the Jewish community really big as you were growing up as a little girl?
No. Oh, no. The Jewish community was exceptionally small here. My mother cooked for the
few Jewish men that were here that didn't have a family. So she used to cook dinner for them.
That's how they were making money because we didn't have anything then.
People always ask me about anti-Semitism in Las Vegas and I really didn't feel any of
that except one time. I went to a birthday party of a friend of mine that lived across the street and
they all started talking about religion. This one didn't like this one. This one didn't like that one.
So then they said, "Well, what's left?" And somebody said, "Well, Jewish." And this one girl
5 said, "Oh, I would never want to be that." Well, I burst into tears. But that was the only time
that I really felt anything like that. But I had a pretty—except for the fact that we didn't have
anything—I had a pretty normal childhood. But most everybody didn't have anything.
That's what I was about to ask you. Was that different? Was your family any difference
than most of your friends?
No, not really.
Your parents' friends?
No, not really.
So tell me what kind of work your father did when he first came to Las Vegas.
Well, he worked for the man that sold the bootlegger supplies, grocery store. [Laughing] And
then after that—well, what he did—I'll tell you a little story—what he did was he saw all the
vacant land, because I told you the story, and he said he's got to have this. The guy that he
worked for and this attorney that he knew, the three of them went together and they bought land.
Some of the land that they bought is where the MGM stands now and stuff like that, out on the
L.A. Highway. Of course, we sold it before all this big boom started. That's what he did. What
happened was the gentleman who he worked for paid his portion and my father worked it out.
And they really didn't have that much.
Wow, what an arrangement. That was great.
Yeah, yeah. In fact, the gentleman that my father worked for, he told my brother one time, he
said, "If it wasn't for your father, I would never be able to live the way I'm living now." Because
I guess my father had the foresight to see what was—no, the fortune teller did—to see what was
happening.
We didn't have a car when we came here. My father eventually went into business. He
6 owned a bar on First Street, which was across the alley from where the Review-Journal used to be on First Street. So my father wanted a car. He didn't have the money for a down payment.
This was a Plymouth. So he gave this guy twenty-five acres of land for the down payment and this was on what is now Tropicana. You know how the airplanes come in and fly over that area there? Well, it was in that general vicinity, this property. The guy later sold it, I think, for twenty-five thousand dollars.
[Laughing] Wow. Now, was your mom a stay-at-home mother?
Yes, except she cooked and sewed, but she did all of that at home. Then, of course, after my father went in the bar and started to make more money, then she didn't work. My father had slot machines and she loved to go play them. He had the bar before the Second World War broke out because he had that bar...in the thirties I think he started with that bar, someplace in the thirties. I can't remember. And my mother used to love to go play the slot machines.
Oh, that's funny.
She loved them.
Now, do you remember any of those—you were only two in '28. Do you remember the
Depression years, I guess about the middle of the Depression? Do you remember some of those years?
Not too much. I remember my mother used to make all my clothes for me. As far as not having too much, I don't remember that because we were all pretty much in the same boat, most of the people. Now, some of the people that were in my class were not because the Cashmans were in my class. Winger! was in my class. You know what I mean?
Yes, yes.
People like that. In fact, Brinley, who was the principal, his daughter was in my class. And I
7 had friendship with all these people. But I don't remember that much because so many of the
people were in the same boat. But my mother used to make all my clothes for me; that I
remember.
Which school were you attending?
Las Vegas. What other school? [Laughing] I'll tell you I attended grammar school. Now, there
was a big fire.
Tell me about that.
The school burned down. School was out already; we were home. But everybody was worried.
Well, what happened was I was in—I must have been in about the third or fourth grade because
the kids that were in the sixth grade on to the—I think it was sixth, seventh and eighth, they had
to go to school in tents. And it was so hot in the tents—they didn't have air-conditioning—they
used to let them bring water, jars of water and they'd put it under their seats for water. But I was
lucky. I didn't have to do that because our class was one of the first classes that went into the new
building, which is now a county building over there on Las Vegas Boulevard. It's the Fifth Street
School is what it was called.
Okay, yes.
Yeah, the Fifth Street School. And then, of course, high school was Las Vegas High School.
Now, they did have a small school on the west side and then, of course, later Rancho High
School was built. But I went to Las Vegas High School.
Tell me about the recreation that you remember as a young girl, as a teenager.
Well, all the recreation more or less really centered around the school because what else was
there? There really wasn't a lot to do. But you'd go to the movies and school and then you had
your friends and you'd get together with your friends and that happened even in the summertime.
8 Although the last two years of high school I worked out at what is now Nellis. I worked there during the summer.
So how did you get back and forth to work?
I can't remember. Unless maybe my father drove me. I can't remember. But I remember my job there. The first year I worked the summertime at the base I was a messenger and I drove a little scooter all around the base. In fact, I even would go out on the flight lines and they'd yell at me to get back. But I could go almost anyplace. And the second year I worked in the rationing department where the soldiers would come in and they'd have ration coupons and they'd turn them in or we'd turn them in and I'd tell them, "Did you fill your gas tank?" No. I said, "Go fill your gas tank. Don't give me these until you fill your gas tank." And stuff like that. They even asked me, the colonel or whoever he was asked me—because I was going to go away to school and he asked me not to go away to school but to stay and work and I said no. In fact, his wife got so mad at him.
Oh, for asking you?
Yeah. She said, "I told him not to ask you."
Where did you go to school?
Oh, I'm a nurse. I went to school in Baltimore.
Oh, really? Where in Baltimore? Tell me about that.
I went to school—well, in those days nursing schools, most of them were in hospitals. And I went to a nursing school at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore.
What was that like leaving Las Vegas and leaving your family to go all the way to
Baltimore?
Well, it didn't bother me too much because I had family in Baltimore. The only thing is, is my
9 first year I did get quite homesick. My father came back to visit his family who he hadn't seen since they moved West. So he came back to visit the family and then he came to Baltimore to see me. And then I think we went to New York. I'll never forget this. He couldn't find a room and here I'm with him and he's going places looking for a room and here I am. And he said,
"Don't come in." [Laughing] But then it was to get me a ticket home. And so my father's bar was well known.
What was the name of it?
Al's Bar. It was well known on the Union Pacific run because he used to have all the rails used to come in. That's what they were called in those days were the rails. And if they were drinking too much and he knew they had to go out on a run, he'd send them home because he'd say, "You can't drink anymore. You go home and get rest and everything." And then sometimes they'd come back and they'd say, "You know, I don't know what happened; I lost all my money; I don't know where it is." My father would say, "Just a minute." And he'd bring it out and give it to them because he knew that the condition they were in they were going to lose their money. So he was well known up and down the Union Pacific.
So I was having trouble getting a reservation to go home. So my father went to New
York to the Union Pacific offices there and he asked to speak to the person in charge. They let him in. And the man in charge—I can't remember his name—knew him. He said, "I know who you are." He said, "Everybody on the Pacific Railroad knows who you are."
So he was able to make it easier for you... ?
Make it easier for me to go home on the train. But that was the last time I went on the train. The rest of the time I flew home. I'll never forget my first plane ride. I think we stopped in every city between Baltimore and Las Vegas. And in a couple of them I had to spend the night because of
10 something. But they were all those little DC-3 planes.
So how long did it take you to get home?
It took me I think over a day just to get home.
Wow. You might as well have taken the train, huh?
Yeah. [Laughing]
Oh, that's interesting. Which airline did you fly in on?
Well, it was Capital; it was United.
So Bonanza came later?
Oh, yeah. Bonanza is a local airline. It was a local airline, Bonanza.
Yes, that's right, because it only flew to Reno and Tonopah and a few other little places.
Yeah, yeah. It was local. I think they went to Phoenix, too. I don't remember.
That's right. They did go to Phoenix. Because you were here so early, did you ever hear stories about Las Vegas' beginning?
Oh, well, yeah, about how it started with the land auction and stuff like that. I mean that's something that's commonplace. Of course, I remember the day that gambling became legal because that was before the repeal of Prohibition and I remember that because everybody was so happy because now they would be able to have gambling in Nevada and everybody was excited.
Then, of course, with the lifting of Prohibition; that really started things rolling for Las Vegas.
But the real early stuff, I probably heard about it, but I was too young. And now I'm too old to remember. [Laughing]
Now, tell me more about church activities in addition to school activities.
Well, see, we didn't—I think I went to every church in Las Vegas. I used to go with my friends.
I had a permanent visitor's card for the Christian Science Church. I've been to the Mormon
11 Church a few times. In fact, one of my very dear friends tried to convert me to become a
Mormon and I said, "It's very interesting what you're telling me, but I'm not going to convert."
So she stopped that. I don't want to tell you her name. She's from a very prominent family here.
Okay, good. Did you know a person named Darrell Loose?
Oh, sure. His sister Jean was one of my best friends.
wow. Okay. The first hardware store.
No. It was an appliance store. I think they came down from Reno.
That's correct.
Yeah, yeah. You must have interviewed Darrell.
I did, a long time ago, but I interviewed him. Once the Depression was over and things
began to get better and better for your father, because I'm sure it did, what kind of things
did he and your mother do for entertainment?
I can't even remember.
Was it mostly—oh, okay.
Because, see, when the war started I think my father still owned the bar. So he had the bar and
that was a twenty-four hour a day business. What my mother used to do two and three times a
week...I remember this in the summertime when it was so hot here. She had this huge roaster.
To me it was huge. It was big. She used to prepare a meal in that, take it up to the mountains,
cook it on one of the stoves up there, and my father would sleep up there because it was too hot
to sleep during the day. He liked to be at the bar at the shift change and at midnight and stuff
like that. So he didn't get that much sleep in the heat of the day. Even though by that time we
had moved from the house on North Ninth Street. We lived in North Ninth Street.
Oh, I didn't tell you. At North Ninth Street there were four of us—me, my brother, my
12 parents—and this other family that had two kids in a four-room house, not a four-bedroom
house, a four-room house. Two families lived there for a while.
Oh, wow.
Now, that was when we first came here.
And then when your family left that location... ?
When we left that location we moved to a place on South Fourth Street. And South Fourth Street
wasn't too far from where the Fifth Street School was. That's how come we knew about the fire
right away because we lived so close. We lived there. And then I think the people that owned
that house...we were renting and they wanted it. So then we moved to a place on Second Street,
which is now Casino Center, and that house is no longer in existence. But what that house had
was a big screened in porch. So in the summertime at night it wasn't too bad. Of course, until
my father would consent to get an air conditioner... [Laughing] He finally consented to a swamp
cooler.
Do you remember the railroad cottages?
Oh, yeah. I had friends that lived in them.
How big were those?
Very small.
You know that some of them are preserved?
Yes, I know. I knew that, yeah.
I want to know when you got back from college—first tell me your siblings' names.
My brother—I only have one brother.
Okay, yes.
His name is Charles Salton and he passed away a few years ago.
13 Did your brother go away to college, also?
Yeah, he went to a like a thing for aircraft stuff. He went to school in Southern California.
When you got back from your schooling in Baltimore, did you come back to Las Vegas at
that time?
Yes, I came back to Las Vegas and, unfortunately, not too long—see, I stayed in Baltimore
because we had to take state boards. In Baltimore we took national boards. They just started
giving national boards and I stayed there until we found out that we passed. What happened was
there were a group of us and the director of nurses had us...we ran a floor. We staffed it for all
three shifts and everything. And we did that until we all heard and then I came back here. Well,
when I came back here unfortunately my father got sick. When I came back we had a pretty
good time because by then there were already Jewish people here, much more than what there
were. So we had a lot of friends and we got together. But then unfortunately, my father got sick
and subsequently died. He had a heart attack. Mary Kennedy saw my brother one day and she
said, "What's that sister of yours doing?" Because she knew I was a nurse. And he said, "She's
not doing much of anything." She said, "Well, you tell her to get her you-know-what out here."
Now, tell me who Mary Kennedy is.
She was years ago the director of nurses at what is now UMC.
At that time it was the County Hospital?
No. I think it had become Southern Nevada Memorial by then. At one time it was the County
Hospital.
Before you tell me about Mary Kennedy and your first job—so you didn't go to work right
away; you helped with your father?
Yeah, because I did not go to work right away. Well, what happened was I came back about
14 November, October or November, and he got sick in December.
And which year are we talking about?
Nineteen forty-seven. And he got sick and he passed away. So I worked at Southern Nevada
Memorial; for about year I worked there. By then the Jewish community was built up. I should
tell you about the starting of the Jewish community. I don't know if you're interested.
Yes, I am, very much interested in it. Before you begin the start—and this is going to run
out in a few minutes. I'm going to let you start that on the other side. What happened with
Al's Bar?
Oh, what happened with Al's Bar was the Golden Nugget decided it wanted to expand. See, it
took the whole block from First Street to Second Street and they wanted the bar because they
wanted that part of it. So he was forced out. Because he was forced out—this was during the
war, I think, still.
[End of Tape 1, Side A]
Because he was forced out by the Golden Nugget—I think it was called the Golden Nugget—
because he was forced out then, they let him retain his gambling license. They were not issuing
new licenses then because they had a moratorium on them. So he was able to maintain his. A lot
of people came up to him, a lot of gamblers and stuff like that, and wanted him to go in business
with them for his license and he said no. He said he would never do that to the license. He said
if he went into business for himself, it would be one thing, but not with other people that he
really didn't know. So that's what happened with the gambling license.
And did they just lapse eventually, nothing was done with them?
What, with his license?
Uh-huh.
15 Well, he didn't use it and then finally they started issuing more. But for a long time...because
people used to come to him and I guess the reason they got to him was because they must have
told them that they're not issuing licenses anymore, but somebody does have one and he's not
using it.
Okay, great. Now, tell me about the beginning of the Jewish community.
Well, there were Jewish people here. When we got here there were a few Jewish people here.
But we were the only ones that came as a family group and remained. A lot of them came and
went and came and went and stuff like that. Of course, with the advent of the war and of Nellis,
Las Vegas Gunnery School, that brought in a lot more. What happened was there was no
synagogue here or temple or anything. So the Mack family—now, this is the Mack family from
Thomas and Mack—now, Jerry Mack's father and his brothers went around to the Jewish people
in town and said that they would like to build a synagogue; would you pledge? So all the Jewish
people pledged. They said, "We don't want the money now. We'll wait until the building is
built." Well, once the building was built, they came around and asked for the pledges.
Everybody paid up their pledges. And when the building was open there was no mortgage. That
was over on Carson Street, the first one. But before that the Jewish people would get together in
different places and do things, but nothing to a great extent. Of course, when the temple was
built, then that was...
But no religious services before that time?
Not organized religious. For some of the holidays, yes, they would get together and they would
meet in the Eagles Hall and maybe the Elks or something like that, but nothing that was really
anything that you could call organized. And then, of course, once the temple came then that
became the focal point mainly for most of the Jewish community here.
16 At that point how do you go about getting a rabbi?
I think they contacted either United Synagogue or the reformed—I don't think they ever contacted the orthodox. But, you see, Judaism has its three divisions—reform, orthodox and conservative. I think they contacted the conservative movement. I think they must have gone through—maybe they went through the University of Judaism in L.A. I don't know. But that's how they got their first rabbi was that way. As far as the cantors were concerned, my brother interviewed the cantor and Cantor Canori, who they had here for many years, he interviewed him and he came here. He was an extremely learned man. He was from Danzig, Free City of Danzig and then he went to London and he was a professor of music. But he had a beautiful voice.
Rabbis come and go with this temple over here. [Laughing] But anyhow, that was how they...Well, for a while there before they had a regular rabbi, my brother used to do the English and then another gentleman by the name of Greenstein, he used to do the Hebrew and that's how they did it.
And then my mother donated the second Torah to the temple. They had one, but it was very difficult to read. So my mother said that she would donate one. So I have a cousin that's a rabbi and he found one. He looked it over and he said, "Yeah, that's okay." Everything is kosher, so to speak. That's how they got the second one that they used for a long time.
That's interesting. So tell me when you got married and how you met your husband.
After my father passed away and after I worked for a while in Las Vegas, then I decided to go to go Los Angeles. So I went to Los Angeles. I was there for a few years and I met this friend of mine and she had married somebody from Philadelphia. So I came to visit her and she introduced me to my ex-husband, which was a big mistake except for my kids. [Laughing] You know how that goes?
17 Yes, I do. Oh, wow. Okay.
So anyhow, and then I lived in Philadelphia for a while. My kids were both born in Philadelphia.
Then things didn't go so good for us. So we thought, well, we'll come to Las Vegas. He was a
salesman, but he wanted to open up a uniform shop and he thought that would be pretty good.
So he opened up the uniform shop and things went fairly well for him, but it didn't go well for
us. And then I got divorced and I've been here ever since.
So I'm sure, then, that you went back to work here as well.
No, I didn't go back to work until my daughter was graduating from high school. I was fortunate
in that from what my father had done, my mother was able to sustain me. I went back to work—
let's see. My daughter graduated from high school in around...I think she graduated in '74, I
think. She went to Valley High School. Both my kids went to Valley High. That's when I
decided to go back to work.
Well, in order to go back to work, I had to have a refresher course. Well, there was no
refresher course. So I got with several... with Mary Kennedy and the one that was the director of
nurses at Sunrise Hospital and we talked and we put out the word that there was going to be a
refresher course. So we had a refresher course. I had applied at Sunrise and they said, "No, you
have to have a refresher course." So after I got the refresher course I went back to Sunrise and I
said, "I took the refresher course." And then they hired me.
Do you know the history of Sunrise?
Well, vaguely I know the history of Sunrise. Sunrise was mainly built by money from the
Teamsters Union. Adelson built that, not the Adelson from the Venetian, but Nate Adelson I
think it was, because the Adelson from the Venetian—I can't remember his first name, but it
wasn't that Adelson. That's how it got started I think through—because there was only that
18 hospital. There were two hospitals here before. When we first came here, there were two other
hospitals here.
When you came in 1928?
There was two or three. There was the hospital; it was over on Eighth Street and that was Dr.
Woodbury and Dr. Balcom had that hospital. There was a doctor here by the name of Dr.
Fergusson and he had a little hospital over on what is now Casino Center. And then before that
Roy Martin had a hospital where the Fremont Hotel is.
Wow. Where the Fremont—oh, really?
Yeah, yeah.
Oh, that's interesting.
Yeah, yeah. But the real hospital that had anything really was Sunrise Hospital because these
hospitals were just doctor-owned hospitals and they just had a few people that worked in them
and everything. When I came here and I got my nursing license—my nursing license is on hold;
they do that when you retire—my nursing license is one two three two. Now, this was in 1947.
There were only one thousand two hundred and thirty-two women who had applied for a nursing
license in Nevada. Because everybody says to me, "How come you got such a low license
number?" I said, "Because I got it so many years ago."
Did you have to take any kind of state exams?
No, because I took national boards. So I didn't have to. In fact, I have a California license that's
also on hold. I never worked in California a day, but that was the one license I said I want to
have. Before I graduated everybody said they'd love to go out to California, but they have to
take the boards over again because California had something about communicable diseases and a
couple of other things that they wanted everybody...they had to make sure they had. Well, once
19 they had the national boards and California went in with the national boards, then anybody that took the national boards and passed had reciprocity with all the other states. That's how that came about.
Where did you live at that time when you were back now working?
I lived over on East Oakey, not too far from where Temple Beth Sholom used to be, just down the street. In fact, I've only lived out here for about—I think I moved out here in 2002, I think.
Now, how do you like this community?
It's okay. I liked my old neighborhood. But the reason I moved is because of my son. He insisted that I move. He said, "Look, Mom, the temple moved out here." He said, "I don't want you driving across town all the time." He said, "And the neighborhood is changing over there."
He said, "I want you to move out here." I said, "But I have an alarm, I have this and I have that."
He said, "I'd rather have you out here."
So you listened to your son.
Yeah, so that's how I got out here. Otherwise, I'd still be over on Oakey. I still have friends that live over on the other side of the town and I go back and forth over there.
What about the traffic? Tell me how that has changed over the years.
Over the years?
Would you say that that's one of the major changes?
Well, I think the influx of so many people is probably the major change and along with that goes traffic, goes crime and everything else goes along with that. Since they have this Desert Inn
Arterial, for me this is great to go back and forth to the other side of town. In fact, I can't even remember the last time if I had to go to the east side that I went other than on the arterial because all my doctors are still over there. So I go back and forth for that and for my friends and stuff
20 like that that's over there.
That's great. Growing up here you probably remember the Helldorado Parades.
Oh, of course.
Tell me about that.
I was in the very first Helldorado Parade that they ever had here. They had the school kids in there. I remember my mother made me a costume of a pioneer woman with this big bonnet with the whole thing on it. And then they had the kids. And they used to have a kids' parade. So we'd all march. We'd all go to the parade. And it was in the evening. I think it was in the evening that they had it because I can remember marching in it. And then what they did was some of the men from the Elks Club—I don't know—would go around and see somebody in a costume and they'd hand them money.
Was this Helldorado money?
I don't know. I can't remember if it was Helldorado money or real money. I think it was change they'd give them. They weren't giving them bills; they were giving them change. But I remember being in the first one. I remember going over to the Helldorado Village and everything when it was over there off Sixth Street, yeah, because there wasn't anything down there in those days. On the other side of Fifth Street there was very little.
Now, how did the celebration change over the years?
Well, I think over the years it got a little more commercial, not as much hometown as it was commercial and they started having different things. I think they did away with the kids' parade and they just had the whole—they had a parade where the kids could march in, but not like it was in those days. Kids in droves would march in it. In fact, I don't know what I did with the picture, but I had a picture of my class on the front of the steps—well, it's not even in existence
21 anymore—over there where the federal building is, not the new one, but the old one that's on the
corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and...Was it Carson?
It's near the school?
No. It's near downtown. It's a white building that's over there. Yeah, it might not be too far
from the school. On Fourth Street was the bank and then on the other side of Fourth Street was
the federal building. It was before they built the new one. What was I going to tell you?
We were talking about the parade and how it changed over the years.
Oh, yes. I was telling you about the picture. Well, the school used to be there and that school
had these steps that went all the way up to the top. I don't know what I did with the picture of
my class, everybody in a costume standing out in front, and they took a picture of all of us.
So that really brought the whole town together.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It was a real local thing because you didn't have as much influx of all the
people coming that started to come in. Well, of course, the big influx came from the nineties on
and especially after 2000.
So now, the influx that you probably remember, though, was around World War II, that
first influx.
Yeah, that's the first influx with the Gunnery School and then so many of the men who had been
stationed at Nellis stayed here because a lot of my friends that I knew had been stationed out
there. That's what made the difference.
What did you hear about BMI, Basic Magnesium Incorporated?
Just that it was in Henderson.
So no major news about that during that period, during the war?
No. I think more the people that lived in Henderson would because that's what really made
22 Henderson.
That's right. Battle born.
If it wasn't for the BMI, I don't know what would be with Henderson.
That's right. Probably wouldn't be a Henderson. You worked at Nellis.
Las Vegas Gunnery School.
That's right, the gunnery range. In 1947, a year that we talked about a few minutes ago, the Flamingo Hotel probably opened the next year. So tell me about that period.
Well, the first hotel was the El Rancho. The El Rancho was built by a gentleman by the name of
Tommy Hull who came here and wanted a nice place to stay. He built a hotel. The next hotel was built by a gentleman from Texas. I can't remember his name. But the story goes that he went into the El Rancho Vegas—the El Rancho was on the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and the Sahara across the street from the Sahara Hotel; that's where it was—and he wanted a room and they didn't have a room for him there. So he got mad and he says, "I'm going to build my own hotel." And he did; he built the Last Frontier. Then there was the Desert Inn that lay idle for quite a while. It was started and then it lay idle and then Wilbur Clark with some other people got together and did that. I'm kind of in between here, between the Flamingo and the
Desert Inn as to which came first, the chicken or the egg. But anyhow, then came the Flamingo.
As someone living here did you go to the El Rancho and the Last Frontier?
Well, we would occasionally go to these places. If you're going to see a whole show, you could see it for a bottle of beer or something like that because there was no cover, no minimum and everything was extremely reasonable. I'll tell you a funny story about me at the Flamingo because I used to be able—because my brother was here so he would get passes. Even though I lived in Philadelphia, I came back here every summer because I came back with my kids for my
23 mother to see and everything. I went swimming at the Flamingo. I'll never forget it. I dove into the pool and the whole strap of my bathing suit broke and down came everything and I didn't realize it until I was coming up.
[Laughing] A lot of people around?
Yeah, there were quite a few people around. I was so embarrassed.
You had to be. That was before the topless shows. So those must have been fun days.
Yeah, we used to have a good time, get together and have fun and stuff like that.
So did a lot of the townspeople, then, go swimming?
They used to let them go swimming at the hotels because during the week it wasn't the number of people that you have here today. You know what I mean? You didn't have that many tourists like you have today. So that was why they would let you go. If you knew somebody, they'd let you. You could get a pass to go in and go swimming, mostly. That was mostly what you wanted because people didn't have pools, like they have today, in those days. As far as the city pools were concerned there weren't that many pools, either. They used to have Lorenzi's out there at
Lorenzi Park. In fact, that's where I learned to swim was out there at Lorenzi Park because they had a pool there.
So now, Lorenzi Park, at the time that you remember, did they have dances out there?
Yeah, yeah, they used to have dances out there. I was a little young at the time, I think. But they used to have dances and stuff like that out there. Then, of course, they had the pool. We used to call it Mr. Old State Law's Pool because everything he had a sign up. Can't do this; state law.
You can't do this; state law. You can't do this; state law. We didn't know whether it was a state law or not, but this was what he did.
Oh, that's funny. That is funny. With the rise of the Flamingo we began to get family
24 ownership of some of the hotels, which we call the mob or whatever you want to call it.
What was that influence like? Did you even realize that there was something?
Unless you knew the people you didn't realize it. All you knew was that you could get in there, you could go, the people were very nice to you. It was more of a homelike feeling than what it is today. Today is mainly the bottom line. Of course, it was the bottom line then, too, but not like it is today.
What was downtown like; as the Strip became more and more popular, what did you see happening to downtown?
Well, I'll tell you something. Downtown was always downtown to me. One of my very best friends, her aunt owned the Boulder Club. It was downtown. I mean you'd go downtown. Well, my father had his bar downtown. Oh, and when we were kids in high school, you used to be able to cruise Fremont Street. That was a Friday night activity if there wasn't a ball game. But I always liked downtown. And then—I don't know—with the evolvement of the Strip and becoming what it was, then downtown started to go down because everybody wanted to go on the Strip. The Strip became the place to be more so than downtown. And I have to give old
Oscar credit for what he's trying to do—
That's what I was going to ask you.
—to revive downtown from what it was. But it's sad. I'll tell you part of the problem is, is that part of the problem around there is a little bit on the seedy side and that's what causes the trouble with downtown Las Vegas. I don't know if there's that much you can do about it.
Well, he thinks that by bringing people back down there with the high-rise apartments and everything.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. He's hoping that that will take care of it.
25 And it seems to be working at this point. Someone was telling me the other day that the El
Cortez Hotel has been renovated.
Yeah. Well, that's because they've taken that place from Fifth Street down to about Eighth or
Ninth Street and they're making that into some type of a corridor for...I don't know for what. But
that's what they're trying to do there. There's a few high-rises going up down there, too.
Right. So now, have you seen the Fremont Street Experience?
No.
Ah.
I've seen it in the daytime, but I haven't seen it at night. Maybe it's my age. I don't have the
desire. You know what I mean? To go downtown. And of course, I'm not a night driver. So
that kind of stops me from going downtown.
Tell me about shopping especially when you came back as a working person raising your
family, about the department stores downtown.
Well, the only department store they had downtown that could be called a department store was
Ronzone's. They had Ronzone's and they had Johnson's. They had JCPenney's and they had
Sears. Those were more like the department stores. But then they had the specialty shops—
Fanny's, which eventually moved out on the Strip, and I forget the name of the other one.
There's another woman's specialty shop that was down there. But stuff like that.
Those are the ones that most people remember. What was your favorite?
Ronzone's. I think most people like Ronzone's, yeah.
A lot of people. I like those ads that we see in the newspaper. The old newspapers when we
go back and look through them, you see Fanny's and you see Ronzone's. Beautiful clothes.
They're just fabulous.
26 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Do you remember the Moulin Rouge opening in 1955?
I vaguely remember the Moulin Rouge opening in 1945 (sic), not too much. The saddest thing I
think with Las Vegas—and I'll tell you a little story. Let me tell you this story. In nineteen—I
don't know if it was '41 or '42, my mother was not well and my father thought that maybe she
should go back and see her family. She hadn't been back East since they moved out West. So I
went with her. Her nephew was a doctor. He took one look at her. He said that she was sick;
she had a thyroid problem. And then my cousin that lived in Baltimore was on his way home
from Canada—because my mother, when they sent her off to Canada...so she was like a kid with
these kids. He took one look at her and said, "You're coming to Baltimore. You're going to
Johns Hopkins or to Sinai and we're going to take care of you." So that left me with my aunt in
New York for a while.
So I remember we went to a restaurant. Don't take offense by what I'm going to say.
And I looked over and I saw some black people and I said, "What are they doing in here?" And
she said, "Why?" I said, "Well, they're not allowed in Las Vegas." See, that was my upbringing
of Southern Nevada. And that was the first time because I had lived here all my life.
So why do you think Nevada was so different? I mean we're out in the West.
But, you see, we're in Southern Nevada. [Laughing]
So you're saying it's just like Georgia.
Yeah. Southern Nevada in those days, in all the time, black people could not sit in the theaters.
They had to sit in their place. I don't even think they let them try on clothing.
And I've heard some people say they did try on clothing; other people said they did not. So
I don't even know the truth of that. There were probably stores that didn't allow it.
27 Yeah, some did and some didn't.
That's probably what it was.
And the theaters...there was a section in the back where they had to sit until Lloyd Katz came in here. I don't know if you've interviewed Edythe.
Yes.
But he was the one that broke that color line for the theaters because that was...I mean you talk about Southern Nevada. This was Southern Nevada and this was me growing up. You know what I mean?
That's right. And we learn from our environment.
That's right. That's right.
As the city became more and more of a tourist town with people coming in over the weekend in droves and all these hotel rooms, what major changes did you see, not just the population itself, but with the new tourism?
Well, with the new tourism, the changes in the stores. Your major department stores started to come in, like the Broadway came in. And then, well, it was called Diamonds, but it has another name. They bought out Ronzone's. There was always a Penney's and a Sears. But then you started to get more upgrade stores in and to some extent you got upgraded restaurants. With the influx of population there became more things to do because more things were made available to people. That's the change. And the evolvement of all the different libraries and the—
[End Tape 1, Side B]
With the university that brought a lot more. Of course, I credit Maude Frazier with really getting that university here and getting it going and stuff like that because I think she had a very, very big part in that. That was what she was; she was an educator. When I was in school, well, first
28 she was principal and then she was superintendent of schools here.
What did the university mean to the town?
I really think that it probably meant that the town was growing up and becoming more than just this tourist town or something like that. Now, people always did live here, but a lot of people couldn't believe that people actually lived in Las Vegas. But with the advent of the university, I think that made a big difference for everybody because older people who hadn't gone to college—my brother who really didn't go to college; he went to a trade school, he went back in his fifties and got two degrees, got a BS and he got an MBA.
It probably would have never happened.
That's right, if it hadn't been a university. So a lot of people who never would have gone to a university were able to go to a university.
That's wonderful. I'm going to ask you about some of the early eating establishments. Tell me about the White Cross Drug Store.
This little restaurant? [Laughing] It's supposed to have some of the best food in town. They used to be downtown and then they moved out to Fifth Street where they are—well—yes, it's on
Las Vegas Boulevard, isn't it?
That's right.
Las Vegas Boulevard and Oakey. Yeah, yeah.
How popular was Hugo's Cellar?
Well, Hugo's Cellar was pretty popular. That was an upscale restaurant. Yeah, that was more upscale for downtown.
Yes. But that was a pretty good one?
That's right.
29 And do you remember the Green Shack or the Blue Onion?
Oh, yeah, I remember the Green Shack. In fact, before the Green Shack closed I had dinner there one time. And in fact, we had a class reunion. It was after our—well, it was after we had already had our fiftieth, but it was someplace in between our fiftieth and our sixtieth because we had our sixtieth—I can't remember. Anyhow, like I said, ten years ago I would remember.
But isn't it great, though, that you have all these memories? You've been here that long that you can remember the Green Shack. Most people have no idea what I'm talking about.
Yeah, yeah. No, I remember the Green Shack. And then we went there one night. I tell you we used to try to get together every once in a while. So one night we decided to go to the Green
Shack. So we went to the Green Shack for dinner.
What about the Blue Onion?
Yeah. But the Blue Onion kind of—it was like a—I think it was a drive-in at one time.
Right. It had the waitresses maybe that came to your car or something.
Yeah, it was a hop, like a carhop place, yeah. There was the main one where a lot of people used to go was down where Main Street and Las Vegas Boulevard come together. In that triangle there used to be a carhop restaurant. Was it called Sill's? I can't remember. I think.
There was a restaurant by that name.
Yeah, I think that's where it was. You know where the...it's a triangle there.
Okay, yes, I know where you're talking about.
In fact, you know where I learned to drive a car?
Tell me.
You know where the Alarmco Building is?
30 Yes.
Well, that used to be an old airfield that wasn't there anymore and it was all this big wide spaces.
When I learned to drive a car that's where I first learned was out there.
That was way out there?
Well, that was way out there at that time.
Wow. Oh, that's right because it's near Sahara.
Yeah, it was at the corner of—yeah. It was St. Louis.
That's right.
It was St. Louis and Las Vegas Boulevard.
So I guess it is quite a ways from the old downtown.
Well, you know where Fremont Street is. And then you go straight out Las Vegas Boulevard until you get to St. Louis and then there was this place here. But at that time it was out of town.
That's amazing. Wow.
But they had quite a few drive-ins. They were called drive-ins.
Yes. Someone told me—I can't remember which restaurant—but they would come out and put a little gadget into your car that gave you air-conditioning.
Yeah, some of them did have that. I cannot for the life of me remember. There are some things that I just...
Yeah, but I thought that was amazing that they could do something like that with this little gadget.
Do you remember when Howard Hughes first came to the city and what change that brought?
Well, that brought a tremendous change because that made—black people used to say before
31 Howard Hughes they couldn't buy a house because they couldn't get the credit because of the
gambling. But when Howard Hughes came in they became corporations. And then because they
worked for a corporation, it was easier to be able to get loans to buy homes. A lot of people told
me that.
Really?
Yeah. Because, see, the gaming industry was shaky. I mean nobody wanted to take—
Take the risk.
—to take the risk to loan somebody something because they fired you at will. I mean if they
didn't like the way you looked or if you didn't treat a customer right, they'd just come in and fire
you. And there was no recourse, really. But once the corporations came in—because he brought
the corporations in. Otherwise, it was nothing. Of course, the main people that loaned money
for the building of all these casinos was the old Bank of Las Vegas, which was owned by
Thomas and Mack. It was really started by Thomas and then Mack came in because the Macks
had a lot of money.
Do you still see Las Vegas as a little town?
Not anymore. Not with all the traffic. [Laughing]
Do you get the feel, though, when you're going back over to your community that you
moved from, do you get more of a family hometown feel?
A little more of a hometown feel. Of course, part of it, too, is because all the trees have grown
up and everything like out here...there's practically nothing. My backyard has bigger trees than I
have out in the front. It's a different feeling when you're over there than when you're over here. I
imagine that eventually I'll feel that way here, but I lived over there for such a long time that it
makes a difference.
32 And then, of course, when we moved from Second Street was just before the start of the war. And what had happened was my father had gone out and purchased a bunch of appliances that my mother didn't know about and he suggested that he thinks they should move because they had always rented. He said he was going to build a house. So they built a house over on
South Ninth Street right off Sahara over there. In fact, the house is still standing. But then my mother says, "Well, what am I going to do?" Well, my father knew everybody in town, so he had all the appliances purchased and everything. In fact, they bought me a bedroom suite, a beautiful suite. In fact, my daughter has most of it now, but she wants to get rid of it. I said,
"Don't you dare." I said, "You know, Teri, that's antique now." It was made by Heywood
Wakefield and I don't even know if they headache that furniture anymore, from the East. And I said, "Before you get rid of it go to an antique dealer." Because I also had a big dresser. It was huge. It went around like that with drawers on the side and then there was glass that fit in the center, but that was long gone, broken. But that was just a little aside here.
Yeah, but that's nice that you want to hand that down.
You saw a real impact when gambling first started in 1931. Do you still think, though, of Las Vegas as a gambling town?
I don't really do. I think of it as a vacation place, a place to come for a vacation and stuff like that. I don't think of it as gambling, although that's what it is. That's what it is. But it's a place to go.
What do you see as the future of the city?
Well, I would like to see a little more diversity, not so much dependent upon the gaming because it is dependent. Gaming is at the whim of—of course, the state has a right. But also with the influx of so much gaming all over the rest of the United States, they finally woke up to what
33 Nevada knew all along. There's more and more competition and, of course, that's the reason why
it's more of a vacation place than anything else. But I still see that they need to diversify more. I
mean you can't live forever on the gaming, on Nellis, and the tourism. You've got to get more
stuff in here. And with the university they should be able to get more stuff. Of course, they have
the law school here now, which for years the local attorneys fought that.
Why did they fight that?
Because they felt it would cut in on their business. Because you know it used to be very, very
hard for them to be able to practice law in Nevada because you have to learn Nevada law and
they had to take bar. Some of them had trouble passing the bar in Nevada because they made it
very strict. Now, of course, they had the "Witchie" program with the people from here who
wanted to go to law school; they could go to another state like they would help like they do with,
well, they used to do with that medical schools and stuff like that before they had the medical
school within the state. What can I tell you?
My last question is about power. From the time that you've been here you've seen many
mayors, you've seen many members of the county commissioners and all of that. In today's
world where do you see the power in Clark County or in the state? Who holds the power
and who makes the decisions about what is going to happen?
That's a tough question because I think there is so much underlying current. Of course, that's
every place. But I do feel that there's underlying current that certain people do have a great
influence on who's going to be who and who's going to be what and things like that. But I think
that's very prevalent in the United States today. I can't see where we're much different.
I will say this. I think Goodman was one of the best things that happened to Las Vegas,
for the entire area, even though the Strip isn't in Las Vegas, because he's a good-time guy. I don't
34 know how he would be as a governor, but he's okay as a mayor.
But I still feel there is undercurrent. In fact, pardon me for saying this, but this governor that we have now... [Laughing] I mean the whole thing. Well, look, it's no different than the
United States with what happened between Gore and Bush. I mean this was stupid. He won the election. But it was the stupidest thing on earth. You think we'd be in a war today if Gore would have won? I mean he was trying to finish his father's war and he got himself in too deep. And I think that this is prevalent in the United States. I don't know. Maybe it's prevalent in other countries, too. There are certain people that they get the power and they're able to wheedle themselves in.
I think one of the powers in this state that people don't think about that much is Sig
Rogich. I think he wields a great deal of power that nobody really understands that he does that.
I didn't understand until a few weeks ago.
Oh, really? [Laughing] Why, he knocked you down? [Laughing]
No. That whole incident.. .well...
Which one?
With the governor.
Oh, yeah. Yeah. But you know he's busy with Bush and he has a lot of influence within the state. And there's others. I'm sure there's Democrats that are the same way; that they have the power within the state. So I don't know. I really don't know how to answer that question because
I think that it's just something that's prevalent and it's just an undercurrent. They used to say, well, the mob was controlling Las Vegas. But the mob is gone. But now the Strip controls Las
Vegas, let's face it. They give all the guys the money to run. And the ones that will do what they want them to do, fine. If they don't do what they want them to do, they won't give them money.
35 Because if you look and see how much money they give and who they give it to...of course, they've gotten a little better about trying to spread it around a little more because the populous has started to exert a certain amount. And this was evident in the last election.
Yes, I think you're right. My last question. You've been interviewed quite often.
Yes.
What thing have you always wanted to say or you've forgotten and said, "Oh, I should have said that?" What are your ending comments that you would like to...?
Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. I can't even remember. [Laughing] It's funny. As I go along, something will pop into my head. If I don't say it right away, I'll forget it. And I've often said the best way to find out what's happening and how did it happen and everything is to get a group of people who were together around the same time and they bounce off one another. That's the best way really to get information.
And that's why we have purchased a video camera because we want someone to transcribe the oral interviews. But with a video camera, you can preserve those kinds of discussions, get-togethers of people.
Yeah, yeah. But I can't even think. When you leave I'll remember.
Of course, yes. But I really appreciate this and I appreciate you being able to change the time as well.
Oh, well, that was okay. I'll tell you the truth. You did me a favor because I was having trouble with the DMV. So I was able to go over there and straighten it out.
Wonderful. So it worked well.
So it worked well.
Thank you so much.
36 Oh, you're quite welcome. It's been a pleasure.
It's been wonderful.
I don't mind doing this. I've had a lot of people that interview me and I don't mind it at all.
But I do want to ask you one more question.
Sure.
How much time do you actually spend in the field of nursing here in Las Vegas?
Nothing now. No. I retired. The time of the first Gulf War that was when I retired. And the
reason I remember that was when I was retired is because they had this fund at the hospital that
you could put money in for a savings and part of it was in stocks and all stocks went down, and
so that's how I can remember.
So how many years did you work?
Well, I worked a good number of years and then I was married and had the family. Then when I
went back to work, I worked for about seventeen years. When I left Sunrise I was a nursing
supervisor there. But I left. I had gotten sick and it was close to my sixty-fifth birthday. So they
were very nice. They let me cut down on hours. And then when I got sick, I had so much sick
leave accumulated, they said, "Okay."
If we wanted to do and oral history of medical care in Nevada, how should we start that?
Who should we talk to?
I think that you should talk to the nurses on the floor. Most of the people want to talk to the
superintendent, the supervisors and all that. They don't know what's going on. It's the nurses on
the floor. It's like when they design a hospital, they don't talk to the nurses that have to work
there; they talk to everybody else. If it weren't for the nurses, the patients wouldn't get well. In
fact, there was a very prominent doctor here in Las Vegas who was sick and this was when I still
37 worked at Sunrise, I believe. When he left, he said, "The doctor didn't get me well; the nurses
got me well." If you want to do it, I think the best thing to do is to talk to the nurses because the
nurses on the floor are the ones that know what's going on with healthcare. Probably the nurses
that do public health would know and things like that, also. Some of them work for the health
department. But not the people on top. They don't know what's going on. They say they do, but
they don't.
Okay. This is wonderful.
Because I had an incident when I was working; some nurses were ready to revolt. I mean they
were so mad. Director of nurses went and talked to them and they were still going to leave. I
said, "Let me go in." So I went and talked to them and I told them, I said, "Listen, you guys
walk out now, there goes your license. There goes your livelihood. Now, up to take that chance,
that risk, that's up to you. But if I were you, I would not leave." So they stayed. You have to
know how to...I mean you just can't go in there and say, "Well, if you don't do this, we'll be able
to do this and this." You have to hit them where it hurts, which is in their pocketbook. And the
nurses on the floor know all this.
So were you a part of a union?
No, I was never for a union. The Nurses Association has what they call...I think it was Good and
Welfare. It was kind of a bargaining agent. They were very strong in California. I don't know if
they still are. But that just rubbed me the wrong way and it was probably because I'm an older
nurse. After all, I got my license in 1947.
Wow. Okay, now we can stop. Thank you so much.
You're quite welcome.
[End of recorded interview]
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