Search Results
Williams, Rejoyce
Rejoyce Williams was born April 26, 1905 in Fordyce, Arkansas. She left Fordyce when she was 17 for Oceanside, California, with her husband and their two children. The family then moved to Saginaw, Michigan, and eventually had nine children, six of whom survived. In 1960, the Williams family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada for two reasons: their youngest daughter, who suffered from asthma, needed to live in a dry climate and Williams’ mother-in-law lived in Las Vegas.
Person
Transcript from interview with Essie Lee Jones by Claytee White, June 5, 1996
Date
Archival Collection
Description
Essie Lee Jones moved from the Tallulah, Louisiana, area to Las Vegas in 1969. In the interview, Jones discusses her employment in various positions such as maid, waitress, and casino porter at the Stardust, Frontier, and Aladdin Hotel/Casinos.
Text
Lee H. Lisby oral history interview
Identifier
Abstract
Oral history interview with Lee H. Lisby conducted by Glen E. Davis on July 10, 1975; Rita O'Brien on April 10, 1978; and Elizabeth Patrick on May 10, 1978 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In 1942, Lisby moved from Tallulah, Louisiana to Las Vegas, Nevada. Lisby talks about living conditions and work opportunities for African-Americans in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Avril "Juanita" Simmons and Fred "Bubba" Simmons oral history interview
Identifier
Abstract
Oral history interview with Avril "Juanita" Simmons and Fred "Bubba" Simmons conducted by Claytee D. White on May 21, 1996 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection.
In this interview, husband and wife Bubba and Juanita Simmons talk about their separate moves from Fordyce, Arkansas to Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1940s and their impressions of the city after moving. Bubba shares stories of his employment at the Basic Magnesium, Inc. plant in Henderson and his experiences living in tents on the Westside, traveling to work with the help of Red Mitchell, and sharing living spaces with nine to ten other men. Juanita discusses her work as a family's caregiver and speaks to the kinds of occupations Black women obtained in Las Vegas at that time. The couple share stories of city life and the clubs, eateries, and shops that were present in the area.
Archival Collection
Gay, Hazel
Hazel Gay was born in Fordyce, Arkansas in 1923. Hazel met her husband, Jimmy Gay, when she was about twenty years old while she was attending school in Thornton, Arkansas. Eventually, Gay and Jimmy were married secretly with no one knowing until several weeks later. Gay and her husband went on to have four children, all currently living in Las Vegas, Nevada. Before the family moved to Las Vegas, they lived in Fordyce, Arkansas.
Person
