Mob museum aims to educate, entertain

Michael Green, Las Vegas

Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009 | 2:02 a.m.

“I apologize to Mayor Oscar Goodman and others who have embraced the mob museum. I foolishly thought the endeavor was another Goodman vanity project and intended to glorify the former mob lawyer’s clients,” Jon Ralston writes sarcastically in Thursday’s “Flashpoint.”

As the museum’s chief local researcher, I have defended it to many who claim it will glorify the mob. Some base the theory on Goodman’s comments about the mob in Las Vegas — comments not unique to him, and which Las Vegas scholars and residents debate.

Having been in meetings about the project from its earliest stages, I can say Mayor Goodman has said many times he wants the museum to be as accurate as possible, and fun and educational.

That would be my account, and I will add that the Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement will feature a variety of perspectives. The chairwoman of the nonprofit corporation overseeing it is former local FBI agent-in-charge Ellen Knowlton. Other board members include Bob Stoldal, Mr. Ralston’s former boss and a distinguished journalist and historian. Curators Dennis and Kathy Barrie were responsible for the popular, well-respected Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.

Having worked with these people, I believe in our commitment to the best, most accurate museum possible. The museum and its contents can and should be debated. But those who question the integrity of those involved in it should think before speaking and writing.

The author is a history professor at the College of Southern Nevada.