Oral history interview with Carrie McCoy conducted by Claytee D. White in Fordyce, Arkansas, approximately 1995 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, McCoy explains how she and her husband left Fordyce for Las Vegas, Nevada in 1942, seeking better economic prospects. After several years, McCoy returned to Fordyce to raise their four children and work as a housekeeper for several white families. After her oldest children were grown she returned to Las Vegas in 1961, first finding work at a small motel and then spending nine years working in housekeeping at the Flamingo Hilton Hotel. Finally, she returned to Fordyce in 1972. She ends the interview talking about comparative race relations between Fordyce and Las Vegas, differences in work practices, union activities, and church involvement.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Cathren J. Holder conducted by Claytee D. White on June 4 and 15, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Holder talks about her childhood and education in Fordyce, Arkansas, her move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1952, and her first experience of living in a two room shack with her older brother and his family. She then discusses her work, marriage, places she shopped, and changes in the Westside since her arrival.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Pat Feaster conducted by Claytee D. White on July 1, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Feaster relates how her mother made the decision to leave Fordyce, Arkansas for better economic opportunity and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1942. She describes travelling across the country, living in a one-room structure in the Westside of Las Vegas, and attending the Westside School. She discusses her mother's employment at the Red Rooster Restaurant and then at the Algiers Hotel. She talks at length about her own educational journey after leaving school at fifteen, then returning for her GED and later, a college degree after the birth of her fifth child. She discusses how the decision to improve her education helped her develop a twenty-six year career at the Clark County Health District. She also discusses the Fordyce Club and many important personalities in Las Vegas' Black community.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Inez and Edward Harper conducted by Claytee D. White on July 18, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, the Harpers talk first about their upbringing and education in Fordyce, Arkansas. Inez Harper explains how she came to Las Vegas, Nevada at the age of sixteen with her first husband in 1953; Edward Harper explains that he came two years later, working in construction until his marriage to his first wife and moving to Los Angeles, California in 1957. The couple met after his return to Las Vegas in 1960 and married in 1962. Together they discuss employment opportunities, income, the living conditions on the Westside and the entertainment venues on Jackson Street. They also remark on their perspective of race relations and discrimination in Las Vegas in the 1960s and 1970s.
Archival Collection
On February 21, 1980, collector Bob Bush interviewed porter and retired military man, Hugh E. Key (born on November 17th, 1919 in Fordyce, Arkansas) in Las Vegas, Nevada. This interview covers the life of a Las Vegas old-timer. Hugh Keys’ wife, Mrs. Key, is also present during the interview and offers a few remarks.
Text
Part of an interview with Essie Shelton Jacobs by Claytee White on February 1, 1996 and April 15, 1996. Jacobs discusses her role as a shop steward in the Culinary Union and describes community relations with the union.
Sound
Oral history interview with Tonnie Sumler conducted by Claytee D. White on May 21, 1996 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. Sumler talks about moving from Fordyce, Arkansas to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1989, seeking better opportunities. She expresses some concern for her daughter's high school education in Las Vegas, believing the smaller class sizes in Fordyce would be better, and then talks about how she started working as a housekeeper for Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino after joining the Culinary Workers Union. She explains that there was a possibility of a strike in 1997 and details some of the reasons why.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Anna Corine Tisdale conducted by Claytee D. White on May 28, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Tisdale, a native of Fordyce, Arkansas, talks about her background as the daughter of sharecroppers, her marriage, and her move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1954. She recalls living in a small trailer with her husband and four children for several months before the family moved to "Four Mile" near the Boulder Highway. She details her working life, starting as a retail clerk and then moving into hotel housekeeping, eventually earning promotion as the first Black supervisor-inspector at the Sahara Hotel and Casino. She also offers comparisons of her life in Fordyce and Las Vegas, about recreational activities, education, race issues, and how men and women worked in the same environment in the 1960s. The audio also includes a brief conversation with her oldest daughter, Nancy.
Archival Collection