Abstract
The Ruby Duncan Photograph Collection on Operation Life (1970s-1980s) is comprised primarily of photographic prints with some corresponding 35 mm negatives of Ruby Duncan and other Operation Life organizers, as well as important organization buildings. Materials include photographs of Ruby Duncan, Aldine Weems, Renee Diamond, and Jack Anderson in the original Operation Life Las Vegas, Nevada Operation Life headquarters and the regional office in San Francisco, California. Also pictured are other employees and beneficiaries of the organization at a Christmas Party.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
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Scope and Contents Note
The Ruby Duncan Photograph Collection on Operation Life (1970s-1980s) is comprised primarily of photographic prints with some corresponding 35 mm negatives of Ruby Duncan and other Operation Life organizers, as well as important organization buildings. Materials include photographs of Ruby Duncan, Aldine Weems, Renee Diamond, and Jack Anderson in the original Operation Life Las Vegas, Nevada headquarters and the regional office in San Francisco, California. Also pictured are other employees and beneficiaries of the organization at a Christmas Party.
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials remain as they were received.
Biographical / Historical Note
Ruby Duncan was born in Tallulah, Louisiana on June 7, 1932. Her parents passed away when Duncan was three years old and she spent the remainder of her youth living with various relatives in and around Tallulah. Duncan started work at the Ivory Plantation at an early age, only going to school part-time. She quit school to work full-time as a waitress and later a barmaid. Duncan left Tallulah for Las Vegas, Nevada in 1952 to live with her aunt near Henderson, Nevada.
Duncan’s early years in Las Vegas were spent as a maid, nanny, and kitchen worker in private homes and Las Vegas resorts and casinos including the Stardust, Flamingo, and Sahara. Her experience in these various positions, and being forced on-and-off welfare, led her to speak out against working conditions for those in similar positions. After a 1971 welfare cut for women with children in Nevada, Duncan’s social activism became a driving force in her life and led to the organization of public demonstrations, including two marches down the Las Vegas Strip that drew over six thousand people including celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Sammy Davis Jr., and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy. Duncan co-founded the organization Operation Life in 1972 to promote welfare reform, and to improve the lives of those who lived in West Las Vegas. Beginning with a library in West Las Vegas, their services grew to include promoting economic, housing, and job development, as well as operating a medical center and administering the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program and the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) certified home counseling program.
Duncan went on to serve in the Clark County Welfare Rights Organization, and her work and community activism is recognized by various awards and the naming of a North Las Vegas school in her in honor.
Sources:
Duncan, Ruby. Interview, , 2017 February 13 and March 2. African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. OH-00501. Transcript. Oral History Research Center, Special Collection and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. Accessed June 2019.
“Ruby Duncan.”
White, Claytee D. “Ruby Duncan (1932- ).”
Wanser, Brooke, “Pioneering Las Vegas activist Ruby Duncan, 5 others to be honored.”
Preferred Citation
Ruby Duncan Photograph Collection on Operation Life, 1970s-1980s. PH-00323. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated by Ruby Duncan in 1996; accession number 1996-008B.
Processing Note
Materials were initially processed by Special Collections staff. In 2019, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Billy Marino wrote the finding aid and entered the data into ArchivesSpace.