Part of an interview with Ruby Amie-Pilot on August 7, 2012. In this clip Amie-Pilot talks about plans to picket Floyd Patterson fight at the Las Vegas Convention Center, because blacks not allowed to attend.
Oral history interview with Edwina and Johnnie E. Richardson Jr. conducted by Claytee D. White on September 29, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project.
Johnnie and Edwina Richardson share their story of meeting in Las Vegas, falling in love, and operating the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church originally established by Johnnie's father. The couple talk about their previous employment in the gaming industry before working full time with the church and their various responsibilities and outreach efforts within the community. Johnnie and Edwina also discuss Windsor Park and the circumstances of saving their home when houses in the neighborhood began sinking, as well as the impacts they saw on other families who weren't so lucky.
Transcript from interview with Waldemar Jackson by Claytee White on May 5, 2013. Jackson's family was one of the first black families in the West Las Vegas neighborhood Vegas Heights. Jackson joined the Air Force and traveled overseas, encountering racism. He returned to Las Vegas and his employment history includes construction, slot floor man at the Marina, aircraft fueler and baggage screener. He discusses his troubles with substance abuse since his mother's death in 1999.
Oral history interview with Billie Rayford conducted by Claytee D. White on May 01, 2018 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Rayford discusses her early life in Jefferson, Texas. She talks about school integration, living during the Jim Crow laws, and the discrimination she experienced at the time. Rayford remembers moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1979, obtaining a teaching position at Rancho High School, and teaching students with special needs. Rayford describes the implementation of empowerment schools in the Clark County School District (CCSD), and her involvement with the dual enrollment program at the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) for CCSD high school students. Later, Rayford discusses her involvement with Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, Les Femmes Douze (The Ladies Twelve), 20 Pearls Foundation, and providing civil services for the Westside community. Lastly, Rayford talks about being a charter member of 100 Black Women.
Oral history interview with Ruby Gordon conducted by Claytee D. White on October 29, 2004 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Gordon talks about her birth and early upbringing in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and Las Vegas, Nevada, where her parents moved when she was seven years old. She discusses her parent's decision to move for better opportunities and the kind of work they did, then speaks extensively about her education through high school, her early marriage, and raising six children. She also talks about the difficulties that mothers faced while trying to work and raise children, especially those with health issues. Later she talks about her involvement with the Elks fraternal organization and explains that there were different lodges for whites and Blacks, based primarily on location, the lodges regularly interacted and worked together on civic and charity programs. Finally, she expands on her own work history in early childhood education, working for the state, and for Child Haven.
Oral history interview with Trula McGee conducted by Claytee D. White on March 17, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project.
Trula McGee talks about her experiences growing up in a military family and her time as a student and young adult in the Westside community. She also discusses her employment as a Keno writer and runner at the Sands Hotel and Casino, Castaways Hotel and Casino, and the Silver Slipper Gambling Hall and Saloon and how this led to her meeting both Wayne Newton and Marvin Gaye.
Subjects discussed include: Carver Park; Basic High School; Nevada State Bank; Jackson Ave.; Golden West Shopping Center; Reuben's Supper Club; and Larry's Sight and Sound.