When Melanie Greenberg was a young girl in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, she thinks it is likely that she crossed paths with her future husband at Hebrew School. However, it would be years later in college when they officially met – and fell in love and married in 1970. By 1976, Missouri was in the rearview mirror and career opportunities for her husband Gene Greenberg would lead them to Las Vegas. With their 18-month-old daughter Sari, they drove into Las Vegas for the first time, down Boulder Highway to Flamingo Road. Gene’s employer had arranged for a room at the Flamingo Hotel. As she explains, there many have been a better route, but it brought them to town and they stayed, raised their family, and became fixtures in the community since that moment. Among their first goals was finding a synagogue. Melanie’s magical touch has been felt in many places within the Las Vegas Jewish community: an active member of Temple Beth Sholom, the Jewish Federation’s Young Leadership and Women’s programs, organizer of Hebrew High, coordinator of L’Dor V’Dor activities for seniors, and Executive Director of Hillel from 1996 – 2003.
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The Barbara Tabach Papers (1978-2022) mainly contain project files kept by oral historian Barbara Tabach throughout her experiences managing different oral history community documentation projects for the Oral History Research Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) from 2010 to 2022. Oral history projects represented in this collection include
Archival Collection
Mustafa Richards was born December 24, 1950 in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Murray High School located in Detroit. Although he was accepted to Wayne State University, Richards opted out of attending college and started his journey towards his study of multiple religions.
Person
Oral history interview with Morse Arberry conducted by Brittany Thompson and Andrew Thomas on November 20, 2015 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Arberry discusses his personal history and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1958. He talks about his father's employment at the Nevada Test Site and the issues of segregation at the time. Arberry recalls attending the Westside School and talks about school integration. He then describes his career in legislation, working on bills to improve the integration process, and the impact that the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) had on the level of education among adults in the community. Lastly, Arberry discusses the West Las Vegas community, the significance that religion had on African Americans, and the increase of law enforcement in the area.
Archival Collection
Oral history interviews with Irma Varela conducted by Barbara Tabach on December 04, 2018 and March 05, 2019 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In these interviews, Varela talks about her upbringing in Zacatecas, Mexico, her move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1989, and how religion has affected her life. She also describes her work as the Cultural Program Supervisor at Winchester Community Center, and her career in preserving Hispanic cultural traditions in Las Vegas. Varela talks about being an active leader in local Las Vegas organizations and events such as the Mexico Vivo Dancing Company, Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations, and the International Food and Folklife Festival.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Vance "Stretch" Sanders conducted by Camisha Fagan and Micajah Daniels on November 11, 2016 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Sanders discusses his early life and moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2011. He talks about his upbringing in Las Vegas, the influence of organized crime in the city, and the importance of church and religion to him. Sanders then recalls founding the All Shades United organization, with the goal of having people of all colors come together in solidarity to dismantle the institutional and structural barriers that oppress the marginalized. Lastly, Sanders describes the impact that his organization has had on the African American community, the importance of education, and dealing with violence against minority groups.
Archival Collection
