Oral history interview with Paul Velez conducted by Barbara Tabach on February 22, 2018 for the Remembering 1 October Oral History Project. In this interview, Paul Velez, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) campus officer, discusses his experience at the Thomas & Mack Center during the night of the October 1, 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. He shares his goal of creating a safe atmosphere for the survivors and providing them with all of their needs, including helping separated survivors find their loved ones and friends. Velez also describes his move to Las Vegas in 2008 and his time with the New York City police force, talking about his experience as a first responder at Ground Zero during the 9/11 attacks. He discusses the effect these attacks have had on general and campus security measures and on him as an individual.
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Oral history interview with Count Guido Roberto Deiro conducted by David G. Schwartz on January 30, 2002 and November 22, 2017 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Deiro gives his personal recollections of living in Las Vegas, Nevada, including his father’s career, his upbringing, and fondest memories of the city.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Ivory H. Blue II conducted by John Grygo on 2013 February 22 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. This oral history documents the early life of Ivory H. Blue II in Las Vegas, Nevada while growing up in the Westside projects. He also discusses his college years in the 1990s at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Junior Fonotisatele conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on November 10, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Junior discusses his Samoan background and the importance of strong family values. He talks about his early years in Utah and California before moving to Las Vegas where he attended and graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Junior shares his employment history as a bodyguard for Floyd Mayweather, an entrepreneur of a clothing brand, and an investor into a range of ventures including security, solar energy, and mental health. He concludes with a discussion of Samoan cultural celebrations, his religion, and the significance of his tattoos.
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Oral history interview with Olivia Meneses conducted by Elsa Lopez and Barbara Tabach on September 18, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Olivia Meneses describes growing up in Mexico City and attending la Universidad Iberoamericana during the 1968 student movement that culminated in the Tlatelolco massacre. She discusses migrating to the United States in 1983 and moving to Las Vegas in 1985, where she began teaching Spanish to kindergarten students.
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Oral history interviews with David Parks conducted by Dennis McBride on February 16 and 21, 2000 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. In the interviews, Parks talks about his early life in Boston, Massachusetts, his education, and his service with the United States Air Force, where he was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1967. Parks then recalls understanding his sexuality during his military service and policies regarding gay military personnel. He remembers coming out as gay in 1972, when he attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and worked for the City of Las Vegas as a computer operator. He then talks about getting involved with politics, his involvement with gay support organizations including Aid for AIDS of Nevada, and his experiences running as the first openly gay Nevada State Assemblyman in 1996. Lastly, Parks discusses same sex rights legislation that was brought forward during his time in office.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Sarah Serna conducted by Dennis McBride on December 04, 1998 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. Serna opens her interview by discussing her move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1993, and her first assignment as a Methodist minister to a small congregation in North Las Vegas. Serna then explains how she became involved in LGBT social justice issues after witnessing expressions of homophobia and prejudice within her church. She discusses her involvement with the Las Vegas LGBT community and the development of a pastoral care outreach program, the development of the World AIDS Day prayer vigil, and the foundation of the Community Counseling Center, later renamed Lighthouse Ministry. Serna then talks about her decision to transition from the Methodist Church to the Episcopalian Church and becoming the first Episcopalian priest in Las Vegas to bless same-sex marriages. She also discusses the development of a transitional housing program, changes in the LGBT community in Las Vegas, and many individuals involved in LGBT social justice programs in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Juan Saa conducted by David G. Schwartz on November 21, 2016 for the Slot Operations Oral History Project. Saa discusses his start in the technical side and his eventual move into an operational role in the casino industry. He talks about his experience as a director, specifically the responsibilities involved, and the type of staff being supervised. Saa then describes what he believes are the biggest changes in the slot industry, specifically with ticket-in, ticket-out (TITO); and slot analysis.
Archival Collection
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.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Jessica Guiao conducted by Grecia Lopez on November 22, 2022 for the Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Guiao recalls her childhood in Hayward, California, and being raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. She recalls not liking the climate of Nevada at first, and describes the friends she has made throughout her time in the city and the identity she has developed. Guiao discusses some of the pressures and stereotypes surrounding Asian Americans, such as what career path they should pursue or the aversion to embracing subcultures, and how she has consolidated her rebellion into her own identity. Throughout the interview, Guiao touches on other topics such as Filipino food, the long-standing history between Mexican and Filipino communities, Catholicism, goth culture, and anti-Asian hate and racism that she and her family has faced.
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