Interview with James A. Gay III conducted by Perry Kaufman on April 12, 1972. Arriving in 1946 from Fordyce, Arkansas, Gay became the first African-American mortician in Las Vegas. He later worked as Assistant Manager of the Sands Hotel and Casino and Union Plaza while serving as an executive board member of the Culinary Union. Instrumental in the Las Vegas community, Gay worked to improved race relations, addressing social, economic, and civic issues. Gay was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1988.
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Interview with Jerry Eppenger conducted by Claytee D. White on September 14, 2011. Eppenger's family moved from Arkansas to Las Vegas in 1953. Joining the Marine Corps in 1964, he was among the early combatants in the Vietnam War. After a brief time in Alaska, he returned to Las Vegas and found work as a security guard at Bonanza Hotel and Nevada Test Site before attending dealer school. Eppenger recalls local black leaders and describes episodes in segregation and racial relations of 1970s Las Vegas. He shares memories of his beloved Cadillac and the fast and lucrative lifestyle of a dealer.
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Interview with Viola Johnson conducted by Claytee D. White on March 12, 1996. Johnson lived in a tent when she moved from Fordyce to Las Vegas in 1942. She describes working conditions for maids and the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 strikes between 1969 and 1984.
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Interview with Essie Shelton Jacobs conducted by Claytee D. White on February 1, 1996. Jacobs arrived in Las Vegas 1963 and worked in housekeeping at Aladdin Hotel for twenty-three years. Active in the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, she worked as a supervisor and shop steward.
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Interview with Hattie Canty conducted by Claytee D. White on February 27, 1998. Hattie Canty worked as a hotel maid and was elected president of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 during the 1990s.
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Interview with Katherine Duncan and Sarann Knight Preddy conducted by Claytee D. White on November 28, 2004. Duncan moved to Las Vegas in 1977, worked with Nevada Motion Picture Services, and owned a travel agency. She started a black heritage tour of Las Vegas.
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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.
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Second interview in a series of five with Nevada State Senator Joe Neal conducted by Claytee D. White on February 7, 2006. Born in Mounds, Louisiana, in 1935, Neal joined his family in Las Vegas as a young man shortly before serving in the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1958. Following his military service, he earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Neal continued his education at the Institute of Applied Science in Chicago, Illinois, with postgraduate work in law. From 1973 to 2001, he served in the Nevada Legislature as the Senator from Clark County Senatorial District No. 4. In the second interview, Neal focuses on his work during the 1960s and 1970s.
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Interview with Rachel Coleman conducted by Claytee D. White on July 24, 1996. Born in Fayette, Mississippi, Coleman moved to Las Vegas in the 1950s and began washing dishes at the Tropicana. In 1969, having worked for a number of hotels, she was promoted to executive housekeeper at The Hacienda. She ran for president of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 in 1987. Coleman recalls Las Vegas race and labor relations through the decades.
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Interview with Mary Louise Williams conducted by Claytee D. White on June 19, 1998. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Williams was musically trained and worked as a dancer at the opening of the Moulin Rouge in 1955. Following her career in social work and teaching in New York, she retired to Las Vegas.
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