Oral history interview with Coleen York Wilson conducted by Claytee D. White on June 4, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Wilson talks about growing up in Fordyce, Arkansas before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1953 at the age of eighteen. She mentions that her parents had moved to Nevada in 1940 to work at Basic Magnesium, Incorporated (BMI), living in a trailer before returning to Fordyce two years later. She then discusses moving to Las Vegas to join an older sister and relates that she did not remember any discrimination in seating or eating meals during her bus trip. After this, Wilson lists the jobs she held in Las Vegas before her retirement in 1984, including work at the Las Vegas Cleaners, serving as a school crossing guard, and working as a housekeeping supervisor at the Stardust Resort Hotel, the Hacienda Resort Hotel, and Circus Circus Hotel and Casino before taking a job at the Nevada Test Site. She also talks about her family, her church activities, and her regret at not attending college.
Archival Collection
Sonny (Sandy C.) Thomas is from Fordyce AR. He worked in hotels for over 30 years before securing job as funeral director for which he was trained.
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Oral history interview with Regina Cone, Lotea Cone, and Maurice Cone conducted by Claytee D. White on March 01, 2018 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Lotea discusses her upbringing in Fordyce, Arkansas and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1953. She remembers the Westside during the late 1950s and discusses businesses in that area. Maurice talks about growing up in the Westside, the increase of organized crime, and attending Rancho High School. Lastly, Lotea and Maurice recall segregation in Las Vegas and changes in the Westside community. Regina is the daughter of Lotea and briefly participates in the interview.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Avril "Juanita" Simmons and Fred "Bubba" Simmons conducted by Claytee D. White on May 21, 1996 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection.
In this interview, husband and wife Bubba and Juanita Simmons talk about their separate moves from Fordyce, Arkansas to Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1940s and their impressions of the city after moving. Bubba shares stories of his employment at the Basic Magnesium, Inc. plant in Henderson and his experiences living in tents on the Westside, traveling to work with the help of Red Mitchell, and sharing living spaces with nine to ten other men. Juanita discusses her work as a family's caregiver and speaks to the kinds of occupations Black women obtained in Las Vegas at that time. The couple share stories of city life and the clubs, eateries, and shops that were present in the area.
Archival Collection
Rejoyce Williams was born April 26, 1905 in Fordyce, Arkansas. She left Fordyce when she was 17 for Oceanside, California, with her husband and their two children. The family then moved to Saginaw, Michigan, and eventually had nine children, six of whom survived. In 1960, the Williams family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada for two reasons: their youngest daughter, who suffered from asthma, needed to live in a dry climate and Williams’ mother-in-law lived in Las Vegas.
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Oral history interview with Viola Johnson conducted by Claytee D. White on March 03, 1996 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Johnson discusses leaving Fordyce, Arkansas in 1942 to join her parents in Las Vegas, Nevada where her first home was a tent. Johnson goes on to discuss life with her parents in Las Vegas including their work and church activities. Johnson also describes her work at the Flamingo Hilton and Sands Hotel and Casino as a maid, and at the Riviera Hotel and Casino making sandwiches. Finally, Johnson talks about labor conditions and the Culinary Union during the early years of the Las Vegas Strip casino development.
Archival Collection
Rejoyce Williams moved to Las Vegas with her husband and their six children in 1960. Williams grew up in Fordyce, Arkansas, and has also lived in California. When she arrived in Las Vegas, she worked as a maid at the Las Vegas Hilton and participated in the Culinary Union strike in 1970. In the interview, she discusses her involvement in church activities, and other anecdotes from her employment.
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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.
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Hazel Gay was born in Fordyce, Arkansas in 1923. Hazel met her husband, Jimmy Gay, when she was about twenty years old while she was attending school in Thornton, Arkansas. Eventually, Gay and Jimmy were married secretly with no one knowing until several weeks later. Gay and her husband went on to have four children, all currently living in Las Vegas, Nevada. Before the family moved to Las Vegas, they lived in Fordyce, Arkansas.
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