Las Vegas history 1953-1980. Migration to Las Vegas from Louisiana. Personal history: family, occupation(s), and education. Westside. Development of race relations in Las Vegas. Residential segregation. Discrimination of blacks: no better than the South. Inequality of employment opportunities. Development of the Strip. Black entertainers.
Oral history interview with Dr. Kevin L. Wright conducted by Claytee D. White on July 28, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project.
Dr. Kevin Wright discusses his childhood in Las Vegas and the influential women who have mentored him throughout his life. He talks of his education at the Gilbert Magnet School for Communications & Creative Arts in Las Vegas, his current professional pursuits as a part-time instructor in the College of Education, and his community involvement as a member of both Alpha Phi Omega and the National Service fraternities. Dr. Wright also shares his employment history within University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he previously worked in departments related to residential life, student activities, TRIO Training Institute programs (Talent Search, Upward Bound, and Student Support Service), student affairs, student diversity, and leadership.
Interviewed by Nathalie Martinez. Larry Mason is an Arizona native that moved to Las Vegas as a Higher Education Administrator. He was born in Tuscon, Arizona, but grew up mostly in East Los Angeles and his "Gramitas" ranch in Sonora, Mexico. He has a history in athletics as a basketball player in his upbringing which brought him to play at the New Mexico Highlands University and the European League. Earning a Masters in Education, Larry Mason came to Las Vegas to become the first Latino Director of Admissions at UNLV, first Latino President of the Board of Education, and first Latino Vice President of the Board of Education in the Clark County School District. He launched an incredible amount of movements within the educational field in Las Vegas including (but not limited to): the Mariachi program, the magnet school program, and the growth of the Diversity Division within the NSHE. Some of his greatest supporters and allies included Senator Harry Reid, John Lujan and Tom Rodriguez. Mason continues to work as a community leader for minority representation in STEM fields, as a board member for the Nevada STEM Coalition.
Oral history interview with Brittney Erickson conducted by Claytee D. White on August 14, 2015 for the Building a Las Vegas Tech Culture oral history project. In this interview, Erickson talks about growing up in Henderson in a household that pursued the family-owned business, her education and work as a teacher, and "The Spirit Project", a web-based software tool that links government agencies to people with social challenges.