Oral history interview with Sandra Candel conducted by Elsa Lopez, Monserrath Hernández, and Barbara Tabach on October 03, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Sandra Candel talks of her childhood growing up with her grandparents in Guadalajara, Jalisco after her mother immigrated to America. She moved to California to attend university before moving to Salt Lake City, Utah, where she raised her children and began homeschooling them. This path led to Sandra opening a Montessori school, igniting her interest in education. She talks of her pursuit of both a Masters Degree from Drexel University and a Doctoral Degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Sandra concludes her interview with discussion of her research and current employment as a part-time instructor for the Department of Interdisciplinary, Gender, and Ethnic Studies at UNLV. Subjects discussed include: Guadalajara; Salt Lake City, Utah; Sensitive Teaching Practices; Multi-generational families.
Oral history interview with Sandra Gray conducted by Elsa Lopez and Barbara Tabach on December 13, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Dr. Gray discusses her family history, and describes how her parents are immigrants from Durango, Mexico and moved from East Los Angeles, California to East Las Vegas, Nevada in 1991. After getting her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) she started a behavioral health agency that provided rehabilitative mental health services to children primarily in the foster care system. She went on to earn a master's degree in mental health counseling, a master's in psychology, and a doctoral degree in clinical psychology. She is the founder of Empower LV, which strives for equitable access to sports and tutoring. Dr. Sandra Gray is also the owner and operator of Innovation Behavioral Health Solutions, LLC.
Oral history interview with Martin Lopez-Castillo conducted by Nathalie Martinez, Elsa Lopez, and Barbara Tabach on January 11, 2020 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Martin Lopez Castillo was born in a small town in the State of Mexico. He immigrated to Phoenix, Arizona in the early '90s where he worked in construction and landscaping. Eventually, he made his way to Colorado where he began working as a cook. He moved to Las Vegas with his family in the early 2000s where he arrived in Las Vegas' Downtown. He worked in the mine by Primm, Nevada before becoming a gardener. His work has allowed him to see the changes that have happened in Southern Nevada, and he recounts the changes that have happened in Downtown Las Vegas since the 2008 recession. He is a self-taught English speaker and an avid chess collector. Subjects discussed include: Immigration, Chess, Landscaping, Teaching, and Downtown Las Vegas.
Oral history interview with Marvelys Lopez Omaña conducted by Monserrath Hernandez and Barbara Tabach on February 21, 2020 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Marvelys Lopez discusses her childhood and growing up in Caracas, Venezuela, where her father owned a toy store. She attended an all-girls Catholic School and from a young age knew that she wanted to be a doctor. In 1993, at the age of seventeen, she was able to study abroad in the United States for one year and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. She returned to Venezuela to attend medical school and while attending medical school she met her husband, who was studying to be a registered nurse at the time. Lopez Omaña recalls volunteering as a firefighter in Venezuela, and discusses the political change that happened in Venezuela during her last years in medical school. She moved to back Las Vegas with her husband in 2003 and began working as a caregiver. She recounts Her first son's birth story, and describes how she became a Certified Professional Midwife.
Oral history interview with Pablo Macias conducted by Elsa Lopez, Monserrath Hernandez, and Claytee D. White on December 07, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Pablo Macias was rasied in the small town of Carlin outside of Elko, Nevada. His father and mother met in Ogden, Utah where his father was working on railroad in Nevada and Utah. After finishing high school, he got a job at Elko Blacksmith Shop, where he learned to weld. After attending Northern Nevada Community College, he enrolled and graduated from UNR. After graduation, he took a position at Von Tobel Middle School in 1990 teaching Spanish and Physical Education. While working as a Spanish teacher in Rancho High School he enrolled in a Master's program at Nova Southeastern University, completing the program in education administration. He currently serves as the Associate Director of Corporate Work Study Program Operations for Cristo Rey St. Viator College Preparatory High School. Subjects discussed include: Education, Rancho High School, Von Tobel Middle School, Barrick Mining, and Cristo Rey.
Oral history interview with Emilia Marquez conducted by Maribel Estrada Calderón on July 5, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Claytee D. White and Emily Lucile are also present during the interview. Emilia Marquez was born in the United Stated and raised in Alexandria, Virginia, where her father worked as a bricklayer, until the age of twelve, when her father decided to move the family back to Uruguay. She describes acclimating to her new life in middle school and her shift from being perceived as an outsider in Uruguay to accepting Uruguay as home. She describes life in Uruguay and the positions that her family held while living there. After meeting and marrying her husband they trained to work in a casino. She trained as a slot machine operator, and her husband trained as a dealer. This eventually led them to leave Uruguay for the U.S. After the encouragement of her father and mother, she moved with her mother to Las Vegas to work in the casino industry. She describes working as a change person at the Luxor before moving to the newly opened Palms, where she worked until she left it to work at the Wynn. She ends the interview talking about various Uruguayan dishes and traditions, and a brief history of Uruguay. Subjects discussed in this interview: Uruguay, immigration, Las Vegas Strip, Latinx, Luxor.
Oral history interview with Magdalena Martinez conducted by Monserrath Hernandez and Barbara Tabach on April 4, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Magdalena Martinez recalls her childhood and growing up in Los Angeles, California. Martinez's parents are from Durango, Mexico, and immigrated to the United States in the 1970s. Martinez describes the generational differences that the women in her family faced and how the feminist movement of the 1970s did not resonate with women of color. Her family moved to Las Vegas in 1986 where she attended Bishop Gorman High School. After transferring to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) from community college and joining a student organization that would later become Student Organization of Latinxs, she became an early member of the Latino Youth Leadership Conference (LYLC) sponsored by the Latin Chamber of Commerce. Martinez describes how the LYLC has evolved over the years, and talks about her role in those changes. She discusses past work for CSN, NSHE, and currently is the Director of Education Programs with the Lincy Institute.
Oral history interview with Olivia Meneses conducted by Elsa Lopez and Barbara Tabach on September 18, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Olivia Meneses describes growing up in Mexico City and attending la Universidad Iberoamericana during the 1968 student movement that culminated in the Tlatelolco massacre. She discusses migrating to the United States in 1983 and moving to Las Vegas in 1985, where she began teaching Spanish to kindergarten students.
Oral history interview with Gerry Rojas-Cantres conducted by Barbara Tabach on January 29, 2021 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Gerry talks of his arrival to Las Vegas after growing up in Puerto Rico. He also discusses his work as both a porter at McCarran Airport and a shop steward for the Culinary Workers Union Local 226.
Oral history interview with Emmanuel Ortega conducted by Monserrath Hernandez, Maribel Estrada Calderon, Elsa Lopez, Barbara Tabach, and Laurents Bañuelos Benitez on 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Emmanuel Ortega was born in Artesia, California and was raised in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico before moving to El Paso, Texas with his family at the age of thirteen. In 1998 his family relocated once again from El Paso to Las Vegas, Nevada where his father joined the Carpenters Union. They settled in Green Valley and he began attending a hybrid community college and high school program allowing him to obtain college credits. He continued at the College of Southern Nevada for two more years where he was a photography major and later transferred to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) where he studied art history. He moved back to Las Vegas in 2011 where he began teaching at UNLV and received a PhD in Ibero-American colonial art history from the University of New Mexico in 2017. He is the co-host of the podcast "Latinos Who Lunch" where hosts discuss pop culture, art, and issues of race, sex, and gender in the Latinx community.