Materials in this collection (1969-1989) document various endeavors of the Operation Life organization. They include original correspondence, meeting minutes, news clippings, medical programs, grant applications, legal and financial documents, brochures and pamphlets, and other materials that provide context on the kinds of services provided by Operation Life. These files were kept by Jack Anderson in the course of his work as attorney for Operation Life.
Left to right: Reverend Ralph Abernathy, Jane Fonda, Dr. George Wiley (Head of National Welfare Rights Organization, Ruby Duncan (Head of Nevada Welfare Rights Organization).
Oral history interview with Aaron Williams conducted by Claytee D. White on August 16, 2005 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Williams recalls individuals he worked with, such as Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Gay, and the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He remembers the Westside Federal Credit Union, joining the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and encountering discrimination at one of the first jobs he had at the Sahara Hotel. He shares anecdotes of Robert Maheu, Steve Wynn, Lubertha Johnson, Ruby Duncan, Mabel Hoggard, and other Las Vegas, Nevada notables.
Ruby Duncan was born in Tallulah, Louisiana on June 7, 1932. Her parents passed away when Duncan was three years old and she spent the remainder of her youth living with various relatives in and around Tallulah. Duncan started work at the Ivory Plantation at an early age, only going to school part-time. She quit school to work full-time as a waitress and later a barmaid. Duncan left Tallulah for Las Vegas, Nevada in 1952 to live with her aunt near Henderson, Nevada.
Oral history interview with Diane Guinn conducted by Claytee D. White on February 12, 2016 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In the interview, Guinn explains growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1950s, and describes her education, friends, and local neighborhood near the intersection of Fremont Street and Stewart Avenue. Guinn describes working in the State of Nevada Division of Welfare and Supportive Services, and recalls events and campaigns for welfare rights that took place during the 1970s and 1980s. She also recalls working with Ruby Duncan in the development of Operation Life, a nonprofit organization that promoted welfare reform in West Las Vegas. Lastly, Guinn talks about urban development, residential living conditions, and politicians in Las Vegas during the 1970s and 1980s.
Group of photographs of Commissioner Ron Lurie at events, and presenting awards, plaques, and proclamations to citizens and friends of the City of Las Vegas. This group of images includes many photographs of Lurie with Mayor Bill Briare, and with notable Las Vegans including Woodrow Wilson and Ruby Duncan. There are also several images of the installation of a traffic light at an intersection.
Oral history interview with Reverend Marion Bennett conducted by Claytee D. White on January 12, 2004 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In the interview, Reverend Bennett gave his account of what Las Vegas, Nevada was like during the 1950s and 1960s. He talks about the Westside of Las Vegas during integration and speaks candidly about the racial tension that the community endured. Throughout the interview he spoke about well known early Las Vegans like Ruby Duncan, Mahlon Brown, Jack Anderson, and Dave Hoggard.