Oral history interview with Tessa Marie Winkelmann conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on October 21, 2022 for the Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Tessa Winkelmann recalls her transient childhood due to her father's job as a chef for Hyatt International which led to their family relocating to several places before they eventually landed in the Coachella Valley, California. Her mother, as a recent Filipino immigrant, stayed at home taking care of Winkelmann and her two siblings for a number of years before also beginning to work in sales at hotels. Winkelmann recalls her grandmother, who helped raise her and her siblings by cooking and taking care of them. She recalls living in a poorer part of Coachella Valley and having to attend school in a neighboring town without adequate transportation. Winkelmann attended the University of California, Irvine, where she majored in English and political science. She later attended San Francisco State University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for graduate school. Winkelmann discusses the themes of her research, touching on interracial relationships and their influence on colonial relations between the Philippines and the West. Throughout the interview, Winkelmann touches on topics regarding her identity, life in Las Vegas, and other aspects of her journey.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Chelsy Carter conducted by Jerwin Tiu and Stefani Evans on October 17, 2022 for the Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Chelsy Carter recalls her childhood growing up on a Norfolk, North Virginia military base in a predominately white community. Carter recounts becoming pregnant and getting married at a young age, and later divorcing and moving back with family. After moving back with her parents, Carter began working as a piano instructor, and as Carter gained a bit more flexibility she moved in the technical industry for small company in the Navy. After obtaining a masters degree in Humanities, Carter went on to work for the first digital weather website companies, and eventually became Vice President of Services and Support and Knowledge Management at Gannett. Carter discusses encountering both discrimination as someone with Filipino heritage and as a woman in her industry. After retirement, Carter and her husband moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where they now volunteer in many organizations, including the Jazz Outreach Initiative and Three Square.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Alex Kang conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on October 4, 2022 for the Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Kang discusses his childhood moving back and forth between Pusan, South Korea and America as his parents sought the best place to raise their children. Kang recalls the multitude of endeavors he has heavily invested in since he was young, from moving to Brazil to pursue his interests in soccer to practicing golf every single day in his youth. Kang attended San Diego State University on a scholarship to play golf and majored in math. He got involved in a party bus business, honed his golf skills, and decided to learn how to count cards at the casino. Kang moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2013. Throughout the rest of the interview, Kang discusses how he organizes extravagant events, including an event hosting the popular K-Pop group BTS in Las Vegas, his golfing career, and enjoying his life surrounded by his family.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Cristina Alano conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on September 9, 2022 for the Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Alano recalls a happy childhood in Pampanga, Philippines. After attending college for a banking and finance degree, she briefly worked at a bank before marrying her husband and immigrating to the United States. She would go on to move to Colorado where she lived for seven years, and finally moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2003. Alano recalls her first jobs in Las Vegas, including Walmart, SEI Electronics, a cashier at the Riviera, and finally the airport where works as a supervisor at Hudson as well as an assistant manager at Brighton. She discusses what she has done at each job and how she ended up getting involved with the Culinary Union in 2016. Since joining the union, she has done everything from being a shop steward to canvassing, most recently flying down to Georgia to help campaign for Senator Warnock. Throughout the rest of the interview, she discusses everything from food, to festivals, and her family.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Ron Smith conducted by Claytee D. White on May 10, 2022 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Ron Smith discusses his early life in Queens, New York and his Catholic school education. Smith served as a Red Cross volunteer at the hospital where his mother worked, and after one year at St. Johns University he volunteered for the Air Force to avoid being drafted by the Army. Soon after basic training and being trained as an aircraft mechanic, Ron Smith volunteered to go to Vietnam. Later, Smith talks about his experience owning seventeen McDonald's restaurants throughout Las Vegas, Nevada and future plans to construct a mall and residential complex on Boulder Highway in partnership with the City of Henderson.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Alex X. Porter conducted by Claytee D. White on April 16, 2022 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Porter mainly discusses his membership of and devout role in the Nation of Islam. He discusses how he became involved with the religion after trying to enact change in the Black community through the NAACP. He discusses how his stance on education sets him apart from the majority of the Black community; he believes that a college degree is not necessary to teach intellectual topics to young people. Porter is active in the Las Vegas Black community as either a member or supporter of the Minister's Alliance, Shepherd's Breakfast, NAACP, Black Lives Matter, and the Nation of Islam.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Juanita Fain conducted by Claytee D. White on November 19, 2021 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Fain recalls her childhood in Newark, New Jersey and earning a doctorate degree in Higher Education administration from The Ohio State University. After she was hired by Carol Harter at Ohio State in 1980 as Director of Financial Aid, she came to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in 1996 as Dean of Enrollment and Management. After various positions, she became Vice President of Student Affairs and in 2021, Interim Chief Diversity Officer was added to her responsibilities. Fain will retire in 2023 after serving her final year as a Special Liaison to President Whitfield.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Gloria Dixon conducted by Claytee D. White on May 2, 2022 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Dixon recalls her childhood growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dixon attended St. Christopher and Bishop Gorman High School, and recalls her parents' involvement in the New Jerusalem Church. Dixon discusses writing grants to help with community education programs, and using her experience as a hospice nurse for the last thirty years to help communicate information about public health crises. Throughout the interview, Dixon shares information about the businesses in the Las Vegas Black community on Jackson Street.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with William O'Neill McCurdy Sr. by Claytee D. White on January 26, 2022 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, McCurdy describes his childhood gorwing up in Las Vegas, Nevada, graduating from Valley High School, and attending Western Nevada College in Carson City, Nevada. He worked for many years for the Parks and Recreation department, and has served on numerous boards including the Citizens' Advisory for Regional Transportation (RTC), Habitat for Humanity Board of Director, Mineral County Economic Advisory Committee, City of Las Vegas Community Block Grant Advisory Board, and Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority Commission. Currently, McCurdy owns McCurdy & McCurdy Media Group, a political consulting and advertising firm which has assisted numerous political candidates in fulfilling their dreams of helping to govern Las Vegas, Clark County, the State of Nevada, and even in the United States Congress.
Archival Collection
The Barbara Tabach Papers (1978-2022) mainly contain project files kept by oral historian Barbara Tabach throughout her experiences managing different oral history community documentation projects for the Oral History Research Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) from 2010 to 2022. Oral history projects represented in this collection include
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