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.
Walter P. Casey Jr. was born in Plandora, California, which is located in the Imperial Valley at the Southeastern tip of the California-Mexico border. Walter grew up living on the farm where his father grew crops like wheat and alfalfa. In 1942 Walter graduated from the University of California Brawly, and then went on to attend Berkeley for four years. Upon completion, he went on to become a flight navigator for Pan American World Airways during World War II.
Lucille Bruner founded the Las Vegas Art League in 1950 after she moved to the city from Santa Fe, New Mexico. When the City of Las Vegas bought the Twin Lakes Lodge in what is now Lorenzi Park in Las Vegas, Nevada the Las Vegas Art League requested and obtained three buildings in which to teach and display art. The Art League became the Las Vegas Art Museum (LVAM) n 1974.
The Las Vegas Art Museum relocated to the Sahara West Library and Fine Art Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1997. They remained in operation until 2009.
Dr. Donald Moyer was born on a farm in Central Illinois. His parents were farmers, but moved to Decatur, Illinois, when Donald was six. Consequently, he went to grade school and high school in Decatur. He then earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois. His master's and PhD were taken in psychology at the University of Chicago. Dr. Moyer has had a long and illustrious career. After college he helped raise money and students for the University of Chicago and then moved to Portales, New Mexico as director of finance for higher education in the state government. He next served as president of Eastern New Mexico University for five years. From there he came to UNLV in 1965 as chancellor/president, a position he held for 3 years, and worked in marriage and family counseling for almost 30 years right here in Las Vegas. He spent a year in the Los Angeles area doing commercial psychology, and then became vice president at University of Alaska, working there for 7 years. While president, Dr. Moyer focused much of his energy getting regents, community members, and the faculty and student body to recognize the needs of the university. His wife's contributions to this effort were invaluable, as she made their home a warm and inviting place. By bringing these people together into a cohesive unit, monies could be raised to add buildings, staff, and schools that would enhance the quality of education, raise the reputation of the university, and develop UNLV into a leading institution. Much of Dr. Moyer's work during his time as president was "emancipating" UNLV from UNR. This meant creating a faculty senate working only for UNLV, having regents who really represented UNLV, and finding people in the community who would volunteer time and money to carry out the vision of a great university. Today Dr. Moyer and his wife enjoy living in Las Vegas. They stay current on what's happening at UNLV by attending meetings for retired faculty and administrators. Their two daughters have moved to Las Vegas as well, so they have a rich social and family life. He still practices marriage and family counseling, and sees UNLV as a school which will continue to grow in reputation and stature.
The Cynthia Cunningham Papers date from 1970 to 1979 and document Cunningham's career as an English instructor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and as a member of the Nevada State of Board of Education. Included are Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) materials, audio tapes, posters, newspaper clippings, survey results, and reports that explore the issue of gender bias in schools. Materials on the Health Systems Agency contain organization by-laws, memberships, agendas, minutes, correspondence, and publications.
Chelsie Campbell is a Cuban-American attorney and lobbyist. Born on October 4, 1979, Chelsie is a native Nevadan and grew up in Las Vegas. Her mother, Norah Campbell, came to Las Vegas after the Cuban Revolution and works as an elementary school teacher. Her father, Alan Campbell, was a former teacher and hotel manager. An advocate for the Latino community, Chelsie has dedicated her life to advocacy. Her involvement began at UNLV where she found her voice through the Student Organization of Latinos (SOL). During her time with SOL, she advocated for the elimination of the social security requirement in UNLV’s admission process and lobbied for the retraction of Las Vegas Review Journal’s racist article on Latino students. Her activism in SOL also helped established additional SOL chapters across Las Vegas high schools and at the College of Southern Nevada. After earning her Bachelors in Broadcast Journalism and Spanish Literature from UNLV, Chelsie attended William S. Boyd Law School where she graduated in 2005. Chelsie also attended University of Nevada, Reno where she received her master’s in Management and a graduate certificate in renewable energy. Chelsie worked for Mach One Group as Editor-In-Chief of its two publications, Nevada Family Magazine and La Familia de Nevada. After law school, Chelsie began working at NV Energy as a spokesperson and worked her way up to government affairs. Chelsie is currently working as an independent lobbyist and choses her clients. Her clients include Clark County School District and NV Energy. Her work as a lobbyist includes helping agencies prepare for Nevada’s legislative session, conduct public policy research, and help with educational outreach. Through her activism, Chelsie has worked for former Senate Majority Leader, U.S. Senator Harry Reid. Chelsie is also part of the inaugural class of Emerge Nevada, a political leadership-training program for women in Nevada. Chelsie is on the Board of Trustees for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Southern Nevada, the Chairwoman for the Nevada Advisory Board for CPLC Southwest, Board Member for the Advisory Commission on law-related Education for the State Bar of Nevada and serves on the Governmental Affairs Committee for the Latin Chamber of Commerce. She is the former President for the Boyd Law School Alumni Chapter and the Board of Directors for the Gray Plunkett Jydstrup Living Facility. Chelsie would like to dedicate her oral history to her parents: Without them, I wouldn’t be here.