Series XXII. Social Functions

Sands Hotel and Casino

Interview with Rachel Coleman conducted by Claytee D. White on July 24, 1996. Born in Fayette, Mississippi, Coleman moved to Las Vegas in the 1950s and began washing dishes at the Tropicana. In 1969, having worked for a number of hotels, she was promoted to executive housekeeper at The Hacienda. She ran for president of the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 in 1987. Coleman recalls Las Vegas race and labor relations through the decades.

Oral history interview with Marietta "Margie" Llorente Gonzales conducted by Cecilia Winchell, Vanessa Concepcion, and Stefani Evans on November 1 and 22, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Margie Llorente-Gonzales discusses her upbringing in Manila, the Philippines and her family history within the country, recalling the lives of her parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. She talks about her childhood, educational pursuits, and courtship with her husband in the Philippines. Margie shares how she and her husband immigrated to the United States, how she adapted to her new life as an immigrant dependent on her extended family, and how she and her husband came to settle in Las Vegas. She talks about her artistic pursuits in the forms of dance choreography and performing, scriptwriting, broadcasting, and publishing newsletters. Margie also discusses her employment at McCarran Airport and her political activism, canvassing, and committee work in the Philippines and the United States.