Interview with Sarann Knight [Preddy] conducted by Yvonne Hunter on July 16, 1975. Preddy moved to Hawthorne, Nevada, in the 1940s, becoming a business owner and president of the NAACP. Later she moved to Las Vegas, where she served as a community activist and worked as one of the first black 21-dealers.
Interview with Anna Bailey conducted by Claytee D. White on March 3, 1997. Arriving in Las Vegas in 1955 to perform as a dancer for the opening of the Moulin Rouge, Bailey also starred in traveling shows nationally and in Europe. Returning to Las Vegas, she became the first African American to dance in a house chorus line on the Strip. Later she became one of the first black women in Nevada to hold a gaming license, owning and operating several small nightclubs.
Interview with Alma Whitney conducted by Claytee D. White on March 3, 1996. Seeking better employment opportunities, Whitney moved to Las Vegas from Tallulah, Louisiana, at the age of sixteen. Whitney supported Westside churches and schools and was respected as supervisor in housekeeping at Desert Inn. Whitney provides information on the African American migration to Las Vegas during the 1940s, post-war race relations in Las Vegas, the daily work of hotel maids, and the Culinary Union.
Interview with Lucille Bryant conducted by Claytee D. White on December 13, 1995. Moving to Las Vegas in 1953 from Tallulah, Louisiana, Bryant worked in the housekeeping departments of the Algiers Hotel, the Silver Slipper, the Sands, and the Stardust. Bryant provides an overview of pre-Civil Rights era conditions in Tallulah and Las Vegas including housing, schools, and working conditions as well as her experiences with the Culinary Workers Union Local 226.
Interview with Jackie Brantley conducted by Claytee D. White on October 27, 1996. Born in Las Vegas following World War II, Brantley grew up on the Westside. Beginning as a public relations specialist for Desert Inn Hotel and Casino, Brantley later worked as a model and supported the development of Nucleus Business Plaza.
Interview with Faye Duncan Daniel conducted by Claytee D. White on October 18, 1996. Beginning in clerical work at the Nevada Test Site, Daniel rose to become the Assistant Hotel Manager at Union Plaza Hotel and Casino. She established the Hotel Managers Association and the Professional Black Women's Alliance. After leaving the gaming industry, Daniel returned to school to train for a career in education. She worked closely with the Displaced Homemaker Program at the Community College of Southern Nevada and later with Help Centers of Southern Nevada.
Interview with James A. Gay III conducted by Perry Kaufman on April 12, 1972. Arriving in 1946 from Fordyce, Arkansas, Gay became the first African-American mortician in Las Vegas. He later worked as Assistant Manager of the Sands Hotel and Casino and Union Plaza while serving as an executive board member of the Culinary Union. Instrumental in the Las Vegas community, Gay worked to improved race relations, addressing social, economic, and civic issues. Gay was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1988.
Interview with Jerry Eppenger conducted by Claytee D. White on September 14, 2011. Eppenger's family moved from Arkansas to Las Vegas in 1953. Joining the Marine Corps in 1964, he was among the early combatants in the Vietnam War. After a brief time in Alaska, he returned to Las Vegas and found work as a security guard at Bonanza Hotel and Nevada Test Site before attending dealer school. Eppenger recalls local black leaders and describes episodes in segregation and racial relations of 1970s Las Vegas. He shares memories of his beloved Cadillac and the fast and lucrative lifestyle of a dealer.
Interview with Viola Johnson conducted by Claytee D. White on March 12, 1996. Johnson lived in a tent when she moved from Fordyce to Las Vegas in 1942. She describes working conditions for maids and the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 strikes between 1969 and 1984.
Interview with Essie Shelton Jacobs conducted by Claytee D. White on February 1, 1996. Jacobs arrived in Las Vegas 1963 and worked in housekeeping at Aladdin Hotel for twenty-three years. Active in the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, she worked as a supervisor and shop steward.