Oral history interview with Lawrence Nelson conducted by John Turner on February 22, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Nelson discusses the history of early Las Vegas, Nevada. He talks about the Old Mormon Fort, the importance of railroads in Las Vegas, and the construction of the Boulder (Hoover) Dam.
Oral history interview with Samuel Smith conducted by Claytee White on June 17, 2011 and June 22, 2011 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Smith discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1978 and working as a fire inspector until he retired in 2003. He also discusses organizing free reading and math classes to help people prepare for the firefighter exam.
Strutt Hurley Collection on the Southern Nevada Association of Pride, Inc. (SNAPI) and Las Vegas Gay Pride
To request this item in person:
Collection Number: MS-00466 Collection Name: Strutt Hurley Collection on the Southern Nevada Association of Pride, Inc. (SNAPI) and Las Vegas Gay Pride Box/Folder: Box 01
Strutt Hurley Collection on the Southern Nevada Association of Pride, Inc. (SNAPI) and Las Vegas Gay Pride
To request this item in person:
Collection Number: MS-00466 Collection Name: Strutt Hurley Collection on the Southern Nevada Association of Pride, Inc. (SNAPI) and Las Vegas Gay Pride Box/Folder: Box 01
Oral history interview with Claytee D. White conducted by Stefani Evans on November 2, 2023 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Claytee D. White, founding directory of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries, celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the OHRC by contributing her oral history to the collection.
She begins by explaining how the system of sharecropping worked in her family near rural Ahoskie, North Carolina, and she talks about the field work involved in raising cotton, tobacco, corn, and peanuts. The fifth of eight children and the first daughter, she shares memories of going into town with her mother, of admiring her women teachers, and of attending North Carolina Central College (now University) for two years before moving to Washington, D.C., and working for the telephone company.
After recalling her two years in D.C. and 22 years in Los Angeles, California, she describes "running away" to Las Vegas, Nevada in the early 1990s. Here, at the History department at UNLV, she recalls learning to conduct oral histories. White shares memories of her first interviews with Hazel and Jimmy Gay and Lucille Bryant. She talks of matriculating to the College of William and Mary for her PhD and of returning to Bertie County to live with her mother and administer the office of The Shaw University Center for Alternative Programs in Education (CAPE). She describes how she was offered the position of OHRC founding director, why it matters that she was an "opportunity hire," and how it feels to be the only Black person in a room.
Oral history interview with Dorothy Keefe conducted by an unidentified interviewer on February 22, 1972 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Keefe explains how she first moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1931 to work as a school teacher at Fifth Street School. She briefly discusses environmental and weather changes in Southern Nevada.
Oral history interview with Roxton Whitmore conducted by his grandson, Mark Whitmore, on October 22, 1972 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Whitmore discusses his personal life, including his marriage and his political affiliations. Whitmore also describes the atomic bomb tests and automobiles.
Oral history interview with LaShannon Lewis conducted by Claytee D. White on March 22, 2019 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Lewis discusses her early life in Las Vegas, Nevada and growing up in the Westside. She talks about moving out of the Westside neighborhood, attending a sixth grade center, and the geographical division of the community. Lewis remembers her employment as a social worker for Clark County, and the redevelopment of the Westside.