Rejoyce Williams moved to Las Vegas with her husband and their six children in 1960. Williams grew up in Fordyce, Arkansas, and has also lived in California. When she arrived in Las Vegas, she worked as a maid at the Las Vegas Hilton and participated in the Culinary Union strike in 1970. In the interview, she discusses her involvement in church activities, and other anecdotes from her employment.
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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.
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Interview with Viola Johnson conducted by Claytee D. White on March 12, 1996. Johnson lived in a tent when she moved from Fordyce to Las Vegas in 1942. She describes working conditions for maids and the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 strikes between 1969 and 1984.
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Oral history interviews with John Edmond conducted by Claytee D. White on February 19 and 25, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Edmond discusses his family history in Tallulah, Louisiana and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada before Basic Magnesium, Inc. drew many African Americans to the region. He recalls working as a young boy at the local bowling alley and later attending college in Seattle, Washington. After college, Edmond returned to Las Vegas and became the first Black baccarat dealer at the Stardust Hotel working for Frank Rosenthal. He discusses later owning the largest shopping center in the city.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Mirna Preciado conducted by Claytee D. White on September 11, 2014 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. Preciado discusses migrating from Mexico to Las Vegas, Nevada, being recruited into the Culinary Union Local 226, the Frontier Hotel Strike, and working 15 years as an organizer in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
View at dusk of the Sands Hotel and neon sign seen from the street. Tallulah Bankhead headlines the marquee.
Site Name: Sands Hotel
Address: 3355 Las Vegas Boulevard South
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