Photograph was taken at 102 E. Ramsey Avenue, Goldfield, Nevada, in front of the Lewis Rogers, Attorney-at-Law Office. July 4, 1906. Joe Gans (left) with three unidentified men. One is most likely Rogers, his attorney. Handwritten inscription w/ image: "On Sept. 3, 1906, Joe Gans, known as the "Old Masta", fought Oscar "Battling" Nelson in Goldfield. The fight was promoted by Southern Nevada Mining magnate Tex Rickard. Nelson had come out of retirement for the bout saying "I want to settle once and for all that a white boxer can defeat a ------ any day." Gans, a negro, had come to begin his training in Goldfield in June 1906. Because Gans was was black, he was compelled by boxing promoters to permit less-talented white fighters to last the scheduled number of bouts with him and occasionally defeat him. The Gans-Nelson fight for the lightweight championship lasted 42 rounds and is considered the single greatest boxing performance in history. Gans won when Nelson deliberately fouled him. The fight brought in a purse of $75,000 and was attended by 6500 spectators, both records at the time. Blacks from across the country came to cheer on Gans and many stayed in town to work following the contest. Less than four years later, Gans would be dead of tuberculosis."

Pictured L-R: Bill Briare (holding a framed print), unknown, Las Vegas Mayor Oran K. Gragson (center, holding statuette), two unknown men holding three framed prints. The location where the photograph was taken is unknown. Oran Kenneth Gragson (February 14, 1911 – October 7, 2002) was an American businessman and politician. He was the longest-serving mayor of Las Vegas, Nevada, from 1959 to 1975. Gragson, a member of the Republican Party, was a small business owner who was elected Mayor on a reform platform against police corruption and for equal opportunity for people of all socio-economic and racial categories. Gragson died in a Las Vegas hospice on October 7, 2002, at the age of 91. The Oran K. Gragson Elementary School located at 555 N. Honolulu Street, Las Vegas, NV 89110 was named in his honor. William Hubert "Bill" Briare (July 13, 1930 – December 8, 2006) was an American politician. In the 1960s, Briare served in the Nevada Assembly and as a Clark County Commissioner. In 1971, he lost his first campaign for mayor of Las Vegas, Nevada to Oran K. Gragson, but Briare was elected in his next attempt in 1975, defeating Harry Reid. He was the former mayor of Las Vegas from 1975 to 1987. Briare was a member of the Democratic Party.

James “Jim” Bonaventure worked from thirteen years of age, entering the hotel casino industry at sixteen. The weekend buffet at the Hacienda was not his cup of tea but he hit his stride at his second job, the Horseshoe, and stayed there for seven and half years. But it was the work at the Union Hall that he loved. He stayed there for over thirty years developing the grievance department into today’s state-of-the-art entity that negotiates between employees and employers. Bonaventure served on the front lines of major disputes including strikes. In the beginning, the Las Vegas Police Department sided with hotel casino owners but over the years as personnel changed, they became more egalitarian in the treatment of strikers. The 1984 strike was one of the most contentious and up to that time, the largest in the history of the union. More than 17,000 workers walked off their jobs to protest conditions at 32 Hotel Resorts. Arrests were plentiful. As soon as the leadership reached the picket line, they were immediately handcuffed. The bitterness did not end when the 9-month strike concluded. Bonaventure remembers Bally’s putting up $100,000 to fight grievances. Still, the union won 85% of the cases. Then several downtown casinos reared their collective heads. The Golden Gate Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas Club, and the Plaza Hotel Casino were dubbed the Downtown Three. Strained relationships turned into a lawsuit where the Culinary Union was paid $40,000. Then in 1989 Fitzgerald’s Hotel Casino’s actions called for a picket line. Bonaventure and other leaders agreed on a Noise Night. Union member brought pot and pans and banged on them. The night ended with a lawsuit filed by police officers claiming hearing loss. From the bottom of his heart, Bonaventure is a Union Man. It has been his life’s work. He is most proud of and humbled by his work as a trustee of the Culinary Academy of Las Vegas. Anyone can train there for most positions in the hotel industry and be hired into the industry upon graduation. And it’s the place when U.S. citizenship classes are given to all those ready to apply. During this 2014 interview Jim Bonaventure was thinking about retirement or at least slowing down. I would not be surprised if he’s still at his Culinary Workers Union Local 226 desk handling more grievances than anyone else in his department.

Includes meeting minutes and agenda. CSUN Session 35 Meeting Minutes and Agendas.