Oral history interview with Kelly Benavidez conducted by Maribel Estrada Calderón on January 29, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Laurents Bañuelos-Benitez also participates in the questioning. Kelly Benavidez is originally from San Francisco, California. Benavidez arrived in Las Vegas after her family spent two years in Mexico so her and her brother could learn Spanish. Benavidez and her family have remained in Las Vegas ever since. Kelly attended Area Technical Trade School for hotel management, and was then recruited by Mesa State College in Colorado. She currently works for Commissioner Lawrence Weekly. Her list of community involvement is extensive: Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Board, the Fernando Vargas Foundation, Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce, Hispanics in Politics, Latina Network, among others. Subjects discussed include: Las Vegas, Commissioner Weekly, New York New York construction accident, and Spanish Language.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Hernando Amaya conducted by Laurents Banuelos-Benitez, Marcela Rodriguez-Campo, and Barbara Tabach on October 18, 2018 and December 3, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Hernando Amaya talks about his childhood and education in Bogota, Colombia. He discusses his start in journalism as a young man and working for El Espectador, the Colombian national newspaper. He discusses his experiences reporting on the narco-terrorism occurring in Medellin, Colombia and how this eventually led to his immigration to the United States. Amaya moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2001 and continued his career in journalism by working for local Spanish speaking papers and websites. He relates his civic involvement in the Las Vegas area, his work as the president of the Colombian Association of Las Vegas, and various other civic engagements. As a journalist, he asserts the importance of knowing one's culture, storytelling, learning history, and being active in the community.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Donna Silva conducted by Claytee D. White on February 6, 2023 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Silva recalls her childhood living in Los Angeles, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Valdosta, Georgia; and Japan. When her family settled in Las Vegas, her family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but Silva later left the organization as a teenager. Throughout the interview, Silva recalls memories of the Rolling Stones, Steve Wynn, Elvis, and doing lighting work throughout the city as the first female to join the stagehand's union. Silva's work in the hotel/casino industry provides insight in work on the casino floor and behind the curtains of entertainment venues. She worked as a cocktail waitress, cigarette girl, and then backstage as a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Her passion later turned to working with the Rape Crisis Center, where Silva has acquired training that allows her to go to hospitals to assist patients.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Jan Jones Blackhurst conducted by David G. Schwartz on September 19, 2014 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Blackhurst discusses her position as mayor of Las Vegas, Nevada from 1991 to 1999. She describes her involvement with Proposition 7 in 1990, her relationship with casino owners, and the growth of gaming during the 1990s. Lastly, Blackhurst discusses her employment with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Austin R. Wardle conducted by Elizabeth Nelson Patrick on August 05, 1981 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Wardle discusses the history of Tonopah, Nevada, a town in which he first arrived in 1902. Wardle discusses theaters in Tonopah, Jewish families that lived in Tonopah, and the prominent immigrant population that worked in the mines. He continues talking about other families that have lived in Tonopah and life in the town. Wardle also discusses how Tonopah has changed, housing in Tonopah, and the mining industry of the town.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Marie Horseley conducted by Suzanne Becker on June 13, 2007 for the Voices of Historic John S. Park Neighborhood Oral History Project. In this interview Horseley discusses marrying her husband, moving to Las Vegas, Nevada into the historic John S. Park neighborhood, and the state of the neighborhood when she moved there. She also discusses how she used to know all of her neighbors no matter their background, the changes in the neighborhood, and how she would never relocate to a different house.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Donnie Pomeray conducted by an unspecified individual in approximately 2006 for the History of Blue Diamond Village in Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Pomeray reflects upon his upbringing in Blue Diamond, Nevada. He discusses where he grew up, his leisure activities, and community life.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Larry Mason conducted by Nathalie Martinez on September 14, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Mason discusses his upbringing by his Mexican immigrant parents in East Los Angeles, California and attending New Mexico State University. He describes receiving an athletics scholarship for basketball, playing in the European League, and earning a master's degree in education. Mason then talks about moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1984 to become Director of Admissions at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, being elected to the Clark County School Board in 1993, and his work at the College of Southern Nevada as Vice President of Diversity and Cultural Affairs. Lastly, Mason explain his involvement with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, minority students in STEM fields, his vision for public education, and the various community activities he has been involved in.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Marina Beltran Decaro conducted by Frank Murillo on March 27, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Decaro discusses the history of Las Vegas, Nevada’s first Mexican restaurant. She recalls the first atomic bomb test in Las Vegas and also offers an overview of the growth of the area.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Siegfried Haderly conducted by Stefani Evans on October 30, 2024 for Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Haderly recalls his childhood in Manila, Philippines until his parents separated, his mother's move to the United States, and Haderly's move to join her in Las Vegas, Nevada after graduating high school. He describes working first as a dishwasher, and then as a busboy for various hotel/casinos including the Sahara, Desert Inn, and Sands. He then was hired as a bartender and joined the Bartenders Union Local 165 and has been a union member ever since. He shares his experience serving two years in the United States Army during the Vietnam War, and then moving to St. Paul, Minnesota and starting a family. Haderly describes his eventual return to Las Vegas in the 1990s, retiring, and his year-long trips back to the Philippines, and working part-time for family members. At the time of his 2024 interview, Siegfried Haderly was employed as a canvasser for Culinary Workers Union Local 226.
Archival Collection