Search Results
Roy Brown oral history interview
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Abstract
Oral history interview with Roy Brown conducted by John Grygo on March 05, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Brown discusses his personal history and living in Las Vegas, Nevada since 1954. He recalls moving to West Las Vegas and attending segregated schools at the time. Brown then talks about the positive influence that church and spirituality have on the Westside community. He describes his employment at the Stardust Hotel and Casino and working with the Culinary Workers Union after beginning his new employment at the MGM Grand Hotel. Lastly, Brown discusses changes in African American churches and describes how the newer generations have influenced change within the church.
Archival Collection
Herb McDonald oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Herb McDonald conducted by Perry Kaufman on an unknown date in 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In the interview, Herbert Cobb McDonald discusses his work as a managing director and chamber director at Las Vegas, Nevada hotels and casinos including the El Rancho Vegas and the Last Frontier Hotel. McDonald also discusses his experiences promoting tourism through conventions, the Las Vegas News Bureau, celebrity advertisements, and the first sporting events held in casinos.
Archival Collection
Nympha Comacchio oral history interview
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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.
Archival Collection
Lily Teo oral history interview: transcript
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Archival Collection
Description
Oral history interview with Lily Teo conducted by Stefani Evans on February 7, 2022 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Lily Teo discusses her upbringing in Singapore, her education, her religious beliefs, and converting from Buddhism to Catholicism. She talks about her husband, her early married years, and what life was like as a young mother of three children. Teo shares how she started a catering business to feed construction workers and was responsible for shopping for ingredients, preparing all meals and tea, and cooking the food on site in her temporary kitchen. She talks about her children, the faiths they practice and languages they speak including English, Malay, and Mandarin, and the customs and traditions they practice, such as celebrating Lunar New Year and other holidays. Lily's daughter, Stella, sits in on the interview and expands on her mother's recollections.
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Tommy Nelson oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Tommy Nelson conducted by Art Rader on November 29, 1974 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Nelson discusses the history of Boulder City, Nevada and his career as a musician. He describes moving to Boulder City in 1932 and working as a laborer on the construction of Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam). Nelson describes life in the city during the construction of the dam, how the dam was built, and how Boulder City has changed. Nelson continues, talking about being a trumpeter, performing in various orchestras in Las Vegas, Nevada casino shows, and for injured United States service members during World War II.
Archival Collection
Essie Boyd oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Essie Boyd conducted by Claytee D. White on September 16, 2008 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Boyd describes life in Las Vegas, Nevada as an African American during the 1940s. She begins by discussing what the Las Vegas Strip was like at the time and her experiences working at the Flamingo Hotel, the Desert Inn, and the Desert Inn Country Club. Boyd describes the history of the casinos where she worked and the individuals she met through her work, including prominent African American entertainers and influential Las Vegas families such as the Greenspuns.
Archival Collection
Paul Velez oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Paul Velez conducted by Barbara Tabach on February 22, 2018 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Paul Velez, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) campus officer, discusses his experience at the Thomas & Mack Center during the night of the October 1, 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. He shares his goal of creating a safe atmosphere for the survivors and providing them with all of their needs, including helping separated survivors find their loved ones and friends. Velez also describes his move to Las Vegas in 2008 and his time with the New York City police force, talking about his experience as a first responder at Ground Zero during the 9/11 attacks. He discusses the effect these attacks have had on general and campus security measures and on him as an individual.
Archival Collection
Ora Bland oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Ora Bland conducted by Claytee D. White on March 04, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project.
Ora Bland speaks to what she knew of her husband's secretive work at Area 51 of the Nevada Test Site, businesses in the Westside community, and her work in the downtown Las Vegas post office. In addition to her life experiences, Ora shares her thoughts on her community, the state of homelessness that many experience in her surrounding neighborhood, and her activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Archival Collection
Emily Ku oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Emily Ku 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, Ku decribes growing up in a Mandarin-speaking household and celebrating traditional Chinese holidays. Ku recalls her education at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied political economy of industrial societies and became involved with the United States Department of Commerce during an internship. She recounts moving around several times before settling down in Las Vegas, Nevada, doing remote work as a market analyst before ending up working on the Commission for Minority Affairs. She talks about her experiences there, as well as her current position with the City of Las Vegas as a management analyst. Ku also talks about some of her community involvement, thoughts on personal identity, her favorite foods, and what she hopes to see from the AAPI community in the coming years.
Archival Collection
Shelia White oral history interview
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Oral history interview with Shelia White conducted by Irene Rostine on May 24, 2012 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. White opens her interview by discussing her move to Boulder City, Nevada in 1953 with her mother. White then talks about her experiences working for the Southern Nevada Telephone company in the 1960s as a switchboard operator and how she eventually became a low-level customer service manager. She describes leaving the Southern Nevada Telephone company and being hired at the Desert Inn Hotel and Casino. White also discusses the writer Celesta Lowe, the Lowe family, and the MGM Grand fire in great detail.
Archival Collection