In The News: University Libraries

As Las Vegas continues to grapple with food insecurity, one area non-profit is hoping to tackle the issues and provide residents in food deserts with fresh produce.

Oral History Research Center Director Claytee White shares stories people have told her over the years about Las Vegas and explains the importance of recording these memories for historical record.

Charles Kellar was a middle-aged New York attorney with a family, an established law practice and a portfolio of investment properties. But when Thurgood Marshall, then the head of the NAACP’s legal division, asked him to go to Nevada, he went, according to Claytee White, director of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV.

When Nevada Assemblyman Woodrow Wilson went into a Carson City bar where fellow legislators “did their politicking” in the 1960s, they told the owner they wouldn’t continue patronizing the bar if Wilson, who was Black, was there. The bar owner told Wilson about the incident, and he learned the legislators were the same ones who had tried to buy him drinks and make him feel welcome.

It’s been more than a year since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling that struck down affirmative action in colleges and universities, and the consequences of that ruling have finally reached the surface.

It’s been more than a year since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling that struck down affirmative action in colleges and universities, and the consequences of that ruling have finally reached the surface.

UNLV'S Oral History Research Center is embarking on a project tracking the history of sports in Las Vegas. "It's kind of hard not to think about sports when you think about Las Vegas right now," said Oral History Research Center Project Manager Stefani Evans.
The building that housed the Holy Cow Casino and Brewery, on the northeast corner of Sahara and the Strip, made Las Vegas history for a couple of big reasons.

Kennedy Jackson, a UNLV theater arts major, still remembers the hummingbird she saw fluttering outside of UNLV’s Beam Hall one year ago. She was walking back from studying for finals, and the campus was abuzz with pre-finals stress and pre-holiday anticipation. But in just a few short hours, the excitement and jitters would turn into utter fear.

As Sara told UNLV oral historian Claytee White, “From the day Roosevelt was elected we had a picture of him in our house. And I still have it in my house.”

The anticipation surrounding the 2024 General Election continues to grow and so has the hype behind obtaining some exclusive ‘I voted’ stickers.

Drawn within a Nevada-shaped border are three animals – a bird carrying a tote bag, a bear in a skirt and a cat wearing a white backpack. They are all lined up in front of a “vote here” sign.
