Interview with Arlone Scott conducted by Glen Ette Davis on July 3, 1975. Born in Louisiana, Scott moved to Las Vegas in 1951, eventually becoming a hotel maid supervisor. She shares her early experiences of positive race relations among churches in Las Vegas and notes that the Culinary Union improved job opportunities for minorities. Scott concludes with comments on the effects of discrimination and segregation on entertainment and recreation for blacks.
Interview with Clarence Ray conducted by Jaime Coughtry in 1991. Having arrived in Las Vegas in the 1920s, Ray provides a rare perspective on shifts in race relations over the years. He shares stories of early businesses and efforts at organization within the black community. From his arrival, Ray worked to secure equal opportunity and civil rights legislation. During the 1960s, he served two terms as president of the Voters League, formed in 1928 to increase black voting power.
Oral history interview with Pamela Jones Brown conducted by Claytee D. White on June 12, 2019 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Brown discusses her upbringing in Nashville, Tennessee and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1968. She remembers her career as a school teacher, her employment for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), and writing about the history of African Americans in the United States. Lastly, Brown talks about the research behind her publications, African Americans migrating to the western United States, and early Las Vegas history.
Interview with Isadore Washington conducted by Claytee D. White on February 7, 2008. Born in Tallulah, Louisiana, Washington came to Las Vegas with his family in 1942 at the age of eight. He recalls playing with Wayne Newton when they were children and life on the Westside. Washington joined the sheriff's department after high school and became the first black deputy sheriff.
Series II provides a history of the Ronzone family, mostly through newspaper clippings and photographs. Thirteen black and white photographs depict scenes in turn-of-the-20th- century mining towns in Alaska, possibly including Nome and Sitka. Bertha and her husband A. B. "Ben" Ronzone were originally in Alaska during the gold rush between 1900 and 1904 before they came to Nevada; these pictures were taken just after that time. Six other photographs in this series feature Ann, Dick, and Bertha Ronzone in social and other contexts. There are also newspaper clippings about Bertha Ronzone and the rest of
the family, telling the story of their pioneer years in central Nevada and their migration to and success in Las Vegas. Finally, there are various obituaries for Dick Ronzone, a list of possible Ronzone relatives, and some personal programs and ephemera from funeral and other personal events.
Archival Collection
Ronzone Family Papers
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Collection Number: MS-00509 Collection Name: Ronzone Family Papers Box/Folder: N/A
George and Bruce Telford holding a hawk shot by their father, Clarence Telford (Pahrump Ranch carpenter), from a flock of several hundred hawks migrating near Pahrump Valley circa 1916-1917.