From the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Theta Theta Omega Chapter Records (MS-01014) -- Chapter records file.
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Oral history interview with Charmaine Lai conducted by Cecilia Winchell and Stefani Evans on November 24, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Charmaine recounts her childhood growing up Hakka Chinese in South Africa. She discusses both the positives of growing up in South Africa, including the beautiful scenery and her family's cooking and traditions, and the negatives including the discrimination she faced in school and in her work. Charmaine also talks about her immigration to the United States, raising her three children, and her work as a real estate agent.
Archival Collection
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Oral history interview with Billy Paul Smith conducted by Claytee D. White on October 13, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Smith discusses his careers as a chemist, mathematician, health physicist, and a tutor for young people. He talks about experiencing segregation in Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as his experiences in Area 51 and Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste repository.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Hank Kovell conducted by Patrick F. Smith on September 26, 1973 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In the interview, Kovell briefly discusses his life in Northern California before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in July 1956, where he would open and run a Las Vegas, Nevada advertisement agency, Kovell Inc., between 1964 and 1969. He then discusses his company's publications of political campaigns, Las Vegas casino publicity, and his work as a public relations director in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Starr Hoffman conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee D. White on July 17, 2025 for the Game On! An Oral History of Las Vegas Sports project. In this interview, Hoffman describes her childhood in California and Texas, and attending college, double majoring in English literature and studio artistry. After obtaining a master's degree in art history and a doctorate in higher education, Hoffman began working at the University of Nevada Libraries in 2015. Hoffman remembers living through the COVID lockdown, and coming out as a lesbian, and divorcing her husband. Hoffman recalls coming out, making friends in the LGBTQ+ community, and getting involved in a local, gay kickball league. Hoffman now helps run the league, and has added additional social sports such as billiards, sand volleyball, and cornhole. She explains that both the social and competitive leagues are receptive and warm to newcomers, and the league has been growing because of this. She also recently took up burlesque, and has done various performances in Las Vegas. She loves Las Vegas for how different it is, and loves the acceptance she has found within her community. Digital audio available; no transcript available.
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Oral history interview with Laura Herlovich conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee D. White on June 26, 2024 for Game On! The Oral History of Las Vegas Sports project. In this interview, Laura Herlovich describes first arriving in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1983 with the Utah Jazz NBA basketball team, when the team played in the newly built Thomas & Mack Center. Because the Jazz began winning that season, they also ended up selling more tickets to their Salt Lake City home games. After a lifetime on Florida's Gulf Coast, Herlovich attended Bradley University in Indiana, double majoring in Communications and Secondary Education and began her career focusing on sports information, later expanding to entertainment, public relations, and communications. Herlovich discusses being only the second woman to hold her position in male-dominated field and why she moved to Las Vegas permanently in 1984. She recalls the disastrous NBA All-Star Weekend in 2007, and credits Battistone, the Utah Jazz, NBA Summer League, and even the 2007 NBA All-Star Weekend with bringing professional sports to Las Vegas. Digital audio and transcript available.
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