Oral history interview with Sonny V. Mallari conducted by Chanele Mallari on November 26, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Sonny Mallari talks about his childhood in Masantol, Pampanga province, Philippines with his five siblings. He discusses his family's immigration to Salinas, California and details of his life and parents' lives in the United States. Sonny shares stories of being bullied in school and what the immigration process was like from his point of view at the age of seven. He also talks about his professional work as a cook, moving to Las Vegas, Nevada for work, and becoming a Culinary Workers Union member.
Oral history interview with Fernando Romero conducted by Laurents Bañuelos-Benitez on October 2, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Barbara Tabach also participates in the questioning. Fernando Romero was born in El Paso, Texas in a musical home. His father and brother were avid music players, and his brother left El Paso to play in orchestra in Las Vegas. Despite not being as passionate about music as the rest of his family, music was Romero's ticket to higher education. Romero attended University of Nevada South before it was renamed University of Nevada Las Vegas. Romero has gone on to be deeply involved in the Las Vegas community. He is the current president of Hispanics in Politics. Subjects discussed in this interview include: Hispanics in Politics, Nevada Association of Latin Americans, and education.
The John Levy Lighting Productions, Inc. Records (approximately 1990-2022) contain correspondence, invoices, contracts, expense reports, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, slides, and digital files detailing the development of various projects primarily in Las Vegas, Nevada. The records also contain architectural lighting drawings, electrical schematics and design details, conceptual sketches, and artist renderings of projects in Las Vegas, throughout United States, and various international locations.
The Thomas Hickey Political Papers (1964-1996) contain the professional files of Hickey’s career as a Nevada State Assemblyman and Senator. Materials include constituent correspondence, voting records, memoranda, newspaper clippings, bills, and research documentation on topics such as the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), education, health, prisons, finance, and Nevada infrastructure. The collection highlights Hickey’s role on committees including finance, transportation, government affairs, and ways and means.
The Story of Classic Las Vegas Oral History Interviews (approximately 1950-2006) is comprised of raw and edited video recordings of oral history interviews used for The Story of Classic Las Vegas documentary which was produced, directed, and edited by Lynn Zook. The documentary offers first person historical overviews of what it was like to live in Las Vegas, Nevada from the 1920s to the 1970s. Individuals interviewed include a wide range of community members of the Las Vegas Valley including business owners, educators, entertainers, politicians, gaming professionals, casino workers, and activists. Materials also include a media kit with promotional materials and interview transcript for one of the interviewees, Betty Willis.
The Bob Coffin Political Papers (approximately 1861-2021) document the political career of independent Democrat Bob Coffin who served in the Nevada Assembly, State Senate, and Las Vegas City Council from 1983 to 2019. Collection materials primarily consist of legislative research files associated with Coffin's committee assignments. City Council records in this collection include budget files, constituent concerns, and city project files. The collection also includes election materials used for Coffin's political campaigns and include posters, mailers, as well as newspaper clippings and information on Coffin's opponents.
Oral history interview with Erica Mosca conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Stefani Evans, and Jerwin Tiu on February 3, 2023 for the Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Mosca reflects on her life journey from a low-income Asian American to a current serving Nevada State Assemblywoman. She recalls that most of her childhood was in Palm Springs, California where she enjoyed a diverse community of students within her education system. It was not until she moved to Navato, California where she first experienced the economic and resource gap between economically diverse areas. Mosca went on to be involved in a college readiness program and received a scholarship to Boston University. After college, Mosca went on to work for Teach for America where she was stationed on the east side of Las Vegas at Goldfarb Elementary School where she grew a passion for leadership. She eventually returned to school and graduated from Harvard University, returning to Las Vegas to start her nonprofit "Leaders in Training." Mosca hopes to inspire change in her communities by enacting legislation and initiatives targeted towards the communities she was and continutes to be a part of.