Oral history interview with Chuck Degarmo conducted by Stefani Evans on January 13, 2017 for the Building Las Vegas Oral History Project. Also present during the interview was Po-Sun Chen. Degarmo discusses his childhood, his early interest in landscaping, and obtaining his Bachelors of Science degree in Ornamental Horticulture at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; with a concentration in Landscape Construction. Degarmo and Chen give their history in landscape construction, maintenance, development, and its intersection with ValleyCrest Landscape Development (now BrightView). They then explain how they landscaped some the largest hotel properties on the Las Vegas Strip, Summerlin Parkway, and Station Casinos.
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Oral history interview with Rodney Sumpter conducted by Dennis McBride on January 20, 2004 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. In this interview, Sumpter discusses Fred Schoonmaker, a Reno, Nevada gay activist, and his efforts to create Stonewall Park, a town for LGBTQ members in Nevada that was never realized. Sumpter describes his professional relationship with Schoonmaker as his attorney. He also recalls the early stages for Stonewall Park, including finding a location and struggling to find financial and local support for the town. Lastly, Sumpter talks about Schoonmaker's HIV health issues and his personal thoughts on the LGBTQ community.
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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 Roy D. Baker conducted by Dennis McBride February 08, 2004 for the Las Vegas Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Archives Oral History Project. In this interview, Baker discusses Fred Schoonmaker, a Reno, Nevada gay activist and his husband, Alfred Parkinson. Baker details their efforts to create Stonewall Park, a town for LGBTQ members in Nevada that was never realized. Schoonmaker attempted to establish Stonewall Park three times in three different locations: Silver Springs, Nevada; Rhyolite, Nevada; and Thunder Mountain, Nevada. Baker talks about his personal relationship with Schoonmaker, his opinion on Stonewall Park, and legal issues that Schoonmaker faced during the development of the town. Baker describes opposition from local residents against Stonewall Park and Schoonmaker's health after being diagnosed with HIV.
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Oral history interview with Astrid Silva conducted by Monserrath Hernández and Barbara Tabach on April 22, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Astrid Silva was born in Gomez Palacio, Durango in 1988. She immigrated with her mother to the United States in 1992, where they were met by her father before flying to Los Angeles. She recounts her first impression of the United States and her families eventual move to Las Vegas, where she describes her time living in Las Vegas’ west side and struggles she faced being an undocumented student living in Las Vegas. She describes her first meeting with Senator Harry Reid and the friendship that developed afterwards. She has spoken at the Democratic National Convention and has been vocal about her status as a Dreamer. She is currently the Executive Director for DREAM Big Nevada which was established in 2017 in order to provide aid to Nevada’s immigrant families. She writes about her hopes for Dreamers and her continued work in expanding the ways that immigrant families can be helped in an always changing political climate. Subjects discussed include: DACA, Dreamers, Immigrant Rights, and Higher Education.
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