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Steven Horsford oral history interview
Oral history interview with Steven Horsford conducted by Claytee D. White on August 19, 2011 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Horsford begins by discussing his family's Trinidadian ancestry and how his family came to move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1969. He describes living in the Berkley Square neighborhood, his education, and how he developed his interest in pursuing a career in politics. Horsford continues, discussing his grandmother, his children, and his experiences growing up in the African American community of Las Vegas. Other topics of discussion include his family traditions, his wife, and attending the University of Nevada, Reno.
Archival Collection
Marilyn Armstrong and Brenda Williams oral history interview
Oral history interview with Marilyn Armstrong and Brenda Williams conducted by Claytee D. White on April 13, 2021 for African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project.
Marilyn Armstrong discusses her employment history becoming a beautician and business owner in Las Vegas, Nevada. She also talks of her husband's decision to start the Ray and Ross Bus Company, the largest transportation firm in the state in the 1950s and 1960s, and what it was like growing up in the Westside community. Finally, she mentions the businesses that flourished on Jackson Avenue, inlcuding her mother's beauty shop.
Subjects discussed include: Margie's Beauty Shop; Cadillac Arms; Berkley Square; Cosmetique; Miss Elizabeth Coiffure; and Ray & Ross Bus Company
Archival Collection
Transcript of interview with Jean S. Childs conducted by Claytee White, December 2, 2013
Transcript of interview with Jean Childs by Claytee White, December 2, 2013. Childs served as director of Head Start in Las Vegas for twenty-six years starting in 1972. She was also Regional Head Start Director and worked as a private consultant. In this interview, Childs discusses moving to Las Vegas in 1962, and the areas in which she lived, including Berkley Square. She attended UNLV and worked at Head Start after college. She also discusses the Penguin Club, which was owned by her father.
Text
Ada Glover oral history interview
Oral history interview with Ada Glover conducted by Claytee D. White on March 23, 2022 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Glover recalls living in the Berkley Square neighborhood in Las Vegas, Nevada. She shares her parents' history, starting with her father working at the Nevada Test Site and later for the Las Vegas Sun newspaper; her mother, a Culinary Union member and hospitality worker. Glover graduated from Rancho High School in 1962, and has vivid memories of the Westside community that includes Shaw's Apartment located on Van Buren and F Street, the Cotton Club owned by Jodie Cannon, The El Morocco Nightclub owned by James Calvin, and Bruno's Liquor owned by Mr. and Mrs. Bruno. She shares during the interview how she was impacted by school desegregation. Digital audio available; no transcript available.
Archival Collection
Norma de la Cerna Tolbert oral history interview
Oral history interview with Norma de la Cerna Tolbert conducted by Claytee D. White on June 25, 2013 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. In this interview, Tolbert discusess her career as a professional dancer from the age of fifteen. She begins by describing her early childhood in Houston, Texas, moving to Chicago, Illinois where she began to study dance, and leaving home at fifteen years old to go to Atlantic City, New Jersey to dance in professional productions. Tolbert then discusses moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1955, performing at the Moulin Rouge, and living in the Berkley Square community where they built new housing for the dancers. She also discusses performing at the Dunes Hotel and Casino, the African American community of Las Vegas, and the closing of the Moulin Rouge.
Archival Collection