Oral history interviews with Victor Wei conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Jerwin Tiu, and Stefani Evans on May 23, 2022 and June 06, 2022 for the Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In the first interview, Wei recalls his early childhood, moving around China, and being part of a large family. Wei's life took a sudden turn when he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, and then to California where he had a difficult time navigating life as a Chinese individual. Wei and his family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he continued his business consulting work and partnered with UNLV President Marta Meana on the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine. In the second interview, Wei discusses the importance of one's own narrative, and talks about how he perceives his race, community help, and the greater world. Wei also touches on how discrimination existed before the COVID-19 pandemic and how there must be a balance between retaining one's heritage and assimilation. Lastly, Wei discusses his spirituality, war, and human nature.
Oral history with Nympha Comacchio conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on May 09, 2022 for the Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Comacchio recalls her childhood in the Philippines and growing up in a large family. After attending elementary school, Comacchio immediately went to work on her father's lumber farm, performing manual labor until she was seventeen. Later, she recalls finding employment as a seamstress in Manila, where she met her first husband when she left to work in Saudi Arabia for better pay. Comacchio describes how she was able to receive a student visa to finally immigrate to the United States, where she first arrived in California. Eventually, after meeting her second husband and hearing about housing prices in Las Vegas, Nevada, they purchased a house in the city in 2000. After briefly working for the New Frontier, Comacchio began working for the Wynn and Encore, where she found out about the Culinary Workers Union and became more active in that organization. Throughout the rest of the interview, Comacchio touches on the responsibilities of being a housekeeper, the current challenges they face, and how she feels about the growing AAPI population in southern Nevada.
I, Chester Davis, was born in Long Beach, California, June 22, 1929.
There was always music in the home. Two maiden aunts who visited regularly, encouraged their nephew to sing songs. He had a good ear and sang in tune. The wind-up "Victrola" was regularly heard playing Stephen Foster and Victor Herbert.