African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project event roundtable conducted by Claytee D. White on January 18, 2014 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this panel event, Jean Childs, Joe Neal, Jackie Brantley, LaVerne Ligon, and Ramon Savoy discuss their early lives and explain how they arrived to Las Vegas, Nevada. Childs talks about her father’s business, the Penguin Club, and the history of African Americans in the gaming industry. She talks about her involvement with the Economic Opportunity Board (EOB) and the Head Sstart federal program. Savoy remembers the foundation of Las Vegas Sentinel-Voice and the challenges of distributing weekly publications during the late 1950s. Neal recalls his first political campaign, being a chairman for the EOB, and becoming a Nevada State Senator. Later, Brantley describes the 1971 consent decree, discrimination against African American workers in the gaming industry, and her career in hotel management. Ligon remembers her career as a dancer, being a part of an all-African American dance line, and integration in the entertainment industry.
Oral history interview with Ron Lawrence conducted by Dennis McBride on 1997 June 22, July 11, and August 08 for the Las Vegas Gay Archives Oral History Project. In this interview Ron Lawrence discusses his early life, his career, and the gay community in Las Vegas, Nevada. He also discusses gay rights and the AIDs epidemic in the 1980s.