Oral history interview with Nadine Connor and Harriet Watson conducted by Claytee D. White on May 29, 2018 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Connor and Watson discuss their early lives and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada. They talk about African American women’s civil and social work, and the establishment of Charms, Inc. Watson describes founding the Las Vegas chapter of Charms, Inc. and organizing activities to feed the hungry, assist homeless youth, and funding for higher education. Lastly, Connor and Watson discuss the homelessness issue in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Morse Arberry conducted by Brittany Thompson and Andrew Thomas on November 20, 2015 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Arberry discusses his personal history and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1958. He talks about his father's employment at the Nevada Test Site and the issues of segregation at the time. Arberry recalls attending the Westside School and talks about school integration. He then describes his career in legislation, working on bills to improve the integration process, and the impact that the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) had on the level of education among adults in the community. Lastly, Arberry discusses the West Las Vegas community, the significance that religion had on African Americans, and the increase of law enforcement in the area.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with James H. Rainey, Sr. and Veronica Ross conducted by Claytee D. White on March 12, 2012 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. James H. Rainey, Sr. discusses his summers working in Las Vegas, Nevada before moving from Arkansas in 1961, as well as his work at the Nevada Test Site. Veronica Ross, his niece, talks of moving to Las Vegas in 1965 and her experiences growing up. Details are given on their recent family history as well as the budding African American community and lifestyles during the 1960s and 1970s in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Clarence Gilyard conducted by Barbara Paige on December 02, 2014 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Gilyard begins the interview by discussing his upbringing on United States Air Force bases, his father's career as an Airman, and the advantages he had attending Air Force schools as a child as opposed to attending public schools, where he may have faced discrimination as an African American. He describes his higher education, playing college football, and later pursuing a career in acting after becoming involved in local theatre while attending college at California State University, Long Beach. Gilyard continues, detailing how he gained more acting work and eventually acted alongside actors like Jim Carrey, Andy Griffith, and Chuck Norris, as well as starred in film and television series such as Top Gun, Die Hard, Matlock, and Walker, Texas Ranger. He concludes by discussing his career as an acting teacher and continuing his own education.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Faye Duncan Daniel conducted by Claytee White on October 18, 1996 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. In this interview, Daniel discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1965. Daniel discusses living in Vegas Heights and her interactions with the local African American community. Daniel discusses her various jobs including a brief time as a police officer. Later Daniel discusses leaving Las Vegas to obtain her college education and her eventual return, to work as one of the first African American women in management in the Las Vegas hotel industry. Daniel also discusses her experiences with racism and gender discrimination.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Claytee D. White conducted by Jessica Avila Pifferrer on December 01, 2014 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, White discusses her career as the Director of the Oral History Research Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries. She describes why she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1992, enrolling in the American History master's program at UNLV, and participating in the Women in Gaming and Entertainment project. She talks about memorable interviews she has conducted, including interviews with the African American community of Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Melvin Sanders Jr. conducted by John Grygo on February 18, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Sanders discusses his personal history and his experiences growing up in Las Vegas, Nevada. He describes the development of West Las Vegas, his father being a pastor at the House of Holiness church, and talks about other spiritual leaders in the community. Later, Sanders discusses the riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and how African American entertainers were limited in where they performed on the Las Vegas Strip. He talks about Jackson Street, the increase of police on the Westside, and racial tensions in the mid 1970s. Lastly, Sanders recalls when casinos begun integrating, and he describes starting an automobile detailing business, J.R. Detailing.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Barbara Bates Kirkland conducted by Claytee D. White on November 12, 2004 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Kirkland discusses working at the Westside School with Mabel Hoggard and co-founding the La Femme Douze.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Lonnie Pittman conducted by Beverly Williams on March 16, 1981 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Pittman, an African American man, describes the treatment and living conditions of African Americans in Las Vegas, Nevada during the 1950s. Pittman also discusses the job opportunities available to African Americans, segregation, and the quality of schooling available to African American children at the time.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Donna Rodriguez conducted by Justin Burrows on November 24, 2014 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Rodriguez discusses her personal history and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1993. She describes her first impressions of the city, her employment at McCarran International Airport, and working as a security dispatcher for casinos. Rodriguez then talks about the development of security surveillance at casinos, discrimination towards African American gamblers, and recalls the training she received. Later, Rodriguez discusses her church involvement, teaching at her church's Sunday school, and shares how she managed to raise her children on her own. Lastly, she talks about the role that politics had on minority communities, the importance of education, and changes in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection