Search Results
Jacobs, Essie, 1925-1999
Essie Shelton Jacobs (Essie Jean Shelton) was born in Fordyce, Arkansas on July, 11, 1925. Jacobs arrived in Las Vegas 1963 and worked in housekeeping at Aladdin Hotel for twenty-three years. Active in the Culinary Union, she worked as a supervisor and shop steward.
Person
Transcript from interview with Rejoyce Williams by Claytee White, June 12, 1996
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Rejoyce Williams moved to Las Vegas with her husband and their six children in 1960. Williams grew up in Fordyce, Arkansas, and has also lived in California. When she arrived in Las Vegas, she worked as a maid at the Las Vegas Hilton and participated in the Culinary Union strike in 1970. In the interview, she discusses her involvement in church activities, and other anecdotes from her employment.
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Whaley, Eva Poole
Eva Poole Whaley was born on November 22, 1942 in Fordyce, Arkansas. She moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in the early 1960s. She worked in the Clark County School District. She and her husband were restaurant owners before Eva worked at Nevada Power, and then for the telephone company.
Person
Transcript of interview with Viola Johnson by Claytee D. White, March 12, 1996
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Interview with Viola Johnson conducted by Claytee D. White on March 12, 1996. Johnson lived in a tent when she moved from Fordyce to Las Vegas in 1942. She describes working conditions for maids and the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 strikes between 1969 and 1984.
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Audio clip from interview with Jean S. Childs, December 2, 2013
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Part of an interview with Jean S. Childs, December 2, 2013. In this clip, Jean Childs describes an experience she had helping someone at the Concentrated Employment Program.
Sound
Transcript of interview with Jimmy Gay by Perry Kaufman, April 12, 1972
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Interview with James A. Gay III conducted by Perry Kaufman on April 12, 1972. Arriving in 1946 from Fordyce, Arkansas, Gay became the first African-American mortician in Las Vegas. He later worked as Assistant Manager of the Sands Hotel and Casino and Union Plaza while serving as an executive board member of the Culinary Union. Instrumental in the Las Vegas community, Gay worked to improved race relations, addressing social, economic, and civic issues. Gay was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1988.
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"Thesis Problem: Studying Southern Nevada Migration": manuscript draft by Roosevelt Fitzgerald
Date
Archival Collection
Description
From the Roosevelt Fitzgerald Professional Papers (MS-01082) -- Unpublished manuscripts file.
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Gay, James A., III, 1916-1999
Alternate Names
James A. Gay III was born March 6th, 1916 in Fordyce, Arkansas. Arriving in 1946, Gay became the first African-American mortician in Las Vegas. He later worked as Assistant Manager of the Sands Hotel and Casino and Union Plaza while serving as an executive board member of the Culinary Union. Instrumental in the Las Vegas community, Gay worked to improved race relations, addressing social, economic, and civic issues. Gay was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1988.
Person
Thomas, Sonny
Sandy C. Thomas is better known as Sonny. Sonny Thomas was born in Fordyce, Arkansas on Feburary 6, 1940. In 1959, Sonny arrived in Las Vegas looking for the promised employment opportunities. His first job was as a bus boy at El Rancho. Over the course of the next thirty years, he moved from one job to another, each time gaining more responsibility. His last hotel role was as shipping and receiving manager at the MGM. While working at the MGM, Sonny finally secured a part-time second job with Davis Funeral Home.
Person
James A. Gay III interview, 1973: transcript
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Interview with James A. Gay III conducted by Joyce M. Wright in 1973. Edited by Elizabeth Nelson Patrick, and transcribed for the project "Black Experience in Southern Nevada, Donated Tapes Collection," James R. Dickinson Library, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, December 1978. Arriving in 1946 from Fordyce, Arkansas, Gay became the first African-American mortician in Las Vegas. He later worked as Assistant Manager of the Sands Hotel and Casino and Union Plaza while serving as an executive board member of the Culinary Union. Instrumental in the Las Vegas community, Gay worked to improved race relations, addressing social, economic, and civic issues. Gay was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1988.
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