This study was conducted in 2005 to better understand the Jewish community in Southern Nevada. The themes of the study include population growth, population geographic shift and dispersal, Jewish youth, Jewish identity, increasing synagogue membership and general participation in Jewish causes.
Sherrill and Samuel Coleman moved to Las Vegas during the 1990s after both enjoying a full life and numerous careers in other parts of the United States. They met each other through church in 1998 and married each other in April 1999. Now retired, both Samuel and Sherrill remain active in their church community. Samuel Coleman was born in Durant, Mississippi in 1928 to a sharecropping family. His father died when he was 13 months old, leaving his mother to raise seven children by herself. Over time, his family slowly migrated to Chicago and he joined them when he was 15. For eight months, Samuel worked a number of different jobs until he began to work for Burlington Railroad as a four cook. The United States Army drafted him in 1951 and sent him overseas to work in a motor pool for a military hospital in Korea, despite his status as a conscientious objector. At war’s end, he returned to work for Burlington. During his last 17 years with the railroad, Samuel successfully petitioned to join the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the union for railroad cooks, porters, and waiters, to improve the working and sleeping conditions at Burlington Railroad. He retired from the railroads in the 1970s and chose to pursue other careers. Until his official retirement in 1993, Samuel worked in real estate, as the owner of a liquor store, a firefighter, a restaurant inspector, and a deacon for his church. His daughter from his first wife moved to Vegas to pursue a career as a teacher and after a number of visits, Samuel decided to follow her in 1999. Sherrill Coleman was born in Newton, Kansas in 1941. Like many other African American women in her community, she worked as a housekeeper for a number of years. She and her first husband moved to Los Angeles County in 1964 where she took a temporary job in the elections department of the local government. In 1967, Sherrill became a file clerk for Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Social Services. By the time she left the department, she was middle management in the auditing department. She moved to Vegas in 1993.
The Q. B. Bush Papers are comprised of Q. B. Bush's personal papers dating from 1957 to 2018 and document Bush's work in Westside Las Vegas, Nevada casinos including the Moulin Rouge, Town Tavern, and the El Morocco. The collection also documents Bush's involvement with the Dealers Security Association and the association's effort to provide better working conditions for African American casino employees. Included are both original photographs and copies of photographs that document the African American casinos where Bush worked, as well as the Bush family at various events.
Oral history interview with Bryan Chan conducted by Vanessa Concepcion, Cecilia Winchell, and Stefani Evans on October 18, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Bryan Chan discusses his life growing up in California, his family's migration stories to the United States, and his education. He discusses his appearance on a reality television show which led to becoming a singer for boy band LMNT. Bryan talks about his entertainment career, including his move to Las Vegas to sing and host for the Chippendales show at the Rio Hotel and Casino. He also shares insight into his family's traditions and his favorite foods that his father and grandmother cooked. Subjects discussed include: chain migration; Chippendales; giglife; virtual events; traditional foods.
Oral history interview with Kevin Chung conducted by Cecelia Winchell, Stefani Evans, and Jerwin Tiu on December 18, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. Kevin Chung discusses his upbringing in Southern Vietnam and how he and his family were forced to leave the country during the Vietnam War. Chung talks about his family's migration to Minnesota and how they adapted to American culture. He shares his educational background, his professional pursuits as a teacher, and the reasons he and his wife decided to move to Las Vegas. Chung reflects on the importance of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) in education with an emphasis on the arts and shares his teaching philosophy. He also gives details of his family's lives and talks about the importance of bringing together his Vietnamese and American cultures to connect the different generations of his family.
From the Roosevelt Fitzgerald Professional Papers (MS-01082) -- Drafts for the Las Vegas Sentinel Voice file. On a different future for Black veterans as opposed white counterparts.
Lupe Avelar was born and raised in the State of Durango, Mexico, and since she was little learned from her parents the love for farming and hard work. Lupe relates her childhood with nostalgia and happiness, highlighting how her childhood moments were some of the most beautiful of her life. She grew up in a poor family that solely made their living from the farming of corn and beans. She witnessed her parents make ends meet in any way possible through hard work while staying together as a family and caring for each other.