Chelsie Campbell is a Cuban-American attorney and lobbyist. Born on October 4, 1979, Chelsie is a native Nevadan and grew up in Las Vegas. Her mother, Norah Campbell, came to Las Vegas after the Cuban Revolution and works as an elementary school teacher. Her father, Alan Campbell, was a former teacher and hotel manager. An advocate for the Latino community, Chelsie has dedicated her life to advocacy. Her involvement began at UNLV where she found her voice through the Student Organization of Latinos (SOL). During her time with SOL, she advocated for the elimination of the social security requirement in UNLV’s admission process and lobbied for the retraction of Las Vegas Review Journal’s racist article on Latino students. Her activism in SOL also helped established additional SOL chapters across Las Vegas high schools and at the College of Southern Nevada. After earning her Bachelors in Broadcast Journalism and Spanish Literature from UNLV, Chelsie attended William S. Boyd Law School where she graduated in 2005. Chelsie also attended University of Nevada, Reno where she received her master’s in Management and a graduate certificate in renewable energy. Chelsie worked for Mach One Group as Editor-In-Chief of its two publications, Nevada Family Magazine and La Familia de Nevada. After law school, Chelsie began working at NV Energy as a spokesperson and worked her way up to government affairs. Chelsie is currently working as an independent lobbyist and choses her clients. Her clients include Clark County School District and NV Energy. Her work as a lobbyist includes helping agencies prepare for Nevada’s legislative session, conduct public policy research, and help with educational outreach. Through her activism, Chelsie has worked for former Senate Majority Leader, U.S. Senator Harry Reid. Chelsie is also part of the inaugural class of Emerge Nevada, a political leadership-training program for women in Nevada. Chelsie is on the Board of Trustees for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Southern Nevada, the Chairwoman for the Nevada Advisory Board for CPLC Southwest, Board Member for the Advisory Commission on law-related Education for the State Bar of Nevada and serves on the Governmental Affairs Committee for the Latin Chamber of Commerce. She is the former President for the Boyd Law School Alumni Chapter and the Board of Directors for the Gray Plunkett Jydstrup Living Facility. Chelsie would like to dedicate her oral history to her parents: Without them, I wouldn’t be here.

From the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Theta Theta Omega Chapter Records (MS-01014) -- Chapter records file.

The Kim Sisters, composed of three sisters, Sook-ja, Ai-ja, and Mia, came from Korea to Las Vegas in February 1959. Their first contract in America was to perform at the Thunderbird Hotel for four weeks as part of the China Doll Revue, the main showroom program. This engagement led to a successful career. Their popularity reached was at its height at the end of the 1960s when they performed throughout the United States and Europe. Sook-ja Kim is the oldest of the sisters. After his sister Ai-ja died in 1987, Sook-ja teamed up with her two brothers and continued to perform until 1989. Now semi-retired from show business, with occasional performances in Korea, she is working as a real estate agent. In this interview, she talked about her childhood, her career, and the family she has built since coming to America. Sook-ja was born in 1941 in Seoul, Korea as the third child of seven in a musical family. Her father was a conductor and her mother, a popular singer. After the Korean War, her mother arranged to send the Kim Sisters to America. When they came to Las Vegas, there were virtually no Koreans in the area. They depended on each other to take care of themselves. Some of the difficulties they had to adjust to in American were language, food, and cultural differences. Over the span of almost forty years in America, Sook-ja became acculturated without discarding her ethnic identity of family priorities. Her life-long guiding principle has been to adopt certain American values while continuing to keep her cherished Korean ethnic values. Through their performances, the Kim Sister informed the audience about Koreans and their culture. As the oldest of the group, Sook-ja was entrusted the care of her sisters, and later her brothers, the Kim brothers. Once she settled in Las Vegas, she brought more than forty members of her extended family to the city, contributing to the growth of the Las Vegas Korean community.

Richard Steele became interested in professional boxing at a young age when he was introduced to world champion boxers Chalky Wright and Sugar Ray Robinson. He trained at Hoover Street Gym in South Central, Los Angeles, with trainer Eddie Futch. Richard joined and boxed for the United States Marine Corps and became Marine Corps Middleweight Champion in 1963. Born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1944 Richard and his family moved to Los Angeles, California in the early 1950s. His father was a bartender and his mother was an elevator operator. During the interview Richard’s daughter Zakeisha Steele-Jones discusses the various job titles her father has held, including professional actor and campus police officer. Most notably, Richard was the second Black professional referee in both Los Angeles, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada. A profound interview heralding key character traits, such as, perseverance, resilience, strength, and determination, Richard recalls being personally invited by Nelson Mandela to referee the WBC Convention in South Africa. Some of Richard’s most memorable title fights to date include, the Hearns and Hagler fight, Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns, and four Mike Tyson fights. Zakeisha also interjects that her father currently manages and owns a boxing gym where he trains and mentors young Black and Hispanic aspiring boxing champions and referees.