Oral history interview with Bruce Anderson conducted by Claytee D. White on October 03, 2007 for the All That Jazz Oral History Project. In this interview, Anderson discusses his career as a jazz musician. He begins by talking about his upbringing in Evansville, Indiana, his early interest in being a musician, his family's involvement with music through their church, learning to play the piano and the clarinet from an early age, completing high school and later enlisting in the United States Air Force, where he was able to grow and extend his skills as an ensemble musician. He describes leaving the armed forces and returning to Indiana, moving soon after he received a job offer in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1973. He continues, talking about the wide range of venues he played, from conventions to high-end nightclubs, and closes by discussing the many different musicians and influences he met throughout his life.
Archival Collection
Nevada Public Radio (KNPR) radio documentary entitled ""Las Vegas: Mississippi of the West or Promised Land?" hosted by William J. Drummond and Faith Fancher that aired on June 24, 1991. In this two-part series, the hosts and a variety of guests discuss racial segregation in Las Vegas, Nevada's past and the racial climate of the city in 1991. Guests include, but are not limited to, Peter Lyn Hayes, Joe Williams, Roosevelt Fitzgerald, Eugene Moehring, James West, Eric Cooper, Sarah Knight Preddy, and Frank Hawkins.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Inez and Edward Harper conducted by Claytee D. White on July 18, 1996 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, the Harpers talk first about their upbringing and education in Fordyce, Arkansas. Inez Harper explains how she came to Las Vegas, Nevada at the age of sixteen with her first husband in 1953; Edward Harper explains that he came two years later, working in construction until his marriage to his first wife and moving to Los Angeles, California in 1957. The couple met after his return to Las Vegas in 1960 and married in 1962. Together they discuss employment opportunities, income, the living conditions on the Westside and the entertainment venues on Jackson Street. They also remark on their perspective of race relations and discrimination in Las Vegas in the 1960s and 1970s.
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Oral history presentation by George Kielak to an unidentified group recorded on February 1, 2007. In his talk, Kielak explains that he was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1929 and was nine years old when Germany occupied the country. He describes what it was like living under the German occupation forces and comments that of all the occupied countries during World War II, Poland suffered the most severe restrictions and punishments. He then outlines the progress of the war from 1939 to 1944, a period in which he joined the Polish resistance movement. He explains that after the resistance fighters rose up against the Germans in 1944 Russia would not help, leading to the collapse of the movement, his capture by the German forces, and his seven month internment in a POW camp. He describes immigrating to England at the end of the war because Poland became part of the Soviet Union. After serving in the British Army, he immigrated to the United States in 1950. At the end of the presentation he shows maps and photographs and answers questions from the audience.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Richard "Chick" Perkins conducted by an unidentified interviewer on February 5, 1974 for the Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project. In this interview Perkins responds to questions about the history of the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, the Pueblo de Grande archaelogical site, and the Lost City, Museum in Overton, Nevada. He provides a detailed response to questions about the indigenous peoples of the southern Nevada area, looking at their customs, culture, and perceptions regarding white settlement in the area.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Harold Minsky conducted by an unidentified interviewer on August 15, 1973 for the UNLV University Libraries Oral History Collection. In this interview, Minsky discusses his upbringing, education, and early work history in the entertainment business. He talks about his desire to join the family business despite his father's encouragement to study law. He speaks at length about how his father, Abe, and his three uncles started their burlesque business in a building owned by his grandfather. He explains what caused the split between his father and uncles and explains that the only bad advice his father gave him was to stay in New York City, New York. He also discusses his take-over of the business and many of the dancers that worked in burlesque.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Willis Clark Evans conducted by Bernard Timberg on February 5, 1974 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Evans discusses his father, Native American archaeologist Willis Lyman Evans, his mother, Jessie Dave Evans, his uncle, Henry "Hank" Dave as he recounts his upbringing and family history. He shares memories of family trips around the United States, hunting trips, learning traditional crafts from his father, finding artifacts, and visiting Richard "Chick" Perkins at the Lost City Museum. He also recounts stories about his mother and her Shoshone family, including stories about his uncle's experiences as a ranch worker in Northern Nevada.
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Closing lecture presented by Dr. James E. Deacon on May 17, 1974 for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Environmental Studies course "Man and the Environment." Deacon presents his students with a question of what makes "man" unique among all the creatures of the Earth and suggests that it begins with the ratio of brain to brawn. He reminds them that the course was considered as much a social science as a natural science because of the questions it had posed them, and mentions the involvement of UNLV history professor Dr. Scott Locicero. The remainder of the lecture delves more deeply into how humans learned to exploit their environment and control against hunger, predation, and disease, but without consideration for the limits of that exploitation. He closes by suggesting that the modern world may prove to be a "DIY extinction event" if humankind fails to modify its actions.
Archival Collection
Oral history presentation by Clement "Clem" Bernier for an unidentified audience of students, approximately 1977. In his presentation, Bernier identifies himself as a "hotel man" and explains that he has been general manager of the Hacienda Hotel and Casino for a year and considered it a very different challenge to his earlier years in hotel management. He discusses how he became a hotel general manager, the work involved in learning the trade, and the differences between managing a regular hotel and managing a hotel and casino. He also asks and takes questions from the audience.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Ruby Gordon conducted by Claytee D. White on October 29, 2004 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Gordon talks about her birth and early upbringing in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and Las Vegas, Nevada, where her parents moved when she was seven years old. She discusses her parent's decision to move for better opportunities and the kind of work they did, then speaks extensively about her education through high school, her early marriage, and raising six children. She also talks about the difficulties that mothers faced while trying to work and raise children, especially those with health issues. Later she talks about her involvement with the Elks fraternal organization and explains that there were different lodges for whites and Blacks, based primarily on location, the lodges regularly interacted and worked together on civic and charity programs. Finally, she expands on her own work history in early childhood education, working for the state, and for Child Haven.
Archival Collection