Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Erma Linda Rivera conducted by Laurents Bañuelos-Benitez, Nathalie Martinez, Maribel Estrada Calderón, and Barbara Tabach on January 09, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Erma Linda Rivera discusses her early life as a grandchild of immigrants. She shares her experiences growing up in a mining town in Arizona. After marrying, both Erma Linda and her husband Jose became federal civil servants. This would lead Erma Linda Rivera to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1984. Prior to retirement, Rivera worked as an regional Equal Employment Opportunity manager. Rivera discusses her career working for the Department of the Interior, sharing how her job helped fuel her passion for social justice. Erma Linda relates the importance of civic involvement in her life. Finally, she reflects on how Henderson, Nevada has changed over the years she has lived there.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Helen Jensen, Esther Faircloth, and Helen Rosati conducted by Claytee D. White on October 25, 2005 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Jensen discusses her early life and arriving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1923. She remembers the city at the time, Fremont Street, and the increase in population through the 1930s. Jensen talks about the construction of the Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) and the legalization of gambling in 1931. Then, Faircloth and Rosati describe growing up in North Las Vegas and recreational activities they participated in. Lastly, Jensen, Faircloth, and Rosati recall the Helldorado parade, rodeos, and changes in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Elton Garrett conducted by Elizabeth Nelson Patrick on December 05, 1980 and December 06, 1980 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In the first interview, Garrett discusses his career in journalism, education, and business. He talks about Boulder City, Nevada in the early 1900s, the Boulder Canyon Project Act (1928), and becoming a writing for the
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Marion Allen conducted by Dennis McBride on April 14, 1986 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Allen discusses the construction of the Hoover Dam (Boulder Dam) and his father’s employment on the dam. He talks about becoming a dam construction worker and the working conditions during the early stages of the dam. Allen recalls the labor strike in 1935 and the opening of the dam. Lastly, Allen talks about engineer Frank Crowe’s involvement with the the project.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Helen Jamison Baker conducted by Rod Lotspeich on March 12, 1981 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Baker discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1932. She talks about housing at the time, Six Companies, Inc., and the development of Boulder City, Nevada in the 1930s. Baker describes the construction of the Hoover Dam, and the increase of convention centers in Las Vegas through the 1960s and 1970s. Lastly, Baker compares living in Henderson, Nevada to her past experience living in Boulder City.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Wayne Tanaka conducted by Ayrton Yamaguchi, Vanessa Concepcion, Kristel Peralta, Cecilia Winchell, and Stefani Evans on March 12, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Wayne shares his family's heritage and history as Japanese Hawaiians and discusses his father's internment during World War II. He shares his background growing up in Lahaina, Maui, Hawai'i and how he came to live in Las Vegas. Wayne discusses his career as an educator for the Clark County School District and talks about his life in Las Vegas with his wife and daughters.
Subjects discussed include: Las Vegas Buddhist Sangha; Executive Order 9066; Sunset High School; Boulder Dam Area Council
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Clarence Ray conducted by Eleanor L. Walker in 1991 for the African American in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Ray provides details of his ancestry and upbringing, his education, and race relations in the western United States before 1930. He then moves on to his first visit to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1922, and his movements before settling permanently in the 1940s. He explains that the main source of employment for the relatively small Black population during the 1920s and early 1930s was the railroad, but a number were also in business. Mr. Ray provides thumbnail sketches of many of the early residents, and is particularly informative about "Mammy" Pinkston, Mary Nettles, the Stevens family, and the Ensley family. Systemic racial discrimination against Blacks developed in southern Nevada during the 1930s, and Mr. Ray provides some useful details on this along with his discussion of his career in gaming and his social and political activities.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Robert Parker conducted by Dennis McBride on June 02, 1986 and November 09, 1986 for the Boulder City Library Oral History Project. In this interview, Parker discusses the construction of the Hoover Dam and the development of Boulder City, Nevada. Parker recalls the events on December 07, 1941, the closing of Hoover Dam shortly after the Pearl Harbor attacks, and United States military protection of the dam during World War II.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Rose Lawson conducted by Helen Littleton and Connie Degernes on July 26, 1974 for the Boulder City Oral History Project. In this interview, Lawson discusses living in Boulder City, Nevada during the construction of the Boulder Dam. She remembers the houses built by Six Companies, Inc., the first churches built in Boulder City, and the increase in population in the early 1940s.
Archival Collection