Oral history interview with William H. "Bob" Bailey conducted by A. D. Hopkins on February 17, 1999 for the Las Vegas Review-Journal First 100 Oral History Project. In the interview, Bailey discusses his birth in Detroit, Michigan and his early life and education in Cleveland, Ohio. Bailey moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1955. He describes racial segregation in the neighborhoods he lived in, and in Las Vegas in general. He also talks about entertainers and business associates he worked with at the Moulin Rouge in Las Vegas. Other subjects Bailey discusses include the Great Society programs during the 1960s, affirmative action during the 1970s, the Las Vegas Black Chamber of Commerce, and minority business growth and development in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Johnny Pate and Jillean Williams conducted by Claytee D. White on March 04, 2004 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Johnny Pate discusses his best friend, Joe Williams, and talks about his career as a renowned jazz musician. Jillean Williams then talks about Joe Williams, her late husband, and about living in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Quincella Rivers conducted by Claytee D. White on November 20, 2019 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Quincella Rivers began by talking about where she grew up, her family life and history with the arts, and her childhood. She recalls moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1979 to finish college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and talks about different jobs and organizations she has participated in. Rivers serves as co-chair of the Youth in Arts for Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority, President of the Las Vegas Society, Inc., Advisory Board of Forgotten Song Foundation, and sings with Sweet Adeline International. She talks about the histories of some of the organizations, how she helped out in each of them, what their goals were, and what they did for the community. Lastly, she talks about racism in Las Vegas in the past and her personal experience with racism and segregation.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Avril "Juanita" Simmons and Fred "Bubba" Simmons conducted by Claytee D. White on May 21, 1996 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection.
In this interview, husband and wife Bubba and Juanita Simmons talk about their separate moves from Fordyce, Arkansas to Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1940s and their impressions of the city after moving. Bubba shares stories of his employment at the Basic Magnesium, Inc. plant in Henderson and his experiences living in tents on the Westside, traveling to work with the help of Red Mitchell, and sharing living spaces with nine to ten other men. Juanita discusses her work as a family's caregiver and speaks to the kinds of occupations Black women obtained in Las Vegas at that time. The couple share stories of city life and the clubs, eateries, and shops that were present in the area.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Mabel and David Hoggard conducted by Perry Kaufman on February 23, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. David first discusses working at Nellis Air Force Base, how the armed forces weren’t segregated, and that segregation was not as big as it was outside of the base. David then explains the hostility between the civilian black community and the military black community. Mabel discusses education in West Las Vegas, Nevada, working with the American Red Cross, Teachers Local, and her membership with the National Education Association.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Cora Williams conducted by Kathlyn Wilson on March 11, 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Cora Williams discusses arriving in Las Vegas in 1952. She talks about working as a hotel maid and later owning a beauty shop. Williams also discusses the NAACP and housing discrimination.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Patricia Bryan conducted by Stephen Kulifay on February 20, 1979 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview Patricia Bryan discusses her education at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Northwestern and her move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1947. Bryan also discusses her family’s involvement in the soda bottling industry and eventual involvement in real estate. She goes on to describe a wide range of topics including the first hotel properties in the city, the entertainers at the time, minority communities, the railroad, shopping, and housing. She also discusses the popularity of Las Vegas, with a focus on tourists and gaming. Digital audio and transcript available.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Dr. Carolyn Reedom conducted by Kristina Knebl on November 22, 2006 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Dr. Reedom reflects upon her 28 years as a principal in Nevada’s Clark County School District (CCSD). She discusses the process by which she became an elementary school principal, and compares it with when she served as a high school principal. She discusses her approach to school administration, and how her experience as a 27-year old principal of Red Rock Elementary School shaped her career. She also describes her experience with school desegregation, and explains why she believes it was desegregation instead of integration.
Archival Collection
The Milton Norman Photograph Collection (1943-1970) consists of black-and-white photographic prints and negatives taken by City of Las Vegas Code Enforcement officer Milton Norman. The images were recorded as part of a survey of substandard residential dwellings built in the then racially segregated communities of the Westside and Vegas Heights in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
The Lift Up Windsor Project Collection (approximately 2020-2023) contains digitized copies of North Las Vegas, Nevada City Council meeting minutes, geological and environmental impact statements, and other types of documentation originally published from the 1950s to 2010s that were collected by Sebastian Ross, graduate student at UNLV's Boyd School of Law and an archived version of the Lift up Windsor Park project website. Assemblywoman Dina Neal (now Nevada State Senator) led the project, which included faculty and students from UNLV's film department and law school, to research and advocate for Windsor Park, one of the first all-Black housing communities in North Las Vegas that was developed in the 1960s. The records in this collection represent the research material used for
Archival Collection