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The Earps Invade Southern California: Bootlegging Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and the Old Soldiers’ Home

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Most readers of the Wild West know Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, and Morgan Earp for the famous shootout on the streets of Tombstone, Arizona. But few know the later years of the close-knit Earp family, which revolved around patriarch Nicholas Earp, and their last push at a major monetary coup in Los Angeles. By 1900 a newly established Old Soldiers’ Home was in place at Sawtelle (between Santa Monica and Los Angeles), with thousands of veterans earning monthly pensions, but in an environment where alcohol was prohibited. Enter the Earps and their “blind pig” (illicit alcohol sales) scheme. Two of the Earps, Nicholas and son Newton, were enrolled in the Soldiers’ Home, and Newton’s far more famous half-brothers Wyatt and Virgil showed up from time to time, but the star of the operation was older brother James. Booze would flow, the pension money would be “dispersed about,” and jails were sometimes filled, as the Earps and several other men on the make competed for the veterans’ money. We are also reintroduced to Old West figures such as “Gunfighter Surgeon” Dr. George Goodfellow, “Silver Tongued Orator” Thomas Fitch, millionaire George Hearst, detective J.V. Brighton, Lucky Baldwin, and many other well-known westerners …
Date: July 15, 2020
Creator: Chaput, Donald & De Haas, David D., 1956-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

[Emily Mirsky in Google Hangouts call]

Photograph of Emily Mirsky in a Google Hangouts call waiting for friends to participate in a game night.
Date: June 16, 2020
Creator: Mirsky, Emily
Object Type: Photograph
System: The UNT Digital Library

[iPhone screenshot of negative COVID-19 test]

iPhone screenshot from August 21, 2020, with the negative result, from Emily Mirsky's first Covid-19 test. The sample was taken in Los Angeles at a drive-through site.
Date: June 16, 2022
Creator: Mirsky, Emily
Object Type: Photograph
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Dean Caswell, December 8, 2021 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Dean Caswell, December 8, 2021

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Dean Caswell. Caswell volunteered for the Marine Corps two weeks prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. He eventually went to flight training before being assigned aboard USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) from which he flew Corsairs. Caswell made over 100 combat flights from Bunker Hill, eventually becoming an ace with Marine Fighter Squadron 221 (VMF-221). He shares on anecdote about getting seven enemy planes in one mission. He also shares anecdotes from throughout his long career in the Marine Corps.
Date: December 8, 2021
Creator: Caswell, Dean
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with Joy Burkhard, October 6, 2022

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Joy Burkhard, a mother and founder/executive director of the nonprofit organization 2020 Mom, soon to be renamed the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, from Valencia, California. Burkhard discusses work in the health delivery system, her own experience with motherhood, Postpartum Support International, founding her organization, maternal mental health disorders, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and the importance of access to child care and support.
Date: October 6, 2022
Creator: Moran, Rachel Louise & Burkhard, Joy
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with Muriel Usselman, June 13, 2022 (open access)

Oral History Interview with Muriel Usselman, June 13, 2022

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Muriel Usselman. Usselman was a child living in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Her father worked as an electrician and the family lived on base. She recalls what she witnessed during the attack on 7 December as well as her experiences in the following days. She returned with her family to the Mainland in 1944.
Date: June 13, 2022
Creator: Usselman, Muriel
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History

Oral History Interview with Naomie Rudelson, July 13, 2020

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Naomi Rudelson, a former department store executive from New Orleans, Louisiana. Rudelson discusses involvement with the fashion industry in Dallas, starting with work as an assistant to a personal shopper and eventually becoming vice president of several different department stores. Rudelson also describes designing a curriculum for students at the University of North Texas, and the work environment at Dalton's department store, Sanger-Harris, Winkleman's in Detroit, and May Company Los Angeles.
Date: July 13, 2020
Creator: Becker, Annette & Rudelson, Naomi
Object Type: Sound
System: The UNT Digital Library