Oral history interviews with Ricky Lee Towers conducted by Claytee D. White on May 02, 2017 and May, 24 2017 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In the first interview, Towers discusses his upbringing in Las Vegas, Nevada and growing up in the Westside. He describes businesses on Jackson Street, the opening of the Moulin Rouge, and his experience as an African American card dealer. Towers talks about organized crime influences in the gaming industry, and the decrease of business on the Westside. In the second interview, Towers discusses the redevelopment of the Historic Westside community.
Oral history interviews with Harold Bradford conducted by Claytee D. White, Camille Morris, Anna Frederick, and Remy Chwae on April 24, 2017 and June 10, 2017 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In the first interview, Bradford discusses his early life in New Orleans, Louisiana. He recalls going through a segregated school system, and his experience with integration. Bradford remembers moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1985, his employment for the Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO), and becoming an art director for YESCO. In the second interview, Bradford discusses his initial interest in neon signs, and his work ethic as a visual artist.
Oral history interview with Fernando Romero conducted by Laurents Bañuelos-Benitez on October 2, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Barbara Tabach also participates in the questioning. Fernando Romero was born in El Paso, Texas in a musical home. His father and brother were avid music players, and his brother left El Paso to play in orchestra in Las Vegas. Despite not being as passionate about music as the rest of his family, music was Romero's ticket to higher education. Romero attended University of Nevada South before it was renamed University of Nevada Las Vegas. Romero has gone on to be deeply involved in the Las Vegas community. He is the current president of Hispanics in Politics. Subjects discussed in this interview include: Hispanics in Politics, Nevada Association of Latin Americans, and education.
Oral history interview with Emilia Marquez conducted by Maribel Estrada Calderón on July 5, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Claytee D. White and Emily Lucile are also present during the interview. Emilia Marquez was born in the United Stated and raised in Alexandria, Virginia, where her father worked as a bricklayer, until the age of twelve, when her father decided to move the family back to Uruguay. She describes acclimating to her new life in middle school and her shift from being perceived as an outsider in Uruguay to accepting Uruguay as home. She describes life in Uruguay and the positions that her family held while living there. After meeting and marrying her husband they trained to work in a casino. She trained as a slot machine operator, and her husband trained as a dealer. This eventually led them to leave Uruguay for the U.S. After the encouragement of her father and mother, she moved with her mother to Las Vegas to work in the casino industry. She describes working as a change person at the Luxor before moving to the newly opened Palms, where she worked until she left it to work at the Wynn. She ends the interview talking about various Uruguayan dishes and traditions, and a brief history of Uruguay. Subjects discussed in this interview: Uruguay, immigration, Las Vegas Strip, Latinx, Luxor.
Oral history interview with LaShannon Lewis conducted by Claytee D. White on March 22, 2019 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Lewis discusses her early life in Las Vegas, Nevada and growing up in the Westside. She talks about moving out of the Westside neighborhood, attending a sixth grade center, and the geographical division of the community. Lewis remembers her employment as a social worker for Clark County, and the redevelopment of the Westside.
Oral history interview with Ethel Smith and Barbara Carter McCalister conducted by Claytee D. White on March 3, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Barbara Carter and Ethel Smith grew up on the Westside in the 1950s, both born in the late 1940s. They attended the Westside School. Their memories of the city are colorful, vibrant, and clear. They loved school and excelled in the assigned work. After high school, before their chosen careers, both tried work as a maid and found the sexual harassment a real challenge. Their memories of entertainment, fun, customs, and business locations on Jackson Avenue and the surrounding Black business community, related on their walk down memory lane, provided good historical information. Barbara Carter entered banking at Valley Bank and Ethel Smith, the casino industry, at a time when the MOB ran Las Vegas. Their recollections remind us that businesses operated differently and these women were there to witness it. Subjects discussed include: Westside, Jackson Ave, MOB, La Concha Motel, Berkley Square, Valley Bank, Caesars Palace, Ash Resnick, Jackson Hotel.
Oral history interview with Millicent Washington, Susan Nwogbe, Samuel Collins, and Tamara Collins-Golden conducted by Claytee D. White on April 10, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. These siblings, Millicent, Tamara, Susan, and Samuel grew up on the Westside and remember the fun of their young lives, schooling that was excellent, and a tight-knit family. Tamara and Susan attended Howard University because of a tour that Susan attended that took her to Black Colleges and Universities throughout the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) system. Both sisters acquired patronage jobs through the Nevada Congressional delegation. The family owned property that may have been inappropriately acquired by the City of Las Vegas. Tamara, as did her grandmother, works for the Economic Opportunity Board with an office in the Westside School. They talk about school desegregation, businesses on Jackson Avenue, COVID-19, and family dynamics. Other subjects discussed include: Economic Development Board, Nevada Test Site, Howard University, School desegregation, Jackson Avenue businesses.
The UNLV Libraries Collection of 18th Century Sheet Music (1745-1799) contains handwritten sheet music for popular English songs in the 18th century published in London, England and Dublin, Ireland.
The UNLV Libraries Collection of Prints, Lithographs, and Illustrations (approximately 1840-1950) contains visual artwork depicting Native Americans, white settlers, and various railroad and mining activities in the American West during the 19th century. The collection also contains artwork depicting various games, the act of gambling, and advertisements. Materials include prints, illustrations, lithographs, and newspaper clippings.
The Leslie H. Smith Papers (approximately 1920-2018) contains the personal papers of Leslie H. Smith, who grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, and mainly documents his involvement with the Las Vegas High School Alumni Association organizing and attending the school's annual reunions. The collection includes personal papers, scrapbooks, and photographs documenting Smith's family, including his father Dr. J. D. Smith, his mother Ruth Weir Smith, and his sister Jeanne Smith Stewart. Reproductions of class photographs from the Las Vegas Grammar School (now known as the Historic Fifth Street School) where Smith attended elementary school are also included this collection.