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.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with James Frey conducted by Lisa Gioia-Acres on September 14, 2007 for the UNLV @ 50 Oral History Project. In this interview James Frey discusses earning his doctorate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, being hired as the assistant professor there, and establishing a survey center for the university, which was eventually named the Cannon Center for Survey Research, after Senator Howard Cannon. He talks about conducting a survey on the political race between Sheriff Ralph Lamb and John McCarthy. He then discusses getting tenure, teaching in London, spending a sabbatical in Washington, D.C., doing research, and serving as dean for the History department at UNLV.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Lubertha Johnson conducted by Larry Buckner on February 10, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview Lubertha Johnson discusses her family background, work experience, civic activity, and philosophy. She talks about discrimination in the workplace for Black people, segregation in Las Vegas, Nevada, and her forty year membership in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples (NAACP). She also discusses the historic Westside neighborhood and its schools, the prejudice Black performers faced in the 1950s and 1960s, and how she feels disappointed in President Jimmy Carter.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Woodrow Wilson conducted by Perry Kaufman on November 01, 1977 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Wilson discusses work at the McNary sawmill in Arizona, and later arriving in Las Vegas, Nevada to work at the Basic Magnesium Plant, located in Henderson, Nevada. Wilson also talks about discrimination between maids in motels and hotels, along with moments of segregation at the Basic Magnesium Plant. He then explains how he organized and became a board member of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Roberta Sabbath conducted by Barbara Tabach on April 27, 2015 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Sabbath discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in the late 1960s, her involvement with organizing University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ (UNLV) Hillel chapter, and the Hebrew Day School. She also talks about her husband’s, Dennis Sabbath, career as a union attorney, and her career as an UNLV literature professor.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Catherine Buchanan conducted by Claytee D. White on March 26, 1997 as part of the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Buchanan speaks at length about her child and young adulthood in Louisiana and explains how she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1971. She discusses her first job as a maid at the Landmark Hotel and Casino and how she applied to the Teamsters Union to move into front desk work in the hotels, which led to a job at the Sahara Hotel and Casino. She then talks about discrimination and the small percentage of African Americans in the more "visible" jobs at the hotels.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Joyce Bush conducted by Claytee D. White on September 20, 1995 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Bush discusses the formation of her non-profit organization, International Youth for Christ Choir. She explains that she developed the idea in 1994, based on the "True Love Waits" abstinence program of the Baptist Church. She explains how the organization was formed, the process of building a board of directors, ideas about fundraising, publicity, and soliciting donations, attracting youth to the organization, her hopes for the future of the organization, and the reasons corporate sponsorship was unlikely because they tend not to support religious groups.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Tami Belt conducted by Claytee D. White on July 26, 2017 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project.
Tami Belt talks about learning to play golf on the Municipal Golf course where her father worked as a PGA teaching professional. She discusses life in Las Vegas, her family's professions in the city, and shops on Fremont Street like Ronzone's Department Store. Tami shares her career working in public relations and the work she has done with non-profit organizations to combat childhood cancer and homelessness.
Subjects discussed include: Nick Pahor; Emil Pahor; Cancer Camp for Kids
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Sonia Rivelli Jiavis conducted by Nathalie Martinez and Barbara Tabach on March 6, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Rivelli discusses her life including the evolution of her cultural background and her role in business. She describes how her parents moved to Brazil from Italy and how she has come to value her cultural roots in Brazil, Italy, and the United States. She mentions that travel was a major part of her life and that she has been to North America, South America, and Europe. One of Rivelli’s accomplishments in her career was helping the development of the Brazilian community in Las Vegas, Nevada. She also states that she created the Aqua Diva Global water purification company in hopes of providing more safe and clean water to all people.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Edwina and Johnnie E. Richardson Jr. conducted by Claytee D. White on September 29, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project.
Johnnie and Edwina Richardson share their story of meeting in Las Vegas, falling in love, and operating the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church originally established by Johnnie's father. The couple talk about their previous employment in the gaming industry before working full time with the church and their various responsibilities and outreach efforts within the community. Johnnie and Edwina also discuss Windsor Park and the circumstances of saving their home when houses in the neighborhood began sinking, as well as the impacts they saw on other families who weren't so lucky.
Archival Collection