Oral history interview with Cassius Smith conducted by Claytee D. White on November 16, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project.
Cassius talks about his childhood and early interest in fashion design. He describes his chance encounter with a FUBU employee on a train in New York that opened the door to a ten year career with the hip hop clothing line and other clothing designers. Cassius talks about his decision to move to Las Vegas after attending the MAGIC Fashion Trade Show, and how he settled in the city just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. He shares what life has been like since the move and his current entrepreneurial pursuits, including designing a new clothing line with his nephew.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Sylvia Alvarado conducted by Rodrigo Vazquez and Monserrath Hernández on April 12, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Alvarado discusses her early life in Las Vegas, Nevada. She talks about attending College of Southern Nevada (CSN) and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), studying journalism and media, and her internship with Lotus Broadcasting. Alvarado describes hosting a one-hour show on the
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Oral history interview with Arthur Williams Jr. conducted by Claytee D. White on April 19, 2011 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Williams discusses his employment with Reynolds Electric and Engineering Company and his career in law. He talks about his experience as an African American in law school, aiding African American and Hispanic students getting into law school, and the establishment of the Las Vegas Chapter of the National Bar Association (LVNBA).
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Oral history interview with Celia Rivero Grenfell conducted by Patricia Holland on March 31, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Grenfell first talks about her family background in Mexico and later describes her family’s restaurant business. She also describes her education, recreational activities, Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada; and Helldorado. Grenfell discusses racial segregation and prejudice, El Rancho Vegas, Lorenzi Park, early churches, environmental changes, early air conditioning, and Grenfell’s early work in a laundry business.
Archival Collection
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
Oral history interview with Kathleen Harney conducted by Claytee White on July 19, 2010 for the Voices of the Historic John S. Park Neighborhood Oral History Project. In her interview Harney discusses her and her husband's move to the historic John S. Park Neighborhood in 1975, about ten years after moving to Las Vegas from Ohio. Kathleen also discusses her career as a high school teacher and teaching English and journalism.
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Oral history interview with Loretta Whitney conducted by Rebecca Snetselaar and Binnie Wilkin on April 15, 2016 for the Folklife Program of the Nevada Arts Council and the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries. Whitney begins talking about her family life, childhood, and family histories. She mentions storytelling in education and what education used to be, and explains why she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Whitney begins to speak about religion and the church. She explains her family culture and traditions. Lastly, she defines what loving and caring for others means and how she has evolved personally throughout her life.
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Oral history interview with Carol Harter conducted by Claytee D. White on June 18, 2021 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project.
Carol Harter is the longest-serving President of UNLV, from 1995 until 2006. The campus experienced unprecedented growth during that time, including the addition of a new, very large library. Harter grew the campus from 19,000 to 28,000 students, added 23 new or completely renovated buildings to the campus, and with a student-centered focus, added more than 100 new degree programs. Two professional schools, the Dental School and Boyd School of Law, added greatly to the prestige and academic Top Tier status of UNLV.
Her partnership with Glenn Schaeffer, former president of the Mandalay Resort Group, assisted in the early work of the Black Mountain Institute (BMI) Modern Letters program. BMI is an international think tank dedicated to advancing literary and cross-cultural dialogue. This was an important goal to Harter and Schaeffer, who were both literature majors. Harter also discusses many community members who made an impact on UNLV including Joe Crowley and Dr. Juanita Fain.
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Oral history interview with Jerald Arthur Nelson conducted by Phillip Dean Nelson on March 19, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Nelson discusses the history of law enforcement in Southern Nevada. He specifically talks about the history of organized crime and its influence in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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