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Pete Berger oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Pete Berger conducted by David Schwartz on June 14, 2019 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Pete Berger discusses arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1955 after serving in the United States Air Force in California. He talks about his career working as a pit boss at over a dozen Las Vegas casinos , other positions he held, and the people he met throughout his career.
Archival Collection
Laurents Bañuelos-Benitez oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Laurents Bañuelos-Benitez conducted by Rodrigo Vazquez and Barbara Tabach on June 16, 2021 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Laurents is a Las Vegas native, graduate of Clark High School, and son of Mexican and Salvadoran immigrants. He is currently an English teacher at Rancho High School and was a former student worker on the Latinx Voices project.
Archival Collection
Barbara Jean Drew oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Barbara Jean Drew conducted by Claytee D. White on May 17, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Barbara Drew is the Dean of the Academy for Ministers, teaches Bible study, and performs other spiritual work at New Jerusalem Worship Center. Drew migrated to Las Vegas from Fortune Fork, Louisiana, just two miles outside the city limits of Tallulah.
This interview covers life in the Black community beginning when Drew arrived in 1961. She spoke about the importance of businesses like the Brown Derby, Hamburger Heaven, and the Town Tavern that hosted jazz on Sunday afternoons with a dance floor that she enjoyed. She discussed her first job running American Linen, a Dry Cleaners owned by Phil Shapiro; Shapiro mentored Drew, teaching her about business operations, purchasing property for her family, bookkeeping, and the importance of having a bank account. She also spoke of a neighborhood where neighbors helped neighbors and opportunities that flourished throughout the Black community. Subjects discussed include: Jackson Ave, Town Tavern, New Jerusalem Worship Center, Kasper Park, Berkley Square, and Phil Shapiro.
Archival Collection
Asalee Harris oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Asalee Harris conducted by Claytee D. White on May 17, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Asalee Harris was born in Fortune Fork, outside of Tallulah, Louisiana. Born into a family of cotton sharecroppers, farm life was arduous; eventually she and her family moved to Tallulah where she met and married her husband, James. Asalee and James moved to Las Vegas in 1954 where James' brother lived. She details her work as a maid and member of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, local businesses she remembers on Jackson Street including Wesley's Barber Shop, Johnson's Grocery Store, Elite Market, the Westside Credit Union, and her church work at New Jerusalem Church. Subjects discussed include: sharecropping, Tallulah, Louisiana, Westside Credit Union, and New Jerusalem Church.
Archival Collection
Lee White oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Lee White conducted by Claytee D. White on May 18, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Lee White played professional football for the New York Jets, Los Angeles Rams, and San Diego Chargers. A promising career as a first round draft pick resulted in an injury in his first professional game. He retired from football at the age of 28 and moved back to Las Vegas where he had grown up on the Westside. Lee entered the hotel and casino industry as a dealer, retiring twenty-five years later as a Vice President of Casino Operations. His career in the tourism industry included work at the Sands, MGM, Desert Inn, and the Tropicana.
Subjects discussed include: Westside School, Weber State College, and the Sahara Hotel and Casino
Archival Collection
Dr. John Fildes oral history interviews
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Oral history interviews with Dr. John Fildes conducted by Claytee D. White on June 10, 2021 and April 12, 2022 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Dr. John Fildes is Professor and Inaugural Chair of the Department of Surgery at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV). Fildes graduated from the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery in Manila, Philippines in 1982. Upon returning to the United States, he completed his residency in General Surgery at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in the South Bronx and a fellowship in Trauma, Burns, and Surgical Critical Care in Cook County. In 1995, Fildes was hired to come to Las Vegas, Nevada by Dr. Dale Harrison. Fildes instituted policies and procedures that proved to be effective when the 1 October shooting occured in 2017. All those alive upon arrival to University Medical Center (UMC) survived. Dr. Fildes and his team used all their skills, strategies, and medical acumen to ensure those results. In the second interview, Dr. Fildes continues his history by shared thoughts about the COVID-19 pandemic and his experiences with various governmental and military assignments, including the military tradition of passing the challenge coins as a token of admiration. Finally, Fildes concludes his interviews by noting that COVID was all-consuming and tested the balance between individual rights and public health.
Archival Collection
Fred Holland Jr. oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Fred Holland Jr. conducted by Claytee D. White on April 03, 2019 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Holland discusses why his family moved to Boulder City, Nevada in 1931 where his father began working on the construction of the Hoover Dam. He talks about the types of work his father did, the means in which his family survived harsh conditions, what it was like going to school in Boulder City, his enlistment in the United States Air Force during World War II, and his experiences with the Boulder City Gun Club.
Archival Collection
Michael S. Green oral history interview
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Oral history interview with UNLV History Professor Michael S. Green conducted by Barbara Tabach on May 25, 2021 for The Great Pause: Las Vegas Chronicles of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Subjects discussed include: Teaching at UNLV; life habits; medical observations; and adapting to health protocols.
Archival Collection
James Harris Johnson III oral history interview
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Oral history interview with James Harris Johnson III conducted by Claytee D. White on May 6, 2021 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project.
Johnson was born in Las Vegas where his father landed as a result of his Air Force career. His mother's work as a short-time horticulturist at the MGM Mirage led to a scholarship for his higher education at University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV).
After graduating, Johnson left Las Vegas to advance his career, working as an anchor in Laredo, Texas; Bakersfield, California; and Omaha, Nebraska.
Racism in Omaha was more overt and damaging than in other cities, thus prompting Johnson and his family to move back to Las Vegas and resume the work he loves. To his credit, Johnson has earned three Emmy Awards because of his artistry in anchoring, reporting, editing, shooting, interviewing, producing, and writing. James Johnson presently works as a cameraman/photojournalist for Channel 3 CBS News.
Subjects discussed include: Channel 3; Fox 5; Emmy Awards; Bakersfield; and MGM Scholarship
Archival Collection
Dianna and Gerald Davis oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Dianna and Gerald Davis conducted by Claytee D. White on May 6, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project.
Gerald Davis was falsely arrested on a Sunday afternoon in October 1969, leading to a three-day riot in the Black Westside community of Las Vegas. The Davis' discuss this event as well as their respective backgrounds and past experiences living in Las Vegas, including the businesses they supported, the places they visited, and their employment history.
Subjects discussed include: 1969 riot; Jackson Ave; Officer Arrington; Westside School; and Charles Wyatt
Archival Collection