Oral history interview with Shannon Rabb conducted by Claytee D. White on December 20, 2022 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Rabb describes her experience living in the Herbert Gerson Housing Development on the Westwide of Las Vegas. She describes it as safe, as community, and as protection from the police. In this interview, Rabb discusses a wide variety of topics including gangs, drugs, Westside businesses, and family with an expanded definition.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Walter Mason conducted by Claytee D. White on February 17, 2014 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Mason discusses his early life and describes living through the Harlem Renaissance in New York during the 1930s. Mason talks about arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada while producing shows with Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1960s. He highlights his career in theatrical acting, stage production, and as an entertainment director at venues at the Sands, Caesars Palace, and Las Vegas Hilton. Mason then recalls the West Las Vegas community and it's increase of arts programs for children. Lastly, Mason discusses the future for African American youth in the Westside and the growth of the community.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Vance "Stretch" Sanders conducted by Camisha Fagan and Micajah Daniels on November 11, 2016 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Sanders discusses his early life and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2011. He talks about his upbringing in Las Vegas, the influence of organized crime in the city, and the importance of church and religion to him. Sanders then recalls founding the All Shades United organization, with the goal of having people of all colors come together in solidarity to dismantle the institutional and structural barriers that oppress the marginalized. Lastly, Sanders describes the impact that his organization has had on the African American community, the importance of education, and dealing with violence against minority groups.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Reverend Fouston Jordan Sr. conducted by Rachel Mack on November 24, 2014 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Jordan discusses his early life in Louisiana and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1960. He talks about the lack of skilled jobs for minorities and his experience working at the Nevada Test Site. Jordan then describes the protests and strikes held by Culinary Workers Union members in response to casinos not employing certain minority groups. Later, Jordan discusses the significance that churches had on the African American community and their role to help push for certain civil rights.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Katherine M. Joseph conducted by Claytee D. White on October 25, 2004 and September 05, 2007 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Joseph discusses dancing in Paris, France with Josephine Baker and working at the Moulin Rouge Hotel and Casino during its heyday. Joseph also discusses race segregation in Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1950s and of the burgeoning and bustling African-American communities and neighborhoods.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Fannie Carr-Thomas conducted by Claytee D. White on December 05, 2015 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Carr-Thomas discusses her early life in Las Vegas, Nevada and the neighborhood she grew up in. She describes her visits to Hawthorne, Nevada and talks about the casinos there. Carr-Thomas then recalls working with her father in construction and seeing for herself the growth of Las Vegas. Later, Carr-Thomas discusses West Las Vegas and the deteriorating effects the increase of drug use had on the community. She talks about school integration in the 1970s, African American employment on the Las Vegas Strip, and shares her opinions on the future of the Westside.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Cranford Crawford conducted by Claytee D. White on May 27, 2016 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview Crawford discusses his early life and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1964. He talks about his involvement with the Las Vegas branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), working with African American community leaders, and the consent decree of 1971 alleging a series of violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Crawford describes his career with the Clark County Department of Family Services (DFS), issues of segregation in Las Vegas, and being involved with Les Femmes Douze (The Ladies Twelve). Lastly, Crawford discusses Las Vegas government, school integration, and becoming a Freemason.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Rainier Spencer conducted by Sarah Buckner on April 27, 2015 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Spencer discusses his personal history and arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1997. He talks about his experience as a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and his involvement regarding diversity issues at UNLV. Spencer then discusses the novel
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Marilyn Armstrong and Brenda Williams conducted by Claytee D. White on April 13, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project.
Marilyn Armstrong discusses her employment history becoming a beautician and business owner in Las Vegas, Nevada. She also talks of her husband's decision to start the Ray and Ross Bus Company, the largest transportation firm in the state in the 1950s and 1960s, and what it was like growing up in the Westside community. Finally, she mentions the businesses that flourished on Jackson Avenue, inlcuding her mother's beauty shop.
Subjects discussed include: Margie's Beauty Shop; Cadillac Arms; Berkley Square; Cosmetique; Miss Elizabeth Coiffure; and Ray & Ross Bus Company
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Carrie Neal conducted by Aireona Bradford on November 15, 2015 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Neal discusses her upbringing and migration from the South, her marriage and move to Las Vegas, Nevada, her work in the back-of-the-house at multiple casino-hotels, the Black church and the influence of the Culinary Union.
Archival Collection