Kerin Rodgers was born in 1936. She recounts her family history and stories of her youth growing up in Boston, MA, and shares how the family relocated to Seattle, WA in the mid-1940s. She talks about her enjoyment of theatrical arts and politics, and about being a resourceful divorced, single-mom and entrepreneur. In 1958 she opened a retail fashion store and modeling agency with a friend in Santa Monica, CA. Kerin had a knack for fashion and interior design that would assist her then and into the future. She also shares the story of arriving in Las Vegas as part of retail job with The Broadway stores in 1966—a two-week stint that seemed to have no ending. Her transition into Las Vegas included remarriage, a 1974 Keno win that enabled her to put down money on a home ( a house built by Paul Huffey) in the John S. Park neighborhood, and making close friends in the community. Her interview is sprinkled with tales of activities and personalities from the neighborhood's past and present. Kerin was involved with the Focus Youth House, speaks about First Fridays and art, as well as gives a perspective of police, criminal behaviors and changes in the neighborhood over the years. She hosted a local television show and enjoyed being a community activist.
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From the Roosevelt Fitzgerald Professional Papers (MS-01082) -- Personal and professional papers file.
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The Helen J. Stewart Photographs depict the Stewart Family from approximately 1860 to 1950. The photographs primarily depict Helen J. Stewart and her children as well as the Stewart Ranch (also know as the Las Vegas Ranch) in Southern Nevada. The photographs include the early Las Vegas, Nevada town site, landscapes of Southern Nevada and the American Southwest, mines and mining camps, railroads and railroad workers, the Las Vegas Fort (also known as the Old Mormon Fort), hotels and early businesses in Las Vegas, Native Americans and Native American artifacts, and postcards.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Fernando Rocha conducted by Nathalie Martinez and Barbara Tabach on November 13, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Fernando Rocha recalls growing up in Santa Ana, California and in Sunrise Manor in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fernando Rocha is a Mexican professional who is committed to giving back to the Latinx youth of Las Vegas. He talks about his responsibility as a translator in his family with his siblings. He credits his academic and professional success to the Clark County School District and programs such as GEAR UP and Upward Bound. After studying at Hofstra University, he came back to Las Vegas to work with Wells Fargo and is an active community member as co-founder of the Nevada Youth Coalition and work through the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) and Nevada Promise Mentor at the College of Southern Nevada (CSN).
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Oral history interview with Luceanne "Lucy" Taufa conducted by Jerwin Tiu, Cecilia Winchell, and Stefani Evans on December 16, 2022 for Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Taufa describes growing up on the Tongan island of Vava'u in a large family and later immigrating to the United States. She recalls her father first immigrating to Hawaii, and after obtaining a green card, her and her siblings following shortly after. While Kaufa's older siblings continued to pursue higher education and her younger siblings were too young to work, she took on a bulk of the responsibility to provide income and navigate life in Hawaii for her family. Eventually, Lucy moved to Dallas, Texas, met her husband, and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada for her husband's job. Later in the interview, she discusses joining the Culinary Union after experiencing racial discrimination at her workplace and her pride in her identity as a Tongan woman.
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