Series of twelve negatives from Nevada State Museum showing Carver House musicians and dancers, Wednesday, January 24, 1962. (Norris Patterson playing the flute; with Calvin Shields on the drums, to Patterson's left).
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Oral history interview with Claytee D. White conducted by Stefani Evans on November 2, 2023 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Claytee D. White, founding directory of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries, celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the OHRC by contributing her oral history to the collection.
She begins by explaining how the system of sharecropping worked in her family near rural Ahoskie, North Carolina, and she talks about the field work involved in raising cotton, tobacco, corn, and peanuts. The fifth of eight children and the first daughter, she shares memories of going into town with her mother, of admiring her women teachers, and of attending North Carolina Central College (now University) for two years before moving to Washington, D.C., and working for the telephone company.
After recalling her two years in D.C. and 22 years in Los Angeles, California, she describes "running away" to Las Vegas, Nevada in the early 1990s. Here, at the History department at UNLV, she recalls learning to conduct oral histories. White shares memories of her first interviews with Hazel and Jimmy Gay and Lucille Bryant. She talks of matriculating to the College of William and Mary for her PhD and of returning to Bertie County to live with her mother and administer the office of The Shaw University Center for Alternative Programs in Education (CAPE). She describes how she was offered the position of OHRC founding director, why it matters that she was an "opportunity hire," and how it feels to be the only Black person in a room.
Archival Collection
Interview with James A. Gay III conducted by Perry Kaufman on April 12, 1972. Arriving in 1946 from Fordyce, Arkansas, Gay became the first African-American mortician in Las Vegas. He later worked as Assistant Manager of the Sands Hotel and Casino and Union Plaza while serving as an executive board member of the Culinary Union. Instrumental in the Las Vegas community, Gay worked to improved race relations, addressing social, economic, and civic issues. Gay was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1988.
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Oral history interview with Darville Knowles conducted by Lisa Gioia-Acres on October 09, 2008 and November 05, 2008 for the Heart to Heart Oral History Project. Knowles is an African-American physician who settled in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1982 and practiced at Sunrise Hospital. He discusses the differences between Miami, Florida and Las Vegas as far as segregation in housing, education, and job opportunities. Knowles also discusses health problems and the future of medicine in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Lillie and Johnny Smith conducted by Claytee D. White on October 19, 2023 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, the couple recalls meeting in Tallulah, Louisiana and marrying in 1973. In 1986, they relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada. Both Lillie and Johnny went to Job Corp and received training that they insist changed their lives and the trajectory of their family. Johhny learned how to drive and operate heavy machinery, and his job at Republic Services utilizes those skills. Lillie became a social worker after obtaining a master's degree.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Eva G. Simmons conducted by Claytee D. White on February 04, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Simmons discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband, and what she and her husband, George, faced in attaining employment. Simmons speaks about being appointed assistant personnel manager under Superintendent Claude Perkins and the beginning of the scholarship-granting organization,
Archival Collection
Photographer's notations: Mrs. Samantha Gardner's[?] kids, Daisy's kids, Rev. Walker, Boyson Morgan.
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Photographer's notations: NAACP Youth[?] '64, Merit Drugs, Basball team.
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