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Shirley A. Leavitt oral history interview

Identifier

OH-01087

Archival Collection

Cynthia Mun oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03748

Abstract

Oral history interview with Cynthia Mun conducted by Vanessa Concepcion and Stefani Evans on March 31, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.

Cynthia Mun discusses her upbringing near Seoul, South Korea and her family's immigration to Los Angeles in 1974. She talks about her parents' employment as a seamstress and a janitor, as well as the educational mentors she encountered who helped her to succeed at Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena and later at Yale University. Mun shares her corporate employment history, including helping to launch the Pandora streaming service and creating an accessible platform for E-book use before the creation of Amazon Kindle. Mun talks about her career working at MGM International and how this opened the door for her mother to become an MGM employee and access better working conditions with union employment.

Archival Collection

Louis Family oral history interviews

Identifier

OH-02187

Abstract

Oral history interviews with the family of Joe Louis conducted by Claytee D. White on November 18, 2014 and February 06, 2015 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In these interviews, the family of Joe Louis discuss his life and career as a famous African American boxer from the 1930s to 1950s. They describe charity fights he held to raise money for the Navy Relief Fund during World War II, which later became an issue for him when the Internal Revenue Service claimed he still owed taxes on the money he raised despite it being donated. The family discusses what it was like growing up and meeting celebrity friends of Louis', such as Frank Sinatra and Muhammad Ali, Louis' involvement with the Moulin Rouge Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Louis' status as an African American sports hero. They also detail his eventual retirement from boxing, his job working as a greeter at Caesars Palace, and his death.

Archival Collection

Mariano Minero oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03530

Abstract

Oral history interview with Mariano Minero conducted by Laurents Banuelos-Benitez on December 6, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada: An Initiative of the UNLV University Libraries. Minero recalls his early life and childhood in El Salvador with his family. Minero discusses the political climate of El Salvador after the Salvadorean civil war, his family's involvement in the coffee industry, which influenced his family's choice to immigrate to the United States in the 1990s. He talks about what brought him to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2004. Finally, he talks about his experiences working in Las Vegas and his experiences in the local Culinary Workers Union 226. He describes the importance of the union to his own life, as well as to the larger community.

Archival Collection

Gene Collins oral history interview

Identifier

OH-00144

Abstract

Oral history interview with Gene Collins conducted by Claytee White on August 31, 2000 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview Gene Collins speaks about how his family lived in West Las Vegas, Nevada, which at the time was a thriving community where African Americans owned their own businesses. Gene talked about how the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. led to a riot and how it inspired him to run for state assemblyman where he was instrumental in getting the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday bill to pass. He spoke about his time as the president of the Las Vegas National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) where he addressed the lack of African Americans in the gaming industry in addition to filing the largest equal employment opportunity commission suit filed in the state of Nevada against the Mirage Hotel and Casino.

Archival Collection

Clara Alvarez oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03507

Abstract

Oral history interview with Clara Alvarez conducted by Norma Flores and Claytee D. White on October 25, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Brian "Paco" Alvarez also participated in the interview. Clara Alvarez describes her family background and her childhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She recalls dropping out of high school to work, memories of early jobs, and why she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1966. She secured her first position at the Sands Hotel as a maid during a time when that job position was held almost exclusively by Black women. Alvarez describes her time working at the Sands Hotel, and recalls meeting Frank Sinatra and his wife. After working as a maid, she was recruited to deal games in clubs and casinos, and was the first woman to deal at the Las Vegas Club. Then, Alvarez explains the changes in racial discrimination in the city, and says she never felt discriminated against in Las Vegas. Lastly, she talks about moving back to Florida and what she did while living there.

Archival Collection

Yazmin Beltran oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03554

Abstract

Oral history interview with Yazmin Beltran conducted by Rodrigo Vasquez and Barbara Tabach on February 4, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Beltran discusses her early life in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico and her childhood and upbringing in Mexico. In 2003, at the age of eighteen, she and her mother joined the rest of her family in Las Vegas, Nevada. After attending College of Southern Nevada and taking English as a Second Language classes, Yazmin began to write as a Spanish contributor for a publication in Reno, and became a writer for Spanish publications in Las Vegas, including El Tiempo, El Mundo, and Univision. Beltran's work for Univision led her to Texas, where she covered events and crises including the 2018 child separation occurring at the United States border, which she discusses in the interview. Finally, Beltran talks about being a journalist for The Nevada Independent and the importance of continuing to report in Spanish.

Archival Collection

Leva Beckley oral history interviews

Identifier

OH-02878

Abstract

Oral history interviews with Leva Beckley conducted by Bernard Timberg of KLVX Channel 10 on January 20 and 31, 1974. In this interview, Buckley talks of moving to Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband in 1910, setting up her husband's clothing business at the Hotel Nevada, the construction of the family home at 120 South Fourth Street, and the birth of her two children. She discusses raising her children, the various amusements the community offered to young families, and her activities as a charter member of the Mesquite Club. She also responds to questions about changes in the culture of the city, particularly in regard to crime and illegal activities. Finally, she shares family photographs with the interviewer.

Archival Collection

Ken Hanlon oral history interview

Identifier

OH-01186

Abstract

Ken Hanlon oral history interview conducted by Cynthia Cicero on January 17, 2014 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Hanlon discribes his background, talking about his childhood in Maryland, his early interest in music, and the opportunity to study with the same band teacher through middle and high school. He talks about starting to play a baritone horn before switching to the trombone, his early experiences playing with dance bands, starting private lessons, and eventually matriculating to the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland. He continues, relating his five years teaching middle-school music after graduating from college, and his decision to move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1968 to seek work as a full-time musician. After talking about some of the difficulties he faced finding work, he discusses his time in a road band and deciding to apply to teach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). He explains that he was hired to teach as an adjunct in 1970 and two weeks later was offered the job of department chair, a role he held for 16 years before moving into university administration. During this period he continued to perform, playing trombone in the Sands Hotel and Casino house band under the direction of Antonio Morelli. Finally, he discusses Morelli at more length, and concludes by talking about endowments for music education and the Arnold Shaw music collection at the Arnold Shaw Center at UNLV.

Archival Collection

Lucela M. Wattin oral history interview: transcript

Date

2021-12-06

Description

Oral history interview with Lucela M. Wattin conducted by Stefani Evans on December 6, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Lucela shares memories of her life growing up in Cebu Province, Philippines and being raised by her mother and grandparents after her father's death. She talks about immigrating to the United States under her fiancée's visa, moving to Chinatown in Las Vegas, and her work as a busser at the Excalibur Hotel. Lucela discusses how joining the Culinary Workers Union improved her work conditions and benefits, and how she is working with the union and a legal attorney to help her daughter immigrate to America. She also shares her favorite Filipino dishes (sinagang, chicken adobo, and bugas mais), holiday traditions, and what life was like when casinos shut down during COVID-19.

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