Oral history interview with Aracely Rascon conducted by Claytee D. White on October 2, 2018 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Rascon recalls her early childhood in Chihuahua, Mexico and until her father brought the family to Las Vegas, Nevada. She studied interior design at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and joined the firm of Simpson Coulter, where she specializes in decorating the interiors of businesses and schools. Two weeks after the October 1, 2017 shooting, her skills were called upon by those across the city who were preparing the Resiliency Center for survivors of the mass shooting. This proposed Resiliency Center needed carpet, paint, furniture, art work, and everything else to make it into a place where people could seek assistance in a peaceful atmosphere where they could tell their stories and ask for help. Rascon contacted all her resources and was pleasantly surprised when each company bent over backwards to offer deals, advice, and referrals. Rascon learned that she could use her talents and decorating skills to help others be at peace and to dialogue and perform in comfort. She will never forget and will be forever grateful to the sense of community displayed by her city.
Oral history interview with Cynthia Mun conducted by Vanessa Concepcion and Stefani Evans on March 31, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Cynthia Mun discusses her upbringing near Seoul, South Korea and her family's immigration to Los Angeles in 1974. She talks about her parents' employment as a seamstress and a janitor, as well as the educational mentors she encountered who helped her to succeed at Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena and later at Yale University. Mun shares her corporate employment history, including helping to launch the Pandora streaming service and creating an accessible platform for E-book use before the creation of Amazon Kindle. Mun talks about her career working at MGM International and how this opened the door for her mother to become an MGM employee and access better working conditions with union employment.
Oral history interview with Helen Yu conducted by Andrew Yu on December 1, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Helen Yu discusses her upbringing in Seoul, South Korea, her grandfather's immigration to the United States in the late 1970s, and her family's decision to follow him to Portland, Oregon in 1984. She shares her family's history and their experiences during the Korean War, including what life was like both in North and South Korea at that time. Helen Yu discusses her undergraduate education at the University of Oregon studying graphic design and her graduate education at Ewha Womans University College of Art and Design in South Korea. She shares her thoughts having both a Korean American and Asian American identity, her marriage and two wedding ceremonies to her Korean husband, and her family's move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2001. Helen Yu concludes with a discussion of her event planning work which led to her current role as the Operations Manager at the Emerald at Queensridge in Las Vegas.
Oral history interview with Alber A. Mora conducted by Rodrigo Vazquez and Laurents Bañuelos-Benitez on December 7, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Alber Mora talks about his life growing up in Cuba with his family and the circumstances of their departure from the country; his brother faced pressures to join the military, which led the Mora family to immigrate to the United States by way of a fishing boat in 1994. Alber discusses the family's lives in Houston, Texas and how he met and married his wife, Rosemary, before the couple moved to Los Angeles and Alber began working at Porto's Bakery, a famous Cuban eatery in L.A. Alber shares how he and his wife eventually moved to Las Vegas, where he works for Caesar's Palace and for the Culinary Workers Union as a Shop Steward.