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Coleen York Wilson oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03272

Abstract

Oral history interview with Coleen York Wilson conducted by Claytee D. White on June 4, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Wilson talks about growing up in Fordyce, Arkansas before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1953 at the age of eighteen. She mentions that her parents had moved to Nevada in 1940 to work at Basic Magnesium, Incorporated (BMI), living in a trailer before returning to Fordyce two years later. She then discusses moving to Las Vegas to join an older sister and relates that she did not remember any discrimination in seating or eating meals during her bus trip. After this, Wilson lists the jobs she held in Las Vegas before her retirement in 1984, including work at the Las Vegas Cleaners, serving as a school crossing guard, and working as a housekeeping supervisor at the Stardust Resort Hotel, the Hacienda Resort Hotel, and Circus Circus Hotel and Casino before taking a job at the Nevada Test Site. She also talks about her family, her church activities, and her regret at not attending college.

Archival Collection

Shirley Allen oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03305

Abstract

Oral history interview with Shirley Allen conducted by Nancy Hardy on June 21, 2003 for the Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Allen discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada with her family and starting dancing professionally while attending university. Her first job was at the Riviera in 1964, working as a showgirl. She explains that the work was not difficult and they were not asked to do anything inappropriate, but they did have to pay for their own cocktail dresses and accessories. She also explains that she was a "covered dancer" in the beginning but by the late 1960s she had to "uncover" (work topless) to be employed. She then talks about working in Pzazz! '68 at the Stardust Resort Hotel and Casino, after auditioning for Fluff LeCoque, Donn Arden's company captain. She also talks about her impression of Miss Bluebell and Donn Arden. She spends some time talking about what life was like backstage, relations between the girls, and meeting celebrities, her first experience with topless dancing in Lido de Paris, and how the backstage dressing areas were assigned and the difficulty of fast changes between sets. Later, she talks about things that can go wrong, from forgeting choreography to the more serious issue of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that swept through the shows in the 1980s.

Archival Collection

Gerry Gauthier oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03303

Abstract

Oral history interview with Gerry Gauthier conducted by an unknown interviewer on June 23, 2004 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Gauthier talks at length about his experiences as an Army infantryman in the Philippines and as a survivor of the Bataan Death March and subsequent internment at camps in the Philippines and Japan. He first describes his upbringing and education in Michigan and his desire to enlist in the Army in 1940. He then describes his experiences of war, capture, and internment and his release after three years and five months of captivity. He also talks about his life after the war, from the extensive period of hospitalization and rehabilitation to his marriage and thirty-five year career in the U. S. Postal Service. Finally, he discusses his retirement and move to Henderson, Nevada in 1997.

Archival Collection

Pat Feaster oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03306

Abstract

Oral history interview with Pat Feaster conducted by Claytee D. White on July 1, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Feaster relates how her mother made the decision to leave Fordyce, Arkansas for better economic opportunity and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1942. She describes travelling across the country, living in a one-room structure in the Westside of Las Vegas, and attending the Westside School. She discusses her mother's employment at the Red Rooster Restaurant and then at the Algiers Hotel. She talks at length about her own educational journey after leaving school at fifteen, then returning for her GED and later, a college degree after the birth of her fifth child. She discusses how the decision to improve her education helped her develop a twenty-six year career at the Clark County Health District. She also discusses the Fordyce Club and many important personalities in Las Vegas' Black community.

Archival Collection

Hope Anstett oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03307

Abstract

Oral history interview with Hope Anstett conducted by Claytee D. White on December 8, 2003 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, Anstett talks about moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1939 with her mother and brother after a doctor recommended a move to a drier climate. Her mother rented a home from Senator Key Pittman and opened a photograph studio and dress shop in the front, with the family living in the back. She describes what it was like growing up in a small community, the schools she attended, the Las Vegas High School Rhythmettes drill team, and the activities available including Helldorado Days and the local recreation center. Later she discusses what the city was like during the war years, the family's move to Oregon, graduating from college, and getting married. She explains that she moved back to Las Vegas while her husband was deployed with the military and worked until his return and the birth of their first child. She also talks about her civic activities, her husband's career with Silver State Disposal, and their post-retirement travel and philanthropic work with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).

Archival Collection

Cathren J. Holder oral history interviews

Identifier

OH-03299

Abstract

Oral history interviews with Cathren J. Holder conducted by Claytee D. White on June 4 and 15, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Holder talks about her childhood and education in Fordyce, Arkansas, her move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1952, and her first experience of living in a two room shack with her older brother and his family. She then discusses her work, marriage, places she shopped, and changes in the Westside since her arrival.

Archival Collection

Carrie McCoy oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03281

Abstract

Oral history interview with Carrie McCoy conducted by Claytee D. White in Fordyce, Arkansas, approximately 1995 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, McCoy explains how she and her husband left Fordyce for Las Vegas, Nevada in 1942, seeking better economic prospects. After several years, McCoy returned to Fordyce to raise their four children and work as a housekeeper for several white families. After her oldest children were grown she returned to Las Vegas in 1961, first finding work at a small motel and then spending nine years working in housekeeping at the Flamingo Hilton Hotel. Finally, she returned to Fordyce in 1972. She ends the interview talking about comparative race relations between Fordyce and Las Vegas, differences in work practices, union activities, and church involvement.

Archival Collection

Stan Fulton oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03228

Abstract

Oral history interview with Stan Fulton conducted by David G. Schwartz on January 17, 2007 for the Slot Operations Oral History Project. In this intervew, Fulton discusses growing up in Maryland, his parents, his early education, military service, and working with his father as a young man. The majority of the interview revolves around his business career, the development of the first multi-line video slot machine and PC boards, or a Japanese company that operated pachinko parlors. He also talks about Bally Manufacturing, which controlled most gaming machines in Las Vegas, Nevada and difficulties finding entry into the market. He discusses his companies, primarily Fortune Coin and the Omega Company, the advent of "credit meters" that were the forerunner of today's coinless voucher and card systems on slot machines. He also relates a number of anecdotal stories about individuals in the Las Vegas gaming world, including Walt Fraley, Jay Sarno, Sr., and William "Si" Redd.

Archival Collection

Stephen Long oral history presentation

Identifier

OH-03249

Abstract

Oral history presentation by Stephen Long recorded approximately 1987-2008 and donated to the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this presentation, Long describes his enlistment in the United States Air Force soon after graduating from college in 1966, his training to become a pilot, and being sent to Vietnam in 1968. He explains his role as a forward air control pilot, responsible for relaying information of enemy positions to attack aircraft, and how he was shot down on February 28, 1969 he was captured in Laos and subsequently held as a prisoner-of-war for 1,490 days.

Archival Collection

Jerry LeFors oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03286

Abstract

Oral history interview with Jerry LeFors conducted by an unknown interviewer between approximately 2000-2008 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, LeFors talks at length about his experiences as an Army Air Corps pilot during World War II. He describes his education, upbringing, music education, and early interest in aviation. He then discusses his military flight training and assignment as a co-pilot on a B-17 bomber crew headed for Europe. He also talks about his subsequent civilian career as a contractor in California and his efforts to break into the music business in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as his continued interest in recording music since his retirement to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1999.

Archival Collection