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The actual wall that caught the bullets from Chicago’s 1929 St. Valentine’s Day massacre was reconstructed brick by brick in the museum.

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Mob Museum Education Manager Diana Rafferty ’11 explained exhibits like this encourage visitors to think through moral decisions and consequences.

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The making of a mobster – common characteristics and habits.

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It’s all about the money.

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The actual wall that caught the bullets from Chicago’s 1929 St. Valentine’s Day massacre was reconstructed brick by brick in the museum.

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Curator of Collections Carolyn Fisher ’07 inventories every item in the museum – from old photographs to the Thompson “Tommy” submachine gun, the firearm that led to the passage of the National Firearms Act in 1934.

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This Roaring ’20s exhibit is appropriately framed by whiskey kegs and bottles, the prohibition of which encouraged and expanded mob activity.

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Take a chair! This exhibit of the electric chair that saw off Louis Lepke, the richest man to die, is interactive.

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This historic courtroom is a centerpiece of the Mob Museum. It was the location of the famed Kefauver hearings (1950-51) that exposed organized crime.

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El Chapo’s great escape exhibit is on display until August at the museum and includes an architectural model of the Mexican prison and tunnels tracing El Chapo’s escape route.

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New York crime boss John Gotti often wore this white suit to court hearings.

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Actor Joe Pesci’s torso from Director Martin Scorsese’s movie “Casino” with other gangster movie memorabilia.

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Step inside the Mob Museum

Take a photographic tour of the Las Vegas Mob Museum courtesy of two Appalachian State University grads who live and breathe mob history.

Photographed by Troy Tuttle and Garrett Ford, Appalachian State University Communications
Posted July 4, 2016 at 11 a.m.

Against all odds and unbeknownst to each other, two Appalachian State University grads landed leadership jobs at the Las Vegas Mob Museum, a unique collection of mob culture and history. Take a visual tour here of the museum exhibits and read more about their careers here.

Making History at the Mob Museum
Making History at the Mob Museum

Appalachian State University history majors find dream jobs in Vegas discover a fellow Mountaineer, just a cubicle away

July 4, 2016

Are there jobs for a history major? You bet! The opportunities are rife. Learn how two Appalachian graduates from the Department of History found dream jobs and a fellow Mountaineer at the Las Vegas Mob Museum.

Read the story

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, cost-effective education. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

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Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

If you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

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  • Stories and press releases published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found in University Communications Records at the Special Collections Research Center.
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Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

If you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

  • Podcasts may be found at Appalachian State University Podcasts
  • Stories and press releases published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found in University Communications Records at the Special Collections Research Center.
  • Events may be found in the University Calendar
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