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Lynnette Sawyer oral history interview: transcript
Date
2019-01-03
Description
Oral history interview with Lynnette Sawyer conducted by Nathalie Martinez on January 03, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. Barbara Tabach and Laurents Bañuelos-Benitez also participate in the questioning. Lynnette Sawyer identifies as a Puerto Rican woman born and raised in Spanish Harlem in New York. Her ancestry extends from Spain to Africa and has helped her identity, as she became an educator and museum curator. She describes her life in New York and her journey to Las Vegas. As the founder of the Hispanic Museum of Nevada, she wanted to create a space that would teach young Latinos about their history and heritage.
Text
Transcript of interview with Carrie Townley Porter by Claytee D. White, February 7, 2006
Date
2006-02-07
Description
Carrie Townley Porter, a 6th generation Texan, was born in Central Texas near present-day Fort Hood. Her father, a highway patrolman, was called into the Army Reserve in 1940 and spent some years moving around the country. At one point, his wife and children stayed in Belton, Texas tor three years because her father was transferred to places they couldn't go. Carrie finished high school in Austin, Texas, and attended two years at University of Texas in Austin. She left college to get married, and she and her geologist husband lived in Kansas, Oklahoma City, and Albuquerque. He took a job with the Atomic Energy Commission that required frequent trips to the Nevada Test Site, so the suggestion was made that they just move to Las Vegas. At this point they had three children with no reliable child care so Carrie became a housewife for a while. The Townleys lived a full and active life in Las Vegas and she eventually got hired as a substitute teacher. Carrie mostly subbed at Gibson Junior High School. She decided to finish her degree at Nevada Southern University (now UNLV) after her principal told her that if she could do that, he would have a job waiting for her. Several of the courses that Carrie took were Nevada history correspondence courses from UNR. These courses were prepared and graded by Dr. Russell Elliott. Carrie also fondly remembers two Nevada Southern history professors in particular, Dr. John Wright, whom she considered a mentor, and Rosemary Masick, who taught English history. After receiving her bachelor's, Carrie returned to teaching math at Gibson Jr. High. She started an archaeology club on her own and she and Russ Elliott started the first Trailblazer Club (junior history) in the state. She got students involved in the history of the Native Americans in the area and took them on field trips which gave them a chance to participate in a dig. Carrie has worked in Special Collections in the UNLV library as an archivist, with Sierra Pacific Power Company as a records analyst, and at Caesar's Tahoe as records administrator. She has also been very deeply involved with the Nevada Women's History Project since 1994. This group was responsible for the Sarah Winnemucca Statue Project, which placed a statue of this Native American in Washington, D.C., and a copy of it in the capitol building in Carson City. Today Carrie is doing a collaborative book on Helen J. Stewart with Sally Zanjani. She has done extensive research on Helen Stewart's life, and to this day makes "living history" presentations dressed as Helen J. Stewart. In addition to her history commitments, Carrie still holds onto her records management consulting firm, which she started in 1985.
Text
Audio clip from interview with Doug Unger, August 26, 2014
Date
2014-08-26
Description
Part of an interview with Doug Unger on August 26, 2014. In this interview, Unger discusses how he acquired Supreme Mattress, a local mattress company that supplied mattresses to Strip casinos.
Sound
Stephen Nasser Papers
Identifier
MS-00898
Abstract
The Stephen Nasser Papers (1992-2018) mainly contain letters written from school children to Nasser who travels to schools, churches, and organizations around Las Vegas, Nevada to share his story of surviving the Holocaust during World War II. Materials in this collection document his captivity in various prison camps and includes photographs, awards, and newspaper clippings. Also included are speeches given by Nasser and book reviews and a teacher's guide of his book My Brother's Voice written by students of Dixie College, St. George, Utah. This collection includes a copy of
Archival Collection
Alex Shoofey Papers
Identifier
MS-00858
Abstract
The Alex Shoofey Papers are comprised of records spanning 1967 to 1972 that primarily pertain to financial operations and policies for the International Hotel and Casino-Las Vegas Hilton and the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The collection includes daily profit and loss reports, interdepartmental correspondence, staffing and operational policies and procedures, production reports, and Shoofey's personal correspondence. Collection materials are representative of business and financial records from Shoofey's tenure as president of both the International and Flamingo hotels and casinos.
Archival Collection
CineVegas International Film Festival Records
Identifier
MS-01046
Abstract
The CineVegas International Film Festival Records (1999-2009) include promotional guides, press kits, and press clippings about the film festival which was held in Las Vegas, Nevada from 1999 to 2009. The materials in the collection include "clip books" which are comprised of media and newspaper clippings that mention the film festival. The collection also includes issues of magazines such as the
Archival Collection
Vida Chan Lin oral history interview
Identifier
OH-03766
Abstract
Oral history interview with Vida Chan Lin conducted by Kristel Peralta, Cecilia Winchell, and Vanessa Concepcion on May 17, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Vida Chan Lin discusses her childhood growing up in San Francisco and her parents' immigration from China to the United States through Chile. She talks about working in her parents' Chinese restaurant throughout her youth and her later move to Las Vegas to assist her sister and brother-in-law. She recalls becoming an insurance agency owner and how she worked to help the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community after the 2008 housing crisis. Lin shares her decades-long mission to find community within Las Vegas, joining every AAPI group the city had to offer until later developing her own; Lin created the Asian Community Development Council (ACDC) in 2015 and was also formerly President of the Asian Chamber of Commerce. The ACDC was developed to provide community support and assistance with voter registrations in Las Vegas. Lin discusses the additional services the ACDC has undertaken during the COVID-19 pandemic, including helping with the census, distributing food, volunteering at vaccine clinics, and purchasing laptops for Clark County School District students to assist with in-home learning efforts.
Archival Collection
Alice Key Papers
Identifier
MS-00095
Abstract
The Alice Key Papers (1936-2004) consist of documents detailing Alice Key’s life and work in the African American community, historic preservation, and labor relations in Las Vegas, Nevada. Included in the collection are awards and certificates documenting Key’s achievements, invitations and programs to events, political and civic correspondence, and magazine and newspaper articles both about Key and written by her. The collection also contains photographs.
Archival Collection
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