Oral history interview with Sidney Lowe conducted by Claytee D. White on January 22, 2013 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Lowe begins the interview by discussing her upbringing in Alabama and South Carolina and her experiences with racial segregation and discrimination. She continues, describing places she has lived, her relationship with the father of her children, and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1982. Lowe talks about life in Las Vegas during the 1980s, obtaining a position in the James R. Dickinson Library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) as a library assistant, and her education. Lowe concludes by discussing her career working for the UNLV library system and the library's function on campus.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Billie Mae Polson conducted by Claytee D. White on November 01, 2011 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Polson begins the interview by discussing her upbringing during the Great Depression in Kansas City, Missouri before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada with her family in 1948. She describes what Las Vegas was like at that time and attending the University of Nevada, Reno during the 1950s. Polson then describes her career working for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas libraries, first in the early libraries located in the Frazier and Grant Halls, and later in the James R. Dickinson Library. She concludes by describing some of the history of the university, and how working in the library changed as technology advanced.
Archival Collection
The digital images series (approximately 2000-2011) represent a section of Bill Hughes' work as a photographer and photojournalist. A number of images include bands, DJs, dancers, and performers in various nightclubs and bars in downtown Las Vegas and the Strip, taken for Las Vegas Weekly, including "Acoustic Strip," a weekly performance venue. It also contains a number of portraits taken for Hughes' work at various publications including CityLife and
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Oral history interview with Ron Futrell conducted by Claytee D. White and Stefani Evans on September 30, 2024 for the Game On! The Oral History of Las Vegas Sports project. In this interview, Futrell recalls arriving in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1984 from Washington state where he had worked as a sportscaster. Growing up, Futrell shares he had a love of baseball, football, and basketball. He recalls attending Mt. San Antonio College in California as a communications/broadcasting major, and worked in sports journalism ever since. Three days after he arrived in Las Vegas, he reported on the Jazz v. Lakers game at the Thomas & Mack and interviewed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after the player broke the all-time scoring record. Futrell remembers having to learn about sports betting and about emceeing a 1984 Las Vegas Gold Swim Team fundraiser with Frank Rosenthal. He describes the years-long tension between UNLV Administration, Athletic Directors, and Jerry Tarkanian in a time when sports reporters had to “choose sides.” He describes the salary scandal surrounding basketball coach Rollie Massimino and a "cam scam" in Tark's final year, when a camera was hidden in an air duct in UNLV's North Gym to film a conditioning class. Futrell's relations with UNLV temporarily soured when he broke the 1998 story about UNLV Athletic Director Charlie Cavagnaro using racist and sexist language in describing black and female athletes. However, he later taught for three years in the School of Communications. Digital audio available; no transcript available.
Archival Component