Oral history interviews with Jimmy Wilkins conducted by Lisa Gioia-Acres on May 30, 2008 and September 15, 2008 for the All That Jazz Oral History Project. In these interviews, Wilkins discusses his career as a jazz trombonist. He begins by talking about his upbringing in St. Louis, Missouri, his early interest in being a musician, learning to play the trombone in high school, and later enlisting in the United States Navy to play in Navy bands. Wilkins describes leaving the Navy after World War II ended and continuing his musical career by joining jazz bands in the St. Louis area, playing across the United States with traveling bands, and eventually moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1994. He talks about playing jazz in casinos such as the Four Queens and the Riviera, the current jazz culture in Las Vegas, and his retirement.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Henry Clay Davis conducted by Wendy Christian on March 05, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Davis discusses his personal life history as a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada. He discusses hunting and fishing, employment, railroads, hotels, the Davis Dam, and Lake Mead. Additionally, he offers a detailed description of the Helldorado parade.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Sherril and Samuel Coleman conducted by Claytee White on February 12 and 22, 2016 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In these interviews, Sherrill and Samuel Coleman discuss experiencing violence against African Americans in Durant, Mississippi, and discuss moving to Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1990s. The Colemans later describe their contributions with the African American community and recall the poor working conditions for African Americans in Las Vegas and throughout the United States. The two then discuss social class, American Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO), and their involvement with religious organizations.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Ron Smith conducted by Claytee D. White on May 10, 2022 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Ron Smith discusses his early life in Queens, New York and his Catholic school education. Smith served as a Red Cross volunteer at the hospital where his mother worked, and after one year at St. Johns University he volunteered for the Air Force to avoid being drafted by the Army. Soon after basic training and being trained as an aircraft mechanic, Ron Smith volunteered to go to Vietnam. Later, Smith talks about his experience owning seventeen McDonald's restaurants throughout Las Vegas, Nevada and future plans to construct a mall and residential complex on Boulder Highway in partnership with the City of Henderson.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Bryan Chan conducted by Vanessa Concepcion, Cecilia Winchell, and Stefani Evans on October 18, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Bryan Chan discusses his life growing up in California, his family's migration stories to the United States, and his education. He discusses his appearance on a reality television show which led to becoming a singer for boy band LMNT. Bryan talks about his entertainment career, including his move to Las Vegas to sing and host for the Chippendales show at the Rio Hotel and Casino. He also shares insight into his family's traditions and his favorite foods that his father and grandmother cooked.
Subjects discussed include: chain migration; Chippendales; giglife; virtual events; traditional foods.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Nancy Houssels conducted by Caryll Batt Dziedziak on November 18, 1998, December 07, 1998, and December 14, 1998 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Houssels begins her interviews discussing her childhood in California and the influence World War II had on her upbringing. Houssels then talks about her dance training and career including topics on her auditions, her dance partners, and touring Europe in the 1960s. Houssels describes coming to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1968 where she was booked as a dancer in Folies Bergere at the Tropicana Hotel. Houssels then discusses the influences Mormonism and adiago ballet had on her life. Houssels then describes how she co-founded the Nevada Ballet Theatre with Vassili Sulich, performances of the company, their dancers, and community outreach.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Jerry Fox conducted by Barbara Tabach on November 12, 2014 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. In this interview, Fox discusses his father's restaurant, Foxy's Delicatessen, which opened on the Las Vegas, Nevada Strip in the 1950s, and his own business endeavors including the Tinder Box and an embroidery business.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Robert "Bob" Fulkerson conducted by Dennis McBride on March 27, 2007 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. In this interview, Fulkerson discusses his involvement in the Nevada for Constitutional Employment (NCE) organization and their 1993 efforts to repeal Nevada's sodomy law. Fulkerson describes how the gay community reacted and prepared for the 2002 voting season, specifically regarding question 2, which banned same-sex marriage in Nevada. Later, Fulkerson compares both legislative events. Lastly, Fulkerson discusses the future of the gay community in the state of Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Mark Douglas conducted by Dennis McBride on May 16, 1999 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Archives Oral History Project. In this interview, Douglas discusses his family and upbringing in the Mormon Church, his realization of his sexuality, first experiences with gay clubs and associations, and the conflict between his feelings and his faith. He continues talking about Church views of homosexuality in a modern and historical context and then details two organizations that offer support to LGBT members of the Mormon Church.
Archival Collection
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