Oral history interview with Coleen York Wilson conducted by Claytee D. White on June 4, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Wilson talks about growing up in Fordyce, Arkansas before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1953 at the age of eighteen. She mentions that her parents had moved to Nevada in 1940 to work at Basic Magnesium, Incorporated (BMI), living in a trailer before returning to Fordyce two years later. She then discusses moving to Las Vegas to join an older sister and relates that she did not remember any discrimination in seating or eating meals during her bus trip. After this, Wilson lists the jobs she held in Las Vegas before her retirement in 1984, including work at the Las Vegas Cleaners, serving as a school crossing guard, and working as a housekeeping supervisor at the Stardust Resort Hotel, the Hacienda Resort Hotel, and Circus Circus Hotel and Casino before taking a job at the Nevada Test Site. She also talks about her family, her church activities, and her regret at not attending college.
Archival Collection
B-roll of Fremont street and neon signs at night, and Neon Museum plaques that describe the signs. Signs include Hacienda Horse and Rider; Aladdin Lamp; the Chief Hotel Court; "Andy Anderson," the Anderson Dairy mascot; the Red Barn; the Flame Restaurant; Dot's Flowers; and Wedding Information. Original media BetacamSP, color, aspect ratio 4 x 3, frame size 720 x 486.
Archival Component
An artist's conception of the proposed Lady Luck complex, later the named the Hacienda. Inverted negative film transparency. Efstonbuilt, Inc. of Chicago, architects
Site Name: Hacienda
Address: 3590 Las Vegas Boulevard South
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