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Oral history interview with Wayne Tanaka conducted by Ayrton Yamaguchi, Vanessa Concepcion, Kristel Peralta, Cecilia Winchell, and Stefani Evans on March 12, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Wayne shares his family's heritage and history as Japanese Hawaiians and discusses his father's internment during World War II. He shares his background growing up in Lahaina, Maui, Hawai'i and how he came to live in Las Vegas. Wayne discusses his career as an educator for the Clark County School District and talks about his life in Las Vegas with his wife and daughters.
Subjects discussed include: Las Vegas Buddhist Sangha; Executive Order 9066; Sunset High School; Boulder Dam Area Council
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Michelle DiTondo conducted by Vanessa Concepcion on November 9, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Michelle talks about her parents' experiences living in Osaka, Japan during the war, and the circumstances of her move as a child to Nellis Air Force base in 1972. She discusses living in North Las Vegas and her experiences being part of an air force family. Michelle shares stories of her life on the base and her interactions with other air force families. She also talks about her Japanese culture, foods she has cooked with her mother and brother, celebrating cultural events in light of the pandemic, and her career history including her most recent role working at MGM Resorts International.
Subjects discussed include: Air Force Base; NCO Club; AAPI Scholarship Fund; Taiko Drums.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Allycia B. Murphy conducted by Stefani Evans on June 30, 2023 for Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, attorney Allycia B. Murphy shares how she learned recently who her biological father was and how it has changed her life. She talks about connecting with half-siblings, her biological father, and learning about her father's Samoan, Japanese, and German family history. Murphy discusses growing up in southeast North Carolina, being enrolled with her mother's family as Lumbee Tribal Citizens, and learning to code switch. She talks about playing sports in middle and high school, majoring in African American studies at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and attending law school at North Carolina Central University. She recalls becoming a prosecutor with the North Carolina First Prosecutorial District, and meeting her husband. Murphy discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2017, getting married, and the loss of her first child, and subsequent children since her first pregnancy. She closes her interview discussing being hired by the City of Las Vegas as a Deputy City Attorney, Office of the City Attorney, Criminal Division, a position she continues to hold at the time of the interview.
Archival Collection