Interview with Lonnie G. Wright conducted by Claytee D. White on October 23, 2009. Wright played basketball at UNLV and became a successful local educator and businessman. His grandmother worked as a maid for prominent Las Vegans.
Interview with David Washington conducted by Claytee D. White on March 18, 2009. Washington began his career as a firefighter in 1974. In 2001, he became the first African American fire chief for the City of Las Vegas.
Interview with Woodrow Wilson conducted by Gwendolyn Goodloe on February 28, 1975. Wilson worked at the Basic Magnesium plant and became the first black elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1966. He served as president of the NAACP in 1951, and was a co-founder of Westside Federal Credit Union.
Interview with Cora Williams conducted by Kathlyn E. Wilson on March 11, 1975. Born in Louisiana in 1930, Williams arrived in Las Vegas in 1952. She began working as a hotel maid and later owned a beauty shop. Williams discusses the NAACP and housing discrimination.
Interview with Rev. Prentiss Walker conducted by Bernard Timberg on January 27, 1974. Born on an Oklahoma Indian Reservation in 1910, Walker arrived in Las Vegas in 1933 in hopes of working on Hoover Dam construction. After working in various jobs, he became ordained as a Baptist minister. Walker discusses job discrimination and living "uptown."
Interview with Stella Parson and Reverend Claude H. Parson conducted by Maurice R. Page on February 26, 1977. Stella came as a child to Las Vegas in 1942, while Claude arrived in 1952 at Nellis Air Force Base. As educators, the Parsons discuss the integration of schools in Las Vegas.
Interview with Woodrow Wilson conducted by Jamie Coughtry in 1989. Born in a Mississippi sawmill town in 1915 to a family that ran a boarding house, Wilson completed high school at a private boarding school and attended two years of junior college before the declining economy forced him into the Civilian Conservation Corps to work as a cook and baker. Migrating west in 1940, Wilson soon settled in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he worked for Basic Magnesium, Inc. He became a prominent Westside community activist, founding a federal credit union and serving as president of the Las Vegas NAACP. Wilson worked for over thirty years as a warehouseman for companies that occupied the Basic Magnesium site. In 1966, he was elected to the state assembly, becoming the first black legislator in the history of Nevada, advocating open housing legislation, anti-discrimination regulations, welfare reform, and civil rights.
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.
Interview with Emory and Agnes Lockette conducted by Claytee D. White on March 11, 2005. The Lockettes were the only African Americans to live in Boulder City during years of racial tension. Agnes taught kindergarten at Westside School, while Emory worked for the Bureau of Reclamation.
Interview with Ruth Sweet conducted by Bennie Baucham on February 7, 1977. A native Nevadan born in the 1930s, Sweet worked for the State of Nevada, Division of Health. She discusses racism, public affairs, and government issues particular to Nevada.