Oral history interview with Ed W. May conducted by Claytee D. White on July 22, 2010 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview, May discusses golfing in Las Vegas, Nevada and the Valley View Club, an organization for predominately African American golfers, and its significance to the African American community. May describes how the club began and recalls anecdotes from his time as president of the club for nine years.
Oral history interview with Paulette Canty conducted by Claytee White on July 02, 1998 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Canty opens her interview by discussing her life in Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1960s. Canty talks about being one of the first students to be integrated in the Las Vegas school system. She discusses how the Clark County School District prepared African American and white students for integration. She describes how integration was positive for herself, but that it was a negative experience for her sister and other African American students. Canty also talks about how African American children were raised at the time, discussing the values instilled in boys versus girls. She also talks about her experience working in the gaming industry including as a manager at Bally's Hotel and Casino. She discusses the treatment of African American employees by the gaming industry and labor unions.
Oral history interview with Ron Smith conducted by Claytee D. White on May 10, 2022 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Ron Smith discusses his early life in Queens, New York and his Catholic school education. Smith served as a Red Cross volunteer at the hospital where his mother worked, and after one year at St. Johns University he volunteered for the Air Force to avoid being drafted by the Army. Soon after basic training and being trained as an aircraft mechanic, Ron Smith volunteered to go to Vietnam. Later, Smith talks about his experience owning seventeen McDonald's restaurants throughout Las Vegas, Nevada and future plans to construct a mall and residential complex on Boulder Highway in partnership with the City of Henderson.
Oral history interview with Marietta Robertson Turner Whitaker conducted by Claytee D. White on March 23, 2022 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Whitaker discusses living in Stockton, California. As a young girl, she performed as a majorette in high school, and found school integration very challenging since the family lived in a non-Black neighborhood. Whitaker was a Girl Scout, entered talent shows, and participated in radio call-in contests to win prizes. Her early work was in retail at J.J. Newberry's and Macy's. Instead of college, Whitaker married, divorced and remarried. After her move to Las Vegas, Nevada, she worked on the Westside for the Town Tavern, Uncle Ben's Barbeque, and Seven Seas.
Oral history interview with Joel Coombs conducted by Claytee White on February 22, 2014 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview Joel Coombs spoke about how his peers reacted to his interracial family. He recalls attending Valley High School amidst racial tensions, racism, and prejudice. He also spoke about the drug abuse happening at Valley High School and Bishop Gorman High School in Nevada. He recalled participating in protests as a child and landing on the front page of The Post.
Oral history interviews with James Tate conducted by Claytee D. White on April 23, 2013 and May 10, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Tate begins by discussing his upbringing in Illinois and later Connecticut, his family, and how his father being a member of the Communist Party affected how he views the world politically. He describes his education, what lead him to pursue a career in medicine and eventually become a surgeon, and the hospitals he worked at before arriving in Nevada during the 1980s. Tate details his career as a surgeon in Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as in Reno, Nevada, and the difficulties he faced with the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners.
Oral history interviews with Ida Pinckney conducted by Claytee D. White on August 23, 2012 and November 05, 2012 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Pinckney discusses her personal history and life in Las Vegas, Nevada after moving there with her family as a child in 1942. She begins by talking about her family and living in a tent house in the Westside community of Las Vegas. Pinckney describes how she feels Westside development has been stunted by an overabundance of churches in the area not paying taxes, life in the Westside during the 1940s, and her experiences as an African American woman in Las Vegas. Other topics of discussion include Pinckney being a member of Culinary Workers Union Local 226, her father and brother working at the Nevada Test Site, and various aspects of Las Vegas history. Willie Jean Beatty also participates in the interview, helping Pinckney expand on topics such as the presence of organized crime in casinos and her involvement in the Sisters Network: An Afro-American Breast Cancer Survivors Organization.
Oral history interview with Ivory H. Blue II conducted by John Grygo on 2013 February 22 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. This oral history documents the early life of Ivory H. Blue II in Las Vegas, Nevada while growing up in the Westside projects. He also discusses his college years in the 1990s at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Oral history interview with Eva and Roberta Martin conducted by Claytee D. White on August 30, 2018 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Eva and Roberta discuss their family’s background and upbringing in Chicago, Illinois. Eva talks about her employment for Eastman Kodak, opening up a dry cleaning business, and buying a McDonald's franchise with her husband. Roberta recalls attending Tuskegee University, going to law school, and becoming a public defender. Eva talks about moving to Las Vegas, Nevada, opening three McDonald's franchises, and becoming a franchise operator with help of the National Black McDonald's Operators Association (NBMOA). Lastly, they discuss their involvement with the Jim Martin Family Trust, Ronald McDonald House, Shade Tree, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Foundation Advisory Board.
Oral history interview with Hermina Washington conducted by B. Leon Green on March 02, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Washington discusses her career with the State of Nevada, working under different governors, and raising her three sons with her high school sweetheart. Washington also discusses her various residences on the Westside over the years, her role of church growing up, and changes of Las Vegas, Nevada as a city.