Lillian Morrison was the first uniformed female who worked for Park Service and has worked for Reclamation for 20 years during the war at Camp Williston. Morrison recalls life in Boulder City during the late 1930s and 1940s. Morrison is the wife of Lloyd Shorty Morrison.
Chef and longtime gaming executive Joseph “Joe” Wilcock was born in Detroit and raised by his mother, Ruby, and stepfather, Ross Johnson, in Sarasota, Florida; Gary, Indiana; and Harlan, Kentucky. After he graduated from high school in Gary he moved to Chicago to attend Washburne Culinary Institute. While attending Washburne Joe worked at Chicago’s Drake Hotel and lived at the Sears YMCA. After earning his certificate from Washburne, Joe worked at the newly opened Holiday Inn in Chicago, the Sea View hotel in Bal Harbour, Florida, and a resort at Blowing Rock, North Carolina. At Blowing Rock he heard about the new School of Hotel Management at UNLV and in August 1969 23-year-old Joe headed for Las Vegas with $400 in his pocket. Las Vegas was a disappointment. Joe could not get a job as a chef without first joining Culinary Workers Union Local 226-which he could not afford to do. Also, because he ran a poker game and cooked at the Chuck Wagon Diner during high school his high school grade point average was roughly a C-, which hindered his admittance into the School of Hotel Management. Undaunted, Joe found a job bussing tables at the Frontier Hotel and joined the Culinary Union so he could work as a chef. He also took three classes at UNLV that semester, earned an A in each, and was admitted to the School of Hotel Management. While at UNLV he affiliated with Sigma Chi fraternity. In his career Joe has worked in all facets of the gaming industry in such Las Vegas properties as the Flamingo Capri, the Frontier, Caesars Palace, the Tropicana, the Dunes, the Golden Nugget, the Mirage, Treasure Island, the Sands, MGM, and the Downtown Grand. He learned the business from the ground up. He also worked at Caesars Tahoe and at different times owned and operated a sandwich shop and a bar. Joe married his wife, Linda, 38 years ago in Las Vegas, in 1976. He is currently employed as a casino shift manager at the Downtown Grand hotel and is affiliated with the House Corporation of Sigma Chi Alumni, UNLV Rebel Golf, the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, and Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada.
Randy Garcia is the founder and CEO of the investment management-consulting firm, The Investment Counsel Company. Born in Los Angeles on Feb. 21, 1954, Garcia’s family moved to Las Vegas in 1957. The son of a World War II vet and a homemaker, Garcia’s ancestral roots come from Mexico, Italy, and Spain. He grew up in Las Vegas during segregation and expansion. He remembers a time when much of city included dirt lots and casinos that no longer stand. A champion in serving under privileged youth and communities across southern Nevada, Garcia lives by the philosophy, “give until it hurts.” Garcia uses his success as a wealth manager to promote, foster, and cultivate positive change for the Latinx community in Las Vegas. His story and dedication to his community is a pinnacle of hope and benevolence for current and future generations. Garcia became the first in his family to attend and graduate college. He graduated from UNLV in 1977 with honors, where he majored in business administratio
Chelsie Campbell is a Cuban-American attorney and lobbyist. Born on October 4, 1979, Chelsie is a native Nevadan and grew up in Las Vegas. Her mother, Norah Campbell, came to Las Vegas after the Cuban Revolution and works as an elementary school teacher. Her father, Alan Campbell, was a former teacher and hotel manager. An advocate for the Latino community, Chelsie has dedicated her life to advocacy. Her involvement began at UNLV where she found her voice through the Student Organization of Latinos (SOL). During her time with SOL, she advocated for the elimination of the social security requirement in UNLV’s admission process and lobbied for the retraction of Las Vegas Review Journal’s racist article on Latino students. Her activism in SOL also helped established additional SOL chapters across Las Vegas high schools and at the College of Southern Nevada. After earning her Bachelors in Broadcast Journalism and Spanish Literature from UNLV, Chelsie attended William S. Boyd Law School where she graduated in 2005. Chelsie also attended University of Nevada, Reno where she received her master’s in Management and a graduate certificate in renewable energy. Chelsie worked for Mach One Group as Editor-In-Chief of its two publications, Nevada Family Magazine and La Familia de Nevada. After law school, Chelsie began working at NV Energy as a spokesperson and worked her way up to government affairs. Chelsie is currently working as an independent lobbyist and choses her clients. Her clients include Clark County School District and NV Energy. Her work as a lobbyist includes helping agencies prepare for Nevada’s legislative session, conduct public policy research, and help with educational outreach. Through her activism, Chelsie has worked for former Senate Majority Leader, U.S. Senator Harry Reid. Chelsie is also part of the inaugural class of Emerge Nevada, a political leadership-training program for women in Nevada. Chelsie is on the Board of Trustees for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Southern Nevada, the Chairwoman for the Nevada Advisory Board for CPLC Southwest, Board Member for the Advisory Commission on law-related Education for the State Bar of Nevada and serves on the Governmental Affairs Committee for the Latin Chamber of Commerce. She is the former President for the Boyd Law School Alumni Chapter and the Board of Directors for the Gray Plunkett Jydstrup Living Facility. Chelsie would like to dedicate her oral history to her parents: Without them, I wouldn’t be here.
José Armando Elique was born on February 14, 1944 in New York City. Born to Puerto Rican parents that immigrated to the United States in the 20s, Elique spent his childhood in both New York and Puerto Rico. Raised in the South Bronx, Elique’s family were part of the first pioneros from Puerto Ricans to settle in New York City in the twentieth century. Elique served as a radar man in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War on the USS Purdey. After his service, Elique applied to the Port Authority Police Department where his first big assignment included going undercover and investigating gang activity. Over the course of the next 22 years, he rose through the rankings becoming the assistant chief in charge of overseeing six facilities in the region. Elique is the first and only Latino to reach such rank with the Port Authority. Elique moved to Nevada in 2000 and became the chief of UNLV Police Services. Prior to coming to UNLV, he served as the University Director of Public Safety for the City University of New York (CUNY). Elique is also a member of the National Latino Police Officers Association, an organization that helps train Latino officers on contemporary issues and promote the advancement of Latinos in the police force. As police chief, Elique has fought for the hiring of new police officers to better serve UNLV’s campus and student body. As Chief of Police, Elique oversaw the response of his team to secure the campus and to provide for the needs of those seeking refuge at Thomas and Mack Center on the night of October 1, 2017. Chief Elique is also part of the Remembering 1 October oral history project where he reflected on that night, the role of campus police, coordination with Metro Police, purpose of the Fusion Center, command post, Emergency Operation Center for business continuity, and preparedness of urgent situation and active shooters. He is a graduate of Adelphi University and of Northwestern University’s Traffic Institute of Police Administration and the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police.
Interviewed by Monserrath Hernández. A native Las Vegan, Justin Favela reminisces about growing up on the east side of the Las Vegas Valley. Favela provides insights about what he refers to as the caste system he is part of, how skin color makes a difference in social hierarchies, and his personal evaluations of the litany of terms such as Latinx, Latino/a, Hispanic etc. He discusses values impressed upon him by his family, especially his grandmothers; one is Guatemalan and the other Mexican. Favela was born in 1986 and discusses his universe where pop culture, gender, ethnicity, history, and Latinidad mix. He talks about his personal artistic expressions and the two podcast series he has created and hosts.
Interviewed by Elsa Lopez and Barbara Tabach. Cuban refugee family by way of Spain and then to the US; arrived in Las Vegas in 1973 when Nora was 9 years old. Struggled in youth but rises up as embraces educaton. Currently is Assistant Director of Academic Partnership at CSN.
Interviewed by Monserrath Hernández. Francisco 'Cisco' Aguilar is a lawyer and the Founding Chairman of the Cristo Rey St. Viator College Preparatory High School. He talks about growing up in Tucson, Arizona in a Mexican household and continuing his passions to engage in social change as a lawyer. His career and community engagement led him to become a lobbyist, a fellow in Germany, and serve on various committees such as the Catholic Charities Board, Opportunity 180 Board, and the Nevada Athletic Commission. His oral history demonstrates his dedication to providing a future to the Latinx youth of Las Vegas.
Interviewed by Monserrath Hernández and Rodrigo Vazquez. Born (1985) and raised in Nevada, Ace is the Senior Conference Sales Manager at Wynn and Encore. His parents immigrated from Dominican Republic and are casino dealers. Ace is a UNLV graduate with degrees in Business and in Theatre Arts. Enthusiastic support of local theatre arts, he is active with the Super Summer Theatre Advisory Board. Married to Raul Daniels.