Oral history interview with Clarence Ray conducted by Eleanor L. Walker in 1991 for the African American in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Ray provides details of his ancestry and upbringing, his education, and race relations in the western United States before 1930. He then moves on to his first visit to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1922, and his movements before settling permanently in the 1940s. He explains that the main source of employment for the relatively small Black population during the 1920s and early 1930s was the railroad, but a number were also in business. Mr. Ray provides thumbnail sketches of many of the early residents, and is particularly informative about "Mammy" Pinkston, Mary Nettles, the Stevens family, and the Ensley family. Systemic racial discrimination against Blacks developed in southern Nevada during the 1930s, and Mr. Ray provides some useful details on this along with his discussion of his career in gaming and his social and political activities.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Jacqueline Barker conducted by Claytee D. White on February 14, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Barker discusses her upbringing in Las Vegas, Nevada and growing up in the Westside. She talks about the importance of the church in the Westside and the significance of education in her family. Barker remembers her father’s involvement with school integration in Las Vegas, the sixth grade centers, and the racism she experienced while attending the University of Nevada, Reno during the 1970s. Later, Barker compares her experience in higher education to that of her mother’s, and the race riots in 1969. Lastly, Barker discusses the history of African Americans in unions, her career in education, and the social and psychological impacts that African Americans faced in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview With Carolyn Sparks conducted by Claytee D. White on June 7, 2022 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Sparks describes her childhood growing up in Overton, Nevada where her father worked as a mining engineer. Later the family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where her father invested in the El Cortez and Showboat hotels. Sparks received a degree from the University of California, Berkeley before returning to Las Vegas to work at an insurance company, where she met her husband, Kenneth. Sparks discusses their shared adventure insuring many of the businesses on the Las Vegas Strip while simultaneously entering the world of philanthropy. Sparks became area Chairperson of the American Cancer Society, a fundraiser for Junior Mesquite Club, and founded the Nevada Children's Center. Sparks served on the Nevada Board of Regents from 1984 to 1996, on the Board of Directors of the Showboat Hotel & Casino, and as president of the family's International Insurance Services, Ltd.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Shirley Barber conducted by Rajul Edmond on April 11, 2003 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Barber reflects upon her nearly 30-year career as a teacher and administrator with the Clark County School District from the 1980s to the 2000s. Barber describes the process by which she became an elementary and middle school principal, and her approach to being a leader within the school and as a member of the School Board. She also discusses challenges that she was faced with, such as school integration.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Daniel Tafoya conducted by Laurents Banuelos and Barbara Tabach on December 12, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Tafoya discusses his early life in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He talks about his father’s life story, his educational experience with learning disabilities, and joining the United States Air Force. Tafoya describes his career in the military, and being stationed at Nellis Airforce Base. Lastly, Tafoya discusses with involvement with the Clark County School District (CCSD) and with the Latin Chamber of Commerce.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Dr. Janice Stromberg conducted by Karen S. Laird on April 07, 2004 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Dr. Stromberg reflects upon her career as a teacher and administrator in Oregon and Nevada. She focuses on her experiences as a principal, her approach to school administration, and her working relationship with teachers and other administrators. She also describes some of her biggest responsibilities and challenges, her experience with school integration, and proposed changes that she would make within the education system.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Eva White conducted by Jan Hagan on August 02, 2001 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, White reflects upon her career as a teacher and administrator with Nevada’s Clark County School District (CCSD). She discusses her upbringing and the influence that her family had on her decision to become a teacher. She reflects upon her early experiences as a new teacher, working at a school near Nellis Air Force Base, and how she crafted her approach to education. She also discusses school integration, standardized testing, mentorships, and home-school learning gaps.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Christy McGirl conducted by Barbara Tabach on February 21, 2018 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Christy McGirl discusses attending the Route 91 Harvest music festival on October 1, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada with a few friends and leaving shortly before the mass shooting had occurred. She talks about how she found out about the tragedy and how her friends who were there during the shooting have been affected. McGirl also discusses the reaction of people to the traumatic event on social media and how it was used to offer support.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Iona Thompson conducted by Lisa C. Krueger on March 08, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Thompson discusses different aspects of life in Las Vegas, Nevada during World War II. Thompson describes the rationing of food and fuel, as well as the increased military presence in Las Vegas and how that affected the city. Thompson also describes how Las Vegas has changed since the 1940s, prominent locations in the city such as Lorenzi Park and McCarran Field, and pollution caused by the chemical and metal plants in Henderson, Nevada. Lastly, she talks about flight and bombing trainings in Las Vegas and working at the Las Vegas Army Gunnery School.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Sarah Ortiz conducted by Rodrigo Vazquez on December 20, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Ortiz discusses being born and raised in Austin, Texas and spending the majority of her life there before attending the Columbia Publishing Course in Manhattan, New York. Ortiz describes her family's many moves throughout the city of Austin and the changes that have since happened in the city. Ortiz recounts her trajectory in the publishing industry, which led her from Manhattan back to Austin, and eventually to Las Vegas, Nevada. Ortiz is currently the program and festival director for The Believer magazine and the Black Mountain Institute. She writes about what she and her colleagues hope to achieve with the magazine and annual festival, and about the changes that she hopes to see for Las Vegas' publishing and literacy industry.
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