Oral history panel composed of University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) students Lisa McAllister, Larry Sampson, John Grygo, and Ashley Smith along with community narrators Jerrie Merritt, Geraldine Kirk Hughes, Keith Brantley, and Hannah Brown, moderated by Julia Lee and Claytee White on March 30, 2016 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. The group discusses working with each other during the collection of oral histories for the project, the value of the interchange for both narrator and interviewer, the value of oral histories as repositories of individual and collective memory, and related stories about their experiences.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Leva Beckley conducted by Bernard Timberg of KLVX Channel 10 on January 20 and 31, 1974. In this interview, Buckley talks of moving to Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband in 1910, setting up her husband's clothing business at the Hotel Nevada, the construction of the family home at 120 South Fourth Street, and the birth of her two children. She discusses raising her children, the various amusements the community offered to young families, and her activities as a charter member of the Mesquite Club. She also responds to questions about changes in the culture of the city, particularly in regard to crime and illegal activities. Finally, she shares family photographs with the interviewer.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Barbara Taylor conducted by Karen Schank on January 9, 2011 for the Nevada State College Undergraduate Oral History Project. In this interview, Taylor talks about her birth in Reno, Nevada, growing up in Minden Valley, Nevada, and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1943. She reflects on her education, her parents careers, and her early marriage before describing the couple's first home in Henderson's "Victory Village." Later, she discusses her own career and what it was like living in Nevada in the 1950s and 1960s.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Leroy Burt, Joseph Kine, and Tommy Nelson conducted by Dennis McBride on November 10 and 11, 1986 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. The men discuss what they had been doing when the depression started in 1929, when they moved to Nevada, and their first jobs in Boulder City and the dam site. They share stories about their work experiences and discuss the different types of work at the dam, including high scalers, form strippers, jackhammer operators, and concrete pouring and puddling. They also talk about incidents and accidents that occurred during production, and the differences in safety standards in the 1930s and the 1980s.
Archival Collection
Panel discussion entitled Las Vegas: Past, Present, Future with Frank Wright, Richard Bryan, and Thomas J. Hickey moderated by Robert Tracy on January 11, 2002 for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) of Nevada annual meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. In this discussion, the three panelists discuss Las Vegas' past and the history that both created the city and informs public opinion about it, the present and the challenges the growing city faces socially and economically, and the potential future directions the city might take to ensure continued prosperity. The discussion began with the panelists presenting prepared remarks and continued to an extended question and answer session with the meeting attendees.
Archival Collection
Roundtable oral history interview with members of the Las Vegas Media Group conducted by Lisa Gioia-Acres on May 26, 2009 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. Interviewees include Frank Mitrani, Dick Taylor, Rich Freeland, Don Payne, and John Ellem. Each participant identifies themselves and explains how and why they became members of the Las Vegas Media Group. They discuss the history of the group, how it came together, where they decided to meet, who qualified to join, and then talk about earlier members lost to death or departure. The remainder of the interview is various anecdotes and stories told by the participants.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Gerri Schroder conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Jerwin Tiu, and Stefani Evans on September 2, 2022 for the Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Schroder discusses her childhood in both California and Michigan. She discusses attending Orange Coast College, and later moving to Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband for a job opportunity. Schroder first began her community invovlement by participating in the Henderson Beautification Planning Commission. She gradually became more involved in several community activities including campaigns, commissions, and committees. Amongst them was Bill Clinton's presidential campaign and the National League of Cities. Schroder carried out three terms as Councilwoman and continues to work with the local and national community on issues that she finds most valuable, including the Las Vegas water crisis, women's rights, and public safety.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Ron Smith conducted by Claytee D. White on May 10, 2022 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Ron Smith discusses his early life in Queens, New York and his Catholic school education. Smith served as a Red Cross volunteer at the hospital where his mother worked, and after one year at St. Johns University he volunteered for the Air Force to avoid being drafted by the Army. Soon after basic training and being trained as an aircraft mechanic, Ron Smith volunteered to go to Vietnam. Later, Smith talks about his experience owning seventeen McDonald's restaurants throughout Las Vegas, Nevada and future plans to construct a mall and residential complex on Boulder Highway in partnership with the City of Henderson.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Juanita Fain conducted by Claytee D. White on November 19, 2021 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Fain recalls her childhood in Newark, New Jersey and earning a doctorate degree in Higher Education administration from The Ohio State University. After she was hired by Carol Harter at Ohio State in 1980 as Director of Financial Aid, she came to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in 1996 as Dean of Enrollment and Management. After various positions, she became Vice President of Student Affairs and in 2021, Interim Chief Diversity Officer was added to her responsibilities. Fain will retire in 2023 after serving her final year as a Special Liaison to President Whitfield.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with William Carl Weikel conducted by Barbara Tabach on May 10, 2012 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Weikel's family owned the YKL Ranch near Searchlight, Nevada from 1950 to 1989. The property was known before and after their ownership as the Walking Box Ranch, owned at one time by Rex Bell, Sr. and Clara Bow. In this interview, Weikel talks about living and working on the ranch, some of the more notable people in Searchlight, and tells stories about interesting incidents that occurred on the ranch, and his opinion on protecting the desert tortoise.
Archival Collection