Helen Anderson came to Las Vegas in 1962 from Arkansas, and had her daughter, Karen, in 1967. The pair discusses the family business, Hamburger Heaven, and other businesses on Jackson Street and the Westside. They also talk about hte changes in the neighborhood and their work with the West Las Vegas Citizens for Hope group, and Karen's family services business.

Joel Coombs was raised in an interracial upper middle class family. Born in Newport News, Virginia, his parents relocated and separated when he was young. Joel's white father went on to marry a black woman by the name of Delores. Many of Joel's friends thought that Delores was just hired help, as coming from an interracial home in Las Vegas in the 1970s was considered extremely rare. Joel recalls having to tell his peers on more than one occasion that Delores was his mom and not his maid. His fondest family memories include rock collecting and going to the gun range. Joel became a cheerleader and ran track in high school and college. He recalls attending Valley High School amidst racial tensions, racism, and prejudice. His recollections concerning high school lockdowns and race riots reveal the underlying social issues that once plagued Las Vegas, Nevada. Another major social problem that negatively impacted the lives of Joel's peers was drug abuse, as drugs were easily available at Valley High School and at Bishop Gorman in the 1970s. As an interracial couple Joel's parents were at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement. He recalls participating in the protests as a child and landing on the front page of The Post. In regards to jobs, prior to building and designing roofs and floors at Truss Plant, Joel worked as a jeweler and as a land surveyor. Growing up in an interracial home in Las Vegas helped to shape him into the hardworking, socially aware, and innovative man he is today.

Lived in LV and Reno, attended Westside School, worked as shield in El Morocco, and memories of Jackson Street life. Donated small collection containing photographs; memorial programs containing some history of COGIC; and two bulletins of regional COGIC convocations, one at Nucleus Plaza; and the Gully Family History.

Early black dancer

Sherrill and Samuel Coleman moved to Las Vegas during the 1990s after both enjoying a full life and numerous careers in other parts of the United States. They met each other through church in 1998 and married each other in April 1999. Now retired, both Samuel and Sherrill remain active in their church community. Samuel Coleman was born in Durant, Mississippi in 1928 to a sharecropping family. His father died when he was 13 months old, leaving his mother to raise seven children by herself. Over time, his family slowly migrated to Chicago and he joined them when he was 15. For eight months, Samuel worked a number of different jobs until he began to work for Burlington Railroad as a four cook. The United States Army drafted him in 1951 and sent him overseas to work in a motor pool for a military hospital in Korea, despite his status as a conscientious objector. At war’s end, he returned to work for Burlington. During his last 17 years with the railroad, Samuel successfully petitioned to join the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the union for railroad cooks, porters, and waiters, to improve the working and sleeping conditions at Burlington Railroad. He retired from the railroads in the 1970s and chose to pursue other careers. Until his official retirement in 1993, Samuel worked in real estate, as the owner of a liquor store, a firefighter, a restaurant inspector, and a deacon for his church. His daughter from his first wife moved to Vegas to pursue a career as a teacher and after a number of visits, Samuel decided to follow her in 1999. Sherrill Coleman was born in Newton, Kansas in 1941. Like many other African American women in her community, she worked as a housekeeper for a number of years. She and her first husband moved to Los Angeles County in 1964 where she took a temporary job in the elections department of the local government. In 1967, Sherrill became a file clerk for Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Social Services. By the time she left the department, she was middle management in the auditing department. She moved to Vegas in 1993.

Leandrew Winston is best known for his work in public broadcasting. He was born in Grady, Arkansas where he lived on a farm with his family. He migrated first to California and then to Las Vegas. Once in the city, Winston became a well-connected figure in the African American community and often tells stories about his experiences with police brutality. He chose to work in public broadcasting and in 1971 became the first African American to work at PBS at Channel 10. He started hosting Ten on the Black Side, his own television news talk show, in 1975 and later became the Minority Affairs Director at Channel 10. In 1984, Winston created a documentary for PBS called The Road to Las Vegas, a Black Perspective. He returned to school in 1987 and received his MBA from National University. Upon returning to Las Vegas, he helped found KNPR. Winston left Channel 10 and took a job with KCEP in 2001.

LaVerne Ligon was born in 1942 in Washington D.C. Around the age of nine, she started dancing at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet, which started her career in dance. She took her first job as a professional dancer when she was eighteen with the Capitol Ballet Company. She moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1973. In 1974, she successfully auditioned for a touring cast of Hello, Dolly! After completing that show, Ligon performed in a number of productions in Las Vegas, including Hallelujah Hollywood and Jubilee. She retired from dancing in the early 1980s after sustaining an injury and she opened the Simba Talent Agency, a dance school for at-risk youth. She also worked for Family Services, but is now retired. She continues to work on projects with the Simba Talent Agency. BJ Thomas was born in 1935 in Plain Dealing, Louisiana. He moved to Las Vegas in 1968 after working for the Post Office in San Francisco. He worked a number of jobs for two years before beginning to pursue work as a stage hand. Thomas worked for shows at the Tropicana and Caesars Palace. He is currently retired. Leonard Polk Jr. was born in 1948 in Monroe, Louisiana. He and his mother moved to Las Vegas in 1949 when he was just two months old. His father worked on the Hoover Dam. Polk grew up in West Las Vegas and remembers the movement to integrate the schools in the city. As a young adult, he joined the Marines and served a tour of duty in Vietnam. Polk began to work for shows in Las Vegas after he finished his military career. He worked for the Aladdin Baghdad Theater and for the MGM Grand Hotel. He is currently retired, but remains active with the First African Methodist Episcopal Church.