Search Results

“I identify with being part of the AAPI community, and our family has adopted Las Vegas as our town, again doing what we can to make impact because we feel that this town has really blessed us with so much opportunity. It’s our joy to be able to give back.”

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.

Aquiles Garcia was born in January 21, 1927 in Goya, Chaco, Argentina where his grandfather owned half the town. In 1934, Garcia moved with his parents and siblings to Buenos Aires, where he was taken in by his maternal aunt, Esther Larralde de Porta. His aunt was a professor in the Normal School, so he received an excellent education before earning his Bachelor of Arts degree. Garcia served four years in the Argentine Army, the last part under Juan Perón.

Stan Armstrong is an African American and Choctaw filmmaker and founder of Desert Rose Productions. Armstrong was born in 1954 in San Francisco, California and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada with his parents in 1955. Armstrong attended Rancho High School and the race riots of the 1970s which he created a documentary titled, The Rancho High School Race Riots. Armstrong graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1995 with a degree in Communications and Film History.

Ida Bowser was born in Tallulah, Louisiana, and in 1955 at the age of 10 she was brought to Las Vegas, Nevada to join her mother and other family members. The family originally lived on Washington and H Streets, and later moved to Madison Avenue. Ida and her brothers and sisters attended Madison Elementary School right down the block.

James Cardie is from Brainerd, a small town in central Minnesota. He attended Catholic grade school in Brainerd and a boarding high school in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin.

James earned an undergraduate degree at Holy Cross in western Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He did research (physical experiments and numerical modeling) at St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory, created a computer program that was used in the design of many large storm sewer systems

Fred Houghton was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 27, 1894. Houghton attended the University of Chicago Law School, and passed the Illinois State Bar examination at the age of 25. He received his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 1919. The next year, Houghton opened his own law practice and maintained the law firm until 1943, when he moved to California.