Oral history interview with Paul Velez conducted by Barbara Tabach on February 22, 2018 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Paul Velez, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) campus officer, discusses his experience at the Thomas & Mack Center during the night of the October 1, 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. He shares his goal of creating a safe atmosphere for the survivors and providing them with all of their needs, including helping separated survivors find their loved ones and friends. Velez also describes his move to Las Vegas in 2008 and his time with the New York City police force, talking about his experience as a first responder at Ground Zero during the 9/11 attacks. He discusses the effect these attacks have had on general and campus security measures and on him as an individual.
Oral history interview with Jack W. Zunino conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee D. White on August 20, 2016 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Zunino tells of his employment with G.C. Wallace Engineering and JMA architects before founding his own landscape architecture firm in 1989. Additionally, Zunino discusses the evolution of landscape architecture in casino design.
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 Will Provance conducted by David Schwartz on July 14, 2016 for the Slot Operations Oral History Project. Provance discusses his various roles in the gaming industry the difference between managing slot machines in his earlier positions and video lottery terminals (VLTs) in his current position in Ohio. He also discusses what he believes makes a good slot floor and how slot operations has changed since he started in the industry.
Oral history interview with C. D. Williams conducted by Edwin R. Smith on July 07, 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Williams discusses his career as a firefighter in Las Vegas, Nevada and the history of the Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Department. He describes his early history, moving to Las Vegas in 1942, and how he obtained his position in the Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Department. Williams also describes his training, the equipment they utilized, and how that equipment, as well as the fire department itself, has changed over time. He tells anecdotes of calls and his experiences in the department. Williams explains how the construction of the Basic Magnesium Plant and Nellis Air Force Base affected the fire department. He talks about how and why the Clark County Fire Department and North Las Vegas Fire Department were established, and how Las Vegas casinos paid the city for fire protection. Lastly, Williams discusses being drafted during World War II and his service as a military fire fighter.
Oral history interview with Gerald Connor conducted by James Bonnell on February 22, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Connor first discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada and serving as a pilot in the United States Air Force. He then discusses his education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and his church membership. Topics that Connor discusses during the interview also include changes in the school district and properties located in Downtown Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Strip, his political activity within the Democratic Party, the Helldorado Parades, and the early atomic tests at the Nevada Test Site.
Oral history interview with D. L. Newell conducted by Paula Sue Curry on February 26, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Newell describes life in Henderson, Nevada during the 1950s and how the city has changed. Newell discusses the companies that established chemical and metal plants in Henderson, how the growth of Las Vegas, Nevada affected Henderson, and the history of gambling in Southern Nevada. He also talks about mining, medical care available in Henderson, local celebrations, and pollution caused by chemical and metal plants.
Oral history interview with Linda Van Tuyl conducted by Ruth Brainard on February 22, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Van Tuyl discusses arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1948 to work as a nurse and describes nursing practices during that time. Later, Van Tuyl discusses the integration of accessibility accommodations for people with disabilities throughout Las Vegas. Van Tuyl later shares her thoughts on Medicare and other forms of health insurance.
Oral history interview with Esther Langston conducted by Claytee D. White on February 22, 2005 for the UNLV @ 50 Oral History Project. In this interview, Langston provides an overview of her early life and career in social work. She describes how the women in her family are positive and empowering role models. Langston moves on to explain how she become a social worker over a period of many years. She states that a job experience that helped her gain the qualifications of a social worker was working as an office manager at the Nevada Test Site. She also mentions how she has had to work with conflicts such as racial inequalities.