The UNLV History 117: Nevada History Photograph Collection contains photographic prints, negatives, and slides of Las Vegas and Boulder City, Nevada between approximately 1900 and 1959. These images were collected by students for University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) professor Ralph Roske’s class, History 117: Nevada History. The images primarily depict Las Vegas in the 1950s with people posing in front of and inside the El Rancho Vegas and the Last Frontier Village, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Joe E. Lewis, and Paul Newman. Earlier photographs from the 1920s include businesses, such as fireproofing stores, and significant individuals such as Ed W. Clark. Lastly, it contains two photographs of the Boulder City Airport.
Oral history interview with Claytee D. White conducted by Stefani Evans on November 2, 2023 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Claytee D. White, founding directory of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries, celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the OHRC by contributing her oral history to the collection.
She begins by explaining how the system of sharecropping worked in her family near rural Ahoskie, North Carolina, and she talks about the field work involved in raising cotton, tobacco, corn, and peanuts. The fifth of eight children and the first daughter, she shares memories of going into town with her mother, of admiring her women teachers, and of attending North Carolina Central College (now University) for two years before moving to Washington, D.C., and working for the telephone company.
After recalling her two years in D.C. and 22 years in Los Angeles, California, she describes "running away" to Las Vegas, Nevada in the early 1990s. Here, at the History department at UNLV, she recalls learning to conduct oral histories. White shares memories of her first interviews with Hazel and Jimmy Gay and Lucille Bryant. She talks of matriculating to the College of William and Mary for her PhD and of returning to Bertie County to live with her mother and administer the office of The Shaw University Center for Alternative Programs in Education (CAPE). She describes how she was offered the position of OHRC founding director, why it matters that she was an "opportunity hire," and how it feels to be the only Black person in a room.
Oral history interview with Deborah Cameron conducted by Dennis McBride on August 17, 2006 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. In this interview, Cameron discusses the lesbian community in Las Vegas, Nevada, the organization Women of Nevada (WUN), and founding the organization, L Club. She describes other lesbian organizations and clubs that she was a member of and explains why gay clubs were important in forming supportive communities. Lastly, Cameron talks about the disbandment of the L Club.
Oral history interview with Ralph Vandersnick conducted by Dennis McBride on October 18, 1997 for the Las Vegas Gay Archives Oral History Project. Vandersnick discusses growing up on a farm with his family in Illinois, owning a gay bar called the Studio Club in California, and owning another gay bar called Snick's Place when he moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1976.
Oral history interview with John Warfel conducted by Dennis McBride on March 11, 1998 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. In this interview, Warfel discusses his personal history and his experiences as a gay priest within the Episcopal Church. He recalls moving to Las Vegas, Nevada and interviewing for a ministry job at Christ Church. Warfel describes same-sex blessings and marriages in the Episcopal Church and the pressures of vestry approval that he dealt with during his career.
Oral history interview with Lee Martin conducted by Dennis McBride on May 01, 2013 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. In this interview, Martin discusses his involvement with the Nevada Gay Action League and the Pacifica Hotel, an effort to open a gay resort in Las Vegas, Nevada during the mid 1980s. He describes managing Paradise Bookstore, a bookstore for gay literature, in downtown Las Vegas. Lastly, Martin discusses other gay businesses that he was involved with in Las Vegas.
Oral history interview with Kenny Kerr conducted by Dennis McBride on May 29, 2001 and May 30, 2001 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. Kerr discusses his childhood and the beginning of the female character, Kenny Kerr. Kerr also talks about the shows Boylesque, Gay Illusions, Doll Factory, and Vive les Boys. Kerr then discusses the other aspects of his career in drag performance.
Oral history interview with Jan Jones conducted by Dennis McBride on March 26, 1998 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. In this interview, Jones discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1981 and describes the car dealership commercials she was involved in with Kenny Kerr in the 1980s. Jones recalls the No Hate rallies that were organized in Nevada to support gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. She then talks about the backlash she received as Mayor of Las Vegas because of her support for the gay community.