Ralph Simpkins and Victor V. Kunkel shaking hands at the Basic Magnesium Inc. plant. The sign behind them reads: "Completion of worlds largest asbestos protected metal installation. Last bolt placed by Victor V. Kunkel. Genl. Supt. Sheet Metal. McNeil Construction Co. Oct. 2 1943."
Victor V. Kunkel placing the last bolt in a building constructed for the Basic Magnesium Inc. plant. The sign below him reads: "Completion of worlds largest asbestos protected metal installation. Last bolt placed by Victor V. Kunkel. Genl. Supt. Sheet Metal. McNeil Construction Co. Oct. 2 1943."
Oral history interview with Avril "Juanita" Simmons and Fred "Bubba" Simmons conducted by Claytee D. White on May 21, 1996 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection.
In this interview, husband and wife Bubba and Juanita Simmons talk about their separate moves from Fordyce, Arkansas to Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1940s and their impressions of the city after moving. Bubba shares stories of his employment at the Basic Magnesium, Inc. plant in Henderson and his experiences living in tents on the Westside, traveling to work with the help of Red Mitchell, and sharing living spaces with nine to ten other men. Juanita discusses her work as a family's caregiver and speaks to the kinds of occupations Black women obtained in Las Vegas at that time. The couple share stories of city life and the clubs, eateries, and shops that were present in the area.
Victor V. Kunkel placing the last bolt in a building constructed for th Basic Magnesium Inc. plant. The sign next to him reads: "Completion of worlds largest asbestos protected metal installation. Last bolt placed by Victor V. Kunkel. Genl. Supt. Sheet Metal. McNeil Construction Co. Oct. 2 1943."
Oral history interview with Woodrow Wilson conducted by Gwendolyn Goodloe on February 28, 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Woodrow Wilson discusses working at the Basic Magnesium plant and about becoming the first African American elected to the Nevada Assembly in 1966. He also discusses serving as president of the Las Vegas, Nevada chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples in 1951 and how he was a co-founder of the Westside Federal Credit Union.
Oral history interview with Eglin "Peggy" Hamblin conducted by Irene Rostine on October 25, 1991 for the Women's Research Institute of Nevada (WRIN) Las Vegas Women Oral History Project. Judith Hamblin, Eglin's daughter, helps prompt her mother to respond and recall answers. Hamblin opens her interview by discussing her time working for Basic Magnesium, Inc. during World War II. She describes her work, and her husband's duties at the plant as a security guard, and as a member of the construction crew that built the plant and the surrounding workers' homes. Hamblin goes on to discuss life in Henderson, Nevada at the time, and how the local high school was an integral meeting and event spot for the community.