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Luceanne "Lucy" Taufa oral history interview: transcript
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Oral history interview with Luceanne "Lucy" Taufa conducted by Jerwin Tiu, Cecilia Winchell, and Stefani Evans on December 16, 2022 for Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Taufa describes growing up on the Tongan island of Vava'u in a large family and later immigrating to the United States. She recalls her father first immigrating to Hawaii, and after obtaining a green card, her and her siblings following shortly after. While Kaufa's older siblings continued to pursue higher education and her younger siblings were too young to work, she took on a bulk of the responsibility to provide income and navigate life in Hawaii for her family. Eventually, Lucy moved to Dallas, Texas, met her husband, and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada for her husband's job. Later in the interview, she discusses joining the Culinary Union after experiencing racial discrimination at her workplace and her pride in her identity as a Tongan woman.
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Transcript of interview with Joan Massagli by Claytee White, August 19, 2010
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Joan Massagli spent her childhood in the Tacoma, Washington area, singing three-part harmony—a member of a musically talented family that included five children and an aunt and uncle who raised all the kids to enjoy music. By high school in the early 1950s, she and her two older sisters were regulars on a local TV show. In 1956, the Sawyer Sisters act was formed and they were soon obtaining regular gigs in Las Vegas. Their popularity continued form 1957 to 1964 and they played many of the major hotels, usually as a warm up act for headliners that includes a list of names such as Roy Clark, Louis Prima, Shecky Greene, and Delia Reece. At first the Sawyer Sisters included older sister Nanette Susan and Joan. When Nanette quit to raise her family, youngest sister Kate stepped into what was called a "lively and lovely" trio. Joan met her future husband and musician Mark Tully Massagli, while performing in the early 1960s. Caring for ailing parents while working mostly in Las Vegas, the couple made Vegas home. Even after the Sawyer Sisters name faded from the Strip's marquees, Las Vegas remained home to the Massagli's, who raised their children here. Today they live in the Blue Diamond Village area and recall the changes that have occurred on the Las Vegas Strip—especially from an entertainer's point of view.
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International Food Service Executives Association Records
Identifier
Abstract
The International Food Service Executive Association (IFSEA) Records contain the organizational records from the IFSEA dating from 1916 to 2010. Included are meeting programs and minutes, menus, conference reports and proceedings, financial reports, newsletters, award certificates, scrapbooks, and stewards and caterers records focusing on the hospitality and food service industry. Materials are from both national and regional branches of the organization and include records from the United States military, with whom IFSEA has partnered with since the 1960s. Club artifacts and trophies are also contained in the collection.
Archival Collection
Mollie Gregory Collection of Oral Histories
Identifier
Abstract
The Mollie Gregory Collection of Oral Histories contains audio interviews and brief transcripts that focus on welfare, family, and women's issues in Nevada from 1970 to 1974. Gregory interviewed Nevada residents including Maya Miller, Ruby Duncan, and Mary Wesley, who described their lives during the anti-poverty and women's rights campaigns in the early 1970s. The collection documents views on welfare; the Equal Rights Amendment; race, discrimination, and civil rights; and political campaigns.
Archival Collection