Search Results
Audio clip from interview with Katherine M. Joseph, October 25, 2004
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Part of an interview with Katherine Joseph, October 25, 2004. In this clip, Joseph describes her dancing career, including a stint in Cuba, and her interactions with Josephine Baker and Pearl Bailey at the Cotton Club in Las Vegas in the 1950s.
Sound
Pat Feaster oral history interview
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Abstract
Oral history interview with Pat Feaster conducted by Claytee D. White on July 1, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Feaster relates how her mother made the decision to leave Fordyce, Arkansas for better economic opportunity and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1942. She describes travelling across the country, living in a one-room structure in the Westside of Las Vegas, and attending the Westside School. She discusses her mother's employment at the Red Rooster Restaurant and then at the Algiers Hotel. She talks at length about her own educational journey after leaving school at fifteen, then returning for her GED and later, a college degree after the birth of her fifth child. She discusses how the decision to improve her education helped her develop a twenty-six year career at the Clark County Health District. She also discusses the Fordyce Club and many important personalities in Las Vegas' Black community.
Archival Collection
Craig Knight oral history interview
Identifier
Abstract
Oral history interview with Craig Knight conducted by Adriona Jordan on December 01, 2014 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Knight begins the interview talking about his childhood in New York, including entertainment at the Apollo Theater, religious activities, and education. He then discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1980 in order to attend Bishop Gorman High School, emphasizing its racial makeup and his time spent playing in the jazz band. He also details his involvement in minority serving community organizations, including the Urban Chamber of Commerce and the Metro Advisory Council. He concludes the interview
discussing West Las Vegas, the closure of F Street, and modern renovations in the area.
Archival Collection
Newspaper article, Pioneer worked Union Pacific for life, Las Vegas Review-Journal, September 23, 1973
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Newspaper article about Orien Stevens who worked on railroad for 48 years, from 1925 to 1973. The article discusses his retirement, positions he was able to hold, and work environment.
Text
Missile newspaper, August 2, 1960
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Issue of the Missile newspaper, described as the "Official Organ of Las Vegas Branch NAACP," August 2, 1960.
Text
Cassius Smith oral history interview
Identifier
Abstract
Oral history interview with Cassius Smith conducted by Claytee D. White on November 16, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project.
Cassius talks about his childhood and early interest in fashion design. He describes his chance encounter with a FUBU employee on a train in New York that opened the door to a ten year career with the hip hop clothing line and other clothing designers. Cassius talks about his decision to move to Las Vegas after attending the MAGIC Fashion Trade Show, and how he settled in the city just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He shares what life has been like since the move and his current entrepreneurial pursuits, including designing a new clothing line with his nephew.
Archival Collection
Floyd Sweets Harrison oral history interview
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Abstract
Oral history interview with Floyd Sweets Harrison conducted by Claytee D. White on September 16, 2016 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Harrison discusses his upbringing in New York City, New York and his involvement in the King Charles Unicycle Troupe. He remembers joining the Ringling Bros. circus in 1968, touring around the country, and his experience as an African American entertainer during that time. Harrison talks about performing in Las Vegas, Nevada, the entertainment industry during the 1980s, and performing for community events. Later, Harrison recalls touring with Siegfried and Roy, and the King Charles Unicycle Troupe becoming an independent show in Las Vegas. Lastly, Harrison discusses the future of circus shows in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Transcript of interview with Vicki Richardson by Claytee D. White, August 19, 2003
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Interview with Vicki Richardson conducted by Claytee D. White on August 19, 2003. As a high school junior in Wilmington, Delaware, Richardson was one of twelve African American students chosen to integrate the school system. A civil rights activist in high school and college, Richardson wrote letters to local newspapers and engaged in protests to desegregate public spaces. Inspired by Harlem Renaissance painters, Richardson paid her way through college by teaching art at a recreation center. She went on to Vanderbilt University and later the University of Chicago where she had a Ford Foundation Fellowship to study inner-city education. She taught at Forestville High School in Chicago where she was Chairwoman of the Art Department and later at Rancho High School in Las Vegas. Richardson owns Left of Center Art Gallery in North Las Vegas and several other local businesses.
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