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Earl McDonald oral history interview

Identifier

OH-02747

Abstract

Oral history interview with Earl McDonald conducted by Claytee D. White on October 4, 2000 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, McDonald, a sixty-year resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, relates his background in Mississippi and Louisiana, leaving home at fourteen and traveling to California, and being drafted into the Army during World War II. He then discusses moving to Las Vegas and working as a musician and valet while training to be an electrician. He talks at length about the Westside, detailing the clubs and restaurants that opened along Jackson Street, including the El Rio, the Cotton Club, the El Morocco, and the Ebony Club. He also explains the discrimination that prevented Black individuals from joining unions even when they worked union jobs, and the response by the United States Justice department. He also discusses gambling and the potential for revitalizing the Westside community.

Archival Collection

John Mance oral history interview

Identifier

OH-02893

Abstract

Oral history interview with John Mance conducted by Claytee D. White on February 27, 1998 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Mance discusses his introduction to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), forming a local branch in California in 1955, and his continued involvement with the executive committee of the national organization since that date. He explains the heirarchy and make-up of the NAACP, from the national convention to the local branches and their rights and responsibilities. He continues talking about the officers, who are all volunteers, and the numbers of paid administrative staff. He explains his involvement in the various local branches and his forty-two years as a national board member.

Archival Collection

Tonnie Sumler oral history interview

Identifier

OH-02895

Abstract

Oral history interview with Tonnie Sumler conducted by Claytee D. White on May 21, 1996 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. Sumler talks about moving from Fordyce, Arkansas to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1989, seeking better opportunities. She expresses some concern for her daughter's high school education in Las Vegas, believing the smaller class sizes in Fordyce would be better, and then talks about how she started working as a housekeeper for Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino after joining the Culinary Workers Union. She explains that there was a possibility of a strike in 1997 and details some of the reasons why.

Archival Collection

Alice Key oral history interview

Identifier

OH-01809

Abstract

Oral history interview with Alice Key conducted by Claytee D. White, with Joyce Moore and two unidentified individuals on November 11, 2004 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this informal interview, Key talks about her early education, sharing anecdotes along with more serious comments. She continues talking about her early activism, beginning with housing discrimination in Los Angeles, California, the work of President Lyndon Johnson on equal rights, her work on the Clark County Nevada Economic Opportunity Board, and the issue of hiring Black front-of-house employees at the casinos and hotels. She continues chatting about families who own or owned casinos in Las Vegas, different church leaders in the city, and ends talking about early Black entertainers, including Dorothy Dandridge and the Barry Brothers and her own experiences as a dancer.

Archival Collection

Anna Corine Tisdale oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03248

Abstract

Oral history interview with Anna Corine Tisdale conducted by Claytee D. White on May 28, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Tisdale, a native of Fordyce, Arkansas, talks about her background as the daughter of sharecroppers, her marriage, and her move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1954. She recalls living in a small trailer with her husband and four children for several months before the family moved to "Four Mile" near the Boulder Highway. She details her working life, starting as a retail clerk and then moving into hotel housekeeping, eventually earning promotion as the first Black supervisor-inspector at the Sahara Hotel and Casino. She also offers comparisons of her life in Fordyce and Las Vegas, about recreational activities, education, race issues, and how men and women worked in the same environment in the 1960s. The audio also includes a brief conversation with her oldest daughter, Nancy.

Archival Collection

Charles Quander oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03285

Abstract

Oral history interview with Charles Quander conducted by Claytee D. White on October 27, 2005 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Quander, who served as a flight officer in the Army Air Corps first all-Black fighter and bomber squadrons known collectively as the Tuskegee Airmen, talks about his upbringing in Washington, D.C., his early interest in flight, and his decision to train as a pilot at the outset of World War II. Quander talks about his training and reflects on both the process of learning to fly and the discrimination that the cadets experienced from the predominately white senior officers. He then talks about his post-military education and his career with the federal government, working as an investigator for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and the United States Attorney's strike force on organized crime. He ends the interview describing his retirement and travel, his move to Las Vegas, Nevada, and his views on war, the Department of Homeland Security, and his perceptions of Las Vegas' growth.

Archival Collection

Robert A. Lynn oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03289

Abstract

Oral history interview with Robert A. Lynn conducted by Lisa Gioia-Acres on January 29, 2007 for the UNLV @ 50 Oral History Project. In this interview, Lynn discusses his background, education in Las Vegas, Nevada, his parents and siblings, his military career, and his professional and work training that prepared him for his first position as a groundskeeper at UNLV in 1986. He continues to discuss his career at UNLV as he rose from groundskeeper to Ground Facilities Supervisor, mentioning various project highlights, construction projects, and his supervisory style that helped create a close-working team.

Archival Collection

Emily Ku oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03884

Abstract

Oral history interview with Emily Ku conducted by Jerwin Tiu, Cecilia Winchell, and Stefani Evans on December 16, 2022 for Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Ku decribes growing up in a Mandarin-speaking household and celebrating traditional Chinese holidays. Ku recalls her education at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied political economy of industrial societies and became involved with the United States Department of Commerce during an internship. She recounts moving around several times before settling down in Las Vegas, Nevada, doing remote work as a market analyst before ending up working on the Commission for Minority Affairs. She talks about her experiences there, as well as her current position with the City of Las Vegas as a management analyst. Ku also talks about some of her community involvement, thoughts on personal identity, her favorite foods, and what she hopes to see from the AAPI community in the coming years.

Archival Collection

Michael Chin oral history interviews

Identifier

OH-03885

Abstract

Oral history interviews with Michael Chin conducted by Jerwin Tiu, Cecilia Winchell, and Stefani Evans on December 20, 2022 for Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Chin describes growing up in a largely Americanized household. His paternal grandparents immigrated from China and owned a laundry shop that his father worked in as well. Chin discusses his education and his interest in creative writing, including editing the school newspaper and writing an a cappella blog with his friend while in college. After graduating, he worked at the John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth as a resident assistant before getting into a graduate program and obtaining his MFA.

Archival Collection

Simon Lamsal oral history interview

Identifier

OH-03887

Abstract

Oral history interview with Simon Lamsal conducted by Jerwin Tiu, Cecilia Winchell, and Stefani Evans on December 16, 2022 for Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Lamsal describes growing up in Kathmandu, Nepal, and growing up with his grandparents. After graduating in Nepal, Lamsal applied to college in the United States and started in Arkansas studying computer science but later relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada and continuted at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Lamsal describes joining CSUN, the National Millenial Community, and investing in his community. Currently, he is in graduate school and an information technology intern at MGM. Thoroughout the interview, Lamsal touches on a number of other topics regarding finding community, cultural foods, and family life.

Archival Collection