In this oral history Michael Mack discusses his early memories of Las Vegas such as attending the Fifth Street School and activities him and his friends participated in. The interview also includes his memories of different members of the Mack family and their activities. He reminisces about his many visits to the Flamingo Hotel as well as being taken by his parent to floor shows. He also discusses what it was like to grow up Jewish in Las Vegas and the way Jews helped build the community.
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Rick May is a gay activist and mental health advocate in and around Las Vegas. He was born on May 30, 1952 in Amherst, Texas. His family owned a ranch in Sudan, Texas. After graduating, he moved around Texas for some years before moving to Las Vegas in 1982. He then became an active member of the LGBTQ+ community in Las Vegas, organizing many Pride events and eventually opening his own business, R and R Sundries.
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Eddie & Johnie Wright met met, married in 1957, and raised their family in Las Vegas. Johnie arrived in Las Vegas in 1941, teaching first grade at the Westside school, eventually becoming a nurses aide. Eddie came to Las Vegas from Arkansas, and became the first black ticket agent at the local Greyhound station.
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Interview with Sarann Knight Preddy conducted by Claytee D. White on June 5, 1997. Preddy moved to Hawthorne, Nevada, in the 1940s, becoming a business owner and president of the NAACP. Later she moved to Las Vegas, where she served as a community activist and worked as one of the first black 21-dealers.
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Interview with D. D. Cotton conducted by Claytee D. White on February 14, 1997. Raised in New York City, Cotton arrived in Las Vegas as a dancer in Cab Calloway's traveling production "The Cotton Club." During a period of strained race relations, she stood for equal rights as the first black cocktail waitress on the Strip and one of the first black dealers.
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Interview with Anna Bailey conducted by Claytee D. White on March 3, 1997. Arriving in Las Vegas in 1955 to perform as a dancer for the opening of the Moulin Rouge, Bailey also starred in traveling shows nationally and in Europe. Returning to Las Vegas, she became the first African American to dance in a house chorus line on the Strip. Later she became one of the first black women in Nevada to hold a gaming license, owning and operating several small nightclubs.
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