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Gay, James A., III, 1916-1999
James A. Gay III was born March 6th, 1916 in Fordyce, Arkansas. Arriving in 1946, Gay became the first African-American mortician in Las Vegas. He later worked as Assistant Manager of the Sands Hotel and Casino and Union Plaza while serving as an executive board member of the Culinary Union. Instrumental in the Las Vegas community, Gay worked to improved race relations, addressing social, economic, and civic issues. Gay was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1988.
Person
Transcript of interview with Ida Bowser by Claytee D. White, August 30, 2007
Interview with Ida Bowser conducted by Claytee D. White on August 30, 2007. Born in Tallulah, Louisiana, Bowser came to Las Vegas as a child. Her first job after high school was as a teacher's aide. Later, she worked as a maid at the Sahara and Flamingo hotels. Disenchanted with maid's work, Bowser applied to the welfare office for on-the-job training and began working for the UNLV library, where she remained for thirty-seven years. Bowser recalls Ruby Duncan and the civil rights movement, notable individuals and places, and a discrimination lawsuit.
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Audio clip from interview with Essie Lee Jones by Claytee White, June 5, 1996
Part of an interview with Essie Lee Jones, June 5, 1996. In this clip, Jones describes racism she encountered while she was working as a waitress.
Sound
Carl Esteban oral history interview
Oral history interview with Carl Esteban conducted by William Bailey on December 2, 2022 for the Reflections: the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project. In this interview, Esteban recalls growing up in Salinas, California in a predominantly Asian community before relocating with family to Las Vegas, Nevada in 2002. As a first generation Filipino America, Esteban's mother sacrificed her life in the Philippines to become the sole person in her family to immigrate to America. Esteban received his degree in Special Education and is currently pursuing to a master's degree in the same field. Esteban is currently a special education educator at the Yvonne Atkinson-Gates Center in North Las Vegas. Throughout the interview, Esteban discusses a wide range of topics spanning from his family migration story, his early childhood, his Filipino identity, Asian stereotypes as the model minority, and how his mentors helped shape him into the person he is today.
Archival Collection
Kevin Chung oral history interview
Oral history interview with Kevin Chung conducted by Cecelia Winchell, Stefani Evans, and Jerwin Tiu on December 18, 2021 for Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project.
Kevin Chung discusses his upbringing in Southern Vietnam and how he and his family were forced to leave the country during the Vietnam War. Chung talks about his family's migration to Minnesota and how they adapted to American culture. He shares his educational background, his professional pursuits as a teacher, and the reasons he and his wife decided to move to Las Vegas. Chung reflects on the importance of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) in education with an emphasis on the arts and shares his teaching philosophy. He also gives details of his family's lives and talks about the importance of bringing together his Vietnamese and American cultures to connect the different generations of his family.
Archival Collection
Erika Castro oral history interview
Oral history interview with Erika Castro conducted by Maribel Estrada Calderon on November 12, 2018 for the Latinx Voices of Southern Nevada Oral History Project. In this interview, Castro discusses her early life in Mexico City, Mexico before migrating with her family to North Las Vegas, Nevada in 1992. She describes adapting to the city, her early education, and learning that she was an undocumented immigrant. Castro then talks about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and how DACA gave her a vision for a future for the first time. Later, Castro discusses The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act and explains objectives of the nonprofit organization, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN). Lastly, Castro talks about her involvement with Planned Parenthood, studying social work at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), and immigration resources provided by the UNLV Law Clinic.
Archival Collection
Erika Castro interview, November 12, 2018: transcript
Interviewed by Maribel Estrada Calderón. Barbara Tabach and Laurents Banuelos-Benitez also participate in the questioning. Erika Castro was born in Mexico City in 1989. At the age of three, she migrated with her family to the United States. She remembers entering Kindergarten without knowing how to speak English. She graduated from the College of Southern Nevada. Castro has since been a political activist. Subjects: PLAN, Planned Parenthood, Environmental Justice, UndocuNetwork, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DREAM Act
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Lisby, Lee Henry
Lee Henry Lisby was born July 01, 1902 in Louisiana. In 1942, Lisby moved from Tallulah, Louisiana to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he found success in owning real estate. He retired as a sawmill worker, truck driver, construction laborer, and hotel porter. His first housing was an old Army hospital tent, and then he built a house. All of his ten children graduated from high school in Las Vegas.
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