Las Vegas history 1953-1980. Migration to Las Vegas from Louisiana. Personal history: family, occupation(s), and education. Westside. Development of race relations in Las Vegas. Residential segregation. Discrimination of blacks: no better than the South. Inequality of employment opportunities. Development of the Strip. Black entertainers.
In 1964, the year that Vincent Kethen was born, desegregation of Las Vegas schools began. Like many African-American children living in the Las Vegas Westside neighborhood, Vincent was bused out of his neighborhood in third grade to attend a white school. In his case, this meant attending John S. Park Elementary and later other predominantly white schools. He talks about these experiences. John S. Park was a neighborhood of manicured lawns, while the school bus and the classroom were places fraught with fisticuffs. The experience of growing up during that era are recalled. Vincent provides a sense of that it was like to reside in his home neighborhood and the onslaught of the drug culture altered gang-lead neighborhoods. Being bused had positive results he explains, such as athletics, which served as an equalizer. For Vincent, a solid upbringing, which included love of church and the chance to attend college, encouraged him to make good decisions about his future. He received a four-year degree and he returned to Las Vegas to "give back." For over a decade and a half, her has coached young basketball players and helped them see their options for a brighter future than they might otherwise have seen.
From the Roosevelt Fitzgerald Professional Papers (MS-01082) -- Drafts for the Las Vegas Sentinel Voice file. On Black individuals being suspects and targets.
As Chairman and CEO of the Eureka Casino Resort, Gregory Lee’s involvement and impact on the Mesquite community will reverberate for generations. Although he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, his ambitions starting from an early age led him to live with his business-oriented father in San Francisco, California. His journey eventually led him to attend Saint Paul’s School and Harvard College.
For Leonardo Martinez, the United States was never meant to be a destination—it was merely a short stop along the way as he awaited the day he could safely return to his family in El Salvador. Now a man who embraces the occasional Big Mac from McDonalds but never turns away a Salvadoran pupusa, Leonardo has embraced both places as home with memories that took him from his humble upbringings in Santa Lucía to the bright lights of the city of Las Vegas.
Harvey Allen grew up poor in Philadelphia. After taking singing lessons at the Artie Singer Vocal School, he got jobs singing in night clubs up and down the east coast. He also took acting classes in New York and performed at the Copa Club. In the 1950s, he moved to Las Vegas and auditioned for Jack Entratter at the Sands Hotel and Casino where he performed with numerous entertainers including Lena Horne, Louis Armstrong, Tallulah Bankhead and Robert Merrill. Allen's accomplishments include attending and obtaining a degree in telecommunications and film from San Diego State and a Master's degree from UNLV. He worked for the American Society of Composer, Authors and Publishers. Harvey recalls working on a segregated strip and the opening of the first integrated casino in Las Vegas, The Moulin Rouge. Twice he moved from Las Vegas but always returned. He implemented National Reading Week for the State Department of Education and was the emcee for Sunrise Hospital Cancer Survivors Week. In addition to hosting a popular talk show on KDON radio, he hosted the "All-Nighters Club Convention", taught classes at UNLV tor 31 years and wrote a column in Maturity Today. Now Harvey is at a different stage of his life. He and his wife are active in running their public relations agency, enjoying their garden, taking great photographs and spending time together in their fabulous home in Anthem.