Oral history interview with Dr. Javier A. Rodríguez conducted by Elsa Lopez and Barbara Tabach on December 19, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Dr. Javier Rodríguez, Biology Professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, talks of his personal and educational history that led him to UNLV. He discusses his migration from Puerto Rico to California where he received his PhD from the University of California Berkley and became a biological museum curator for various animal specimens. He later moved to Las Vegas to teach at UNLV where he has now been for nearly two decades; Dr. Rodríguez shares how UNLV has changed since he first started working here, including the university's increased interest in faculty research to become a Top Tier institution. Subjects discussed include: Puerto Rico; University of California Berkley; University funding; Tier 1 research institutions.
Collection is comprised primarily of files from approximately the early 1980s to 2017 detailing Joshua Abbey's theater and film career; his involvement with environmental efforts in Southern Nevada such as the Citizens Against Nuclear Waste in Nevada (CANWIN); and his involvement with the Jewish community in Las Vegas, including the Jewish Film Festival, the Jewish Federation, Temple Beth Sholom, and other organizations. The collection also includes information about the Jewish Community Center from the 1950s and a file on the film production of The Brave Cowboy, a novel written by his father, Ed Abbey.