Liliam Lujan Hickey is best known in the state of Nevada for being the first Hispanic woman elected to the State Board of Education as well as for the enormous contributions she made while serving from 1998 to 2000. For this, an elementary school in Clark County bears her name. Despite many obstacles, Liliam has continually dedicated herself to standing up for the causes she believes in, such as providing preschool education to the underprivileged, preparing youth to enter the workforce, helping other Hispanics run for office, and proving that with enough courage anyone can accomplish their dreams. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1932, Liliam led a sheltered life that revolved mostly around her studies at a French Dominican school. She met her first husband, Enrique Lujan, when she was only sixteen and they wed soon after. Enrique was twelve years her senior, owned many casinos on the island, and provided a luxurious existence for Liliam and their three children. However, this lifestyle abruptly changed when Castro assumed power in 1959 and Liliam and her family were compelled to relocate to the United States. In Miami, Enrique assisted other refugees financially, hoping that his wealth would remain secure in Cuba. He was wrong. This left the family destitute. In addition to casinos, Enrique had been Cuba?s coach for the Olympics. He moved the family to York, Pennsylvania, where he hoped to find work at the York Barbell Company. Liliam, who had been accustomed to having maids and nannies in Cuba, found herself doing all the housework while she also worked in a factory. The change could not have been more dramatic and the living conditions became unbearable. The family chose to move to San Diego in a Volkswagen Minivan with the hope for a better life. The next few years brought many transitions. Things did turn around in San Diego, and Liliam she recalls her years in southern California as some of the happiest of her life. Liliam found a job working at the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla. After a few years, Enrique found a job in Las Vegas and the family moved again. In Las Vegas, Liliam gave birth to her fourth child, Mary, and life once again became financially difficult for the family. In 1972, the situation grew worse with Enrique?s untimely death. Liliam was a widow at forty years of age. She had to teach herself how to drive a car, write checks, and perform financial tasks that Enrique had insisted on managing while he was alive. Determined not to give up, however, she worked tirelessly to keep the family together. Amidst all this, a friend introduced Liliam to Tom Hickey, and after a brief courtship they were married in 1981. Within a few years, Liliam became active in politics, running for the State Board of Education. Her campaign manager advised her that voters would not be receptive to photos of a Hispanic woman on billboards, and to capitalize on the name “Hickey,” which was a recognizable name because her husband was an assemblyman. She took the manager?s advice and was elected in that campaign and for two more terms, the maximum limit for the office. After the first race, she proudly displayed her face on billboards across the state. During her time at the State Board of Education, Liliam dedicated herself to helping all children receive a better education in Nevada, not only Hispanics. She co-founded the Classroom on Wheels [COW] program, which brought buses to poor neighborhoods to provide pre-school education. She established Career Day, which pairs high schools students with business professionals in an effort to help them make the transition into the workforce. While the COW program is no longer running, 8 Career Day still operates and awards scholarships in Liliam?s name annually, which helps youth receive the educational opportunities they need to succeed. And she involved Hispanic youth in Boy Scouts by bringing ScoutReach to the Las Vegas valley. Lujan Hickey worked in a wide array of other community organizations. In the 1970s, she began to work with Circulo Cubano, which later became the Latin Chamber of Commerce, and she would later belong to the National Chamber of Commerce. A longstanding member of the League of Women Voters, Liliam saw the need to get Hispanics more involved in politics in the state. Her story is one of great inspiration, and when asked why she does it, she simply replies with a smile, “I love life.” Hickey?s narrative offers the reader a glimpse of the experiences of the Cuban refugee experience in the U.S. in general. Specific to Las Vegas, it provides a rare story of the experiences of early Latinas in the political and economic development of Las Vegas in the last half of the twentieth century.
Text
On March 19, 1978, Philip John Mile interviewed former chef, Harold R. Hunter (born 1901 in Norwich, Kansas) about his life in Southern Nevada. Hunter discusses his different experiences working in early Las Vegas restaurants during the thirties and forties. Hunter also discusses the rapid growth of the Mormon community during this time.
Text
Oral history interview with Marisa Rodriguez conducted by Maribel Estrada Calderón, Monserrath Hernández and Claytee D. White for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Marisa Rodriguez discusses her childhood and living in North Las Vegas as a teenager; she was born in Chicago, Illinois, moved to Mexico with her family at a young age, and returned to the United States at age 12. She recounts what it was like acclimating to American life, learning English, and studying abroad in Spain before becoming a law student. Marisa attended the William S. Boyd School of Law and is currently a civil litigator in Las Vegas. Subjects discussed include: La Voz Hispanic/Latino Law Students Association at the William S. Boyd School of Law; Huellas mentorship program.
Text
From the Clark County Economic Opportunity Board Records -- Series I. Administrative. This folder contains memos, agendas and minutes from meetings of the Clark County Economic Opportunity Board from January 1970 through February 1970.
Text
Oral history interview with Benilda Long Somes conducted by Vincent Long on November 29, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Benilda discusses her life in Magalang, Philippines and her immigration to Saipan, part of the Northern Mariana Islands, as a young woman. She talks about meeting her partner, airman Robert Long, the birth of their son, and Robert's untimely death in an air crash less than a year later. Benilda shares how she and her child immigrated to the United States to be with family and their move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2009.
Text
Oral history interview with Jeanettee L. Del Rosario conducted by Alessandra Del Rosario on December 6, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Jeanettee Del Rosario talks about her family life with nine siblings and her upbringing in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan province, Philippines. She shares her educational background in hotel and restaurant management and, after immigrating to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2006, the different hotel positions she has held in the city. Jeanettee Del Rosario discusses the process of immigration, language barriers, and missing her family in the Philippines. She also talks about Filipino traditions of respect, barangay fiestas, cultural foods, and religion.
Text
Folder from the Roosevelt Fitzgerald Professional Papers (MS-01082) -- Personal and professional papers file.
Mixed Content
The collection is comprised of drawings (1950-1990) completed by American architect Martin Stern and/or his architectural firm, Martin Stern Jr., AIA Architect and Associates, and contains 400 cubic feet of materials including 710 drawings from over 300 different projects involving over 100 buildings. Stern’s work focused on the resort centers of Las Vegas, Nevada; Reno, Nevada; Lake Tahoe, Stateline, Nevada; and Atlantic City, New Jersey. The materials feature hand-drawn architectural drawings, ranging from pencil and ink on tracing paper preliminary sketches to ink on Mylar (TM) construction documents, and a number of artist’s renderings, used for presentations and promotional materials. The drawings also contain work from a number of consultants, engineers, and other architects who collaborated on the development of the various projects. The collection includes architectural drawings for: hotels, casinos, integrated casino resorts, office towers, multi-family residential developments, and custom single-family homes.
Archival Collection
From the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Theta Theta Omega Chapter Records (MS-01014) -- Ivy Leaf magazines and event souvenir programs file. Full title of booklet: "100 Las Vegas African American Educators Past and Present. Happy 100th Birthday Las Vegas, 1905-2005. Presented to the Public by the Ivy Reading AKAdemy Staff & Students, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc./Theta Theta Omega Chapter of Las Vegas."
Text
Oral history interview with Mayra Salinas-Menjivar conducted by Nathalie Martinez, Elsa Lopez, and Barbara Tabach on September 20, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Mayra Salinas-Menjivar is a lawyer in Southern Nevada and a graduate of William S. Boyd School of Law. She grew up in Las Vegas but describes her early years living with her maternal grandparents in El Salvador. She describes some of the aftermath she experienced regarding the Civil War in El Salvador, and recounts some testimony told to her by her mother about that particular time period. She details the differences in immigrating in the 1990s and speaks about being an undocumented student. While pursuing a business degree at UNLV she found herself working at a law firm which is where she first decided to pursue law as a career after graduation. She talks about her experiences during law school and her time helping with the law school's immigration clinic. Subjects discussed include: Salvadorian Civil War, Immigration Law, Education, DACA, William S. Boyd Law School.
Text