From the Roosevelt Fitzgerald Professional Papers (MS-01082) -- Drafts for the Las Vegas Sentinel Voice file. On the importance of Supreme Court appointment with retirement of Justice Brennan.
In 2014, Charlene, n?e Friedkin, Herst retired from her state government career, settled into volunteer work, being a mother and grandmother, and being a grant writer for others. After thirteen years in Carson City, she came back home to Las Vegas. Charlene was eight years old when her parents, Patricia and Richard Friedkin, moved their family to Las Vegas from northern California. She remembers vividly the hot day that they arrived and moved into a rental house in the desert across from Woodlawn Cemetery. Her father, formerly in the grocery business, found work at Vegas Village. Two years later they moved ?into Las Vegas at the very edge?which was Oakey.? She recalls people she has known since those first years who have been instrumental in the growth of Las Vegas; the challenges of being a divorced single mother of four; and the career path that began with an invitation from Gene Greenberg to apply for a part time position at Channel 3, where he was sales manager. At Channel 3 she quickly went from part time to full-time. She started the Community Projects Board, which brought together nonprofit organizations together at the studio in the 1980s to identify and develop marketing campaigns that addressed social issues in the community. Initiatives included Baby Your Baby and Smoking Stinks. While working for Channel 3, she also attended UNLV and received a communications degree in 1995. In 1997 she worked at Sierra Health Services in public relations. Then in October 2001, Charlene started her career in state government as the Nevada State Health Division?s Manager of the Tobacco Program. Over the course of her thirteen year career with the state, she was promoted to positions that continued her dedication to improving the quality of life of all Nevadans. She was instrumental in the implementation of the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act (2006); improving prevention services to women; reducing the rate of substance use and abuse in the state. The date of her retirement, October 10, 2014, was officially proclaimed in honor of Charlene Herst by Governor Brian Sandoval.
Rejoyce Williams moved to Las Vegas with her husband and their six children in 1960. Williams grew up in Fordyce, Arkansas, and has also lived in California. When she arrived in Las Vegas, she worked as a maid at the Las Vegas Hilton and participated in the Culinary Union strike in 1970. In the interview, she discusses her involvement in church activities, and other anecdotes from her employment.
Interview with Essie Shelton Jacobs conducted by Claytee D. White on February 1, 1996. Jacobs arrived in Las Vegas 1963 and worked in housekeeping at Aladdin Hotel for twenty-three years. Active in the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, she worked as a supervisor and shop steward.
Transcript of interview with June and Lewis Whitly by Claytee D. White on November 2, 2007. June and Lewis Whitley moved to Las Vegas as newlyweds in 1958. June worked as a maid and then found a position with Centel Telephone and was on the Board of the Clark County Community College. Lewis worked at Test Site as a cook and later for the Clark County Fire Department.
Interview with Nathaniel Whaley by John Grygo on March 6 and March 8, 2013. Whaley talks about growing up in Las Vegas and his adult life on the Westside. Nathaniel had a successful high school career as an accomplished athlete and Eagle Scout in the first black Boy Scout troop in the area. Nathaniel would go on to have a fruitful career as a mason and contractor, literally helping build the city of Las Vegas.