An Interview with Dell Ray Rhodes

An Interview with Dell Ray Rhodes An Oral History Conducted by Claytee D. White African American Collaborative Oral History Research Center at UNLV University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas i ©African Americans in Las Vegas: A Collaborative Oral History Project University of Nevada Las Vegas, 2012 COMMUNITY PARTNERS Henderson Libraries Las Vegas Clark County Public Libraries Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas Libraries Weiner-Rogers Law Library at William S. Boyd School of Law, UNLV Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas Las Vegas National Bar Association Vegas PBS Clark County Museum Produced by: The Oral History Research Center at UNLV – University Libraries Director: Claytee D. White Project Manager: Barbara Tabach Transcriber: Kristin Hicks Interviewers, Editors and Project Assistants: Barbara Tabach, Claytee D. White, B. Leon Green, John Grygo, and Delores Brownlee. ii The recorded interview and transcript have been made possible through the generosity of a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grant. The Oral History Research Center enables students and staff to work together with community members to generate this selection of first-person narratives. The participants in this project thank University of Nevada Las Vegas for the support given that allowed an idea the opportunity to flourish. The transcript received minimal editing that includes the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader’s understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. In several cases photographic sources accompany the individual interviews. The following interview is part of a series of interviews conducted under the auspices of the African Americans in Las Vegas:A Collaborative Oral History Project. Claytee D. White Director, Oral History Research Center University Libraries University Nevada Las Vegas iii Preface In the later 1930s, Dell Ray Rhodes’ grandmother and step-grandfather found better work opportunities Boulder City, Nevada, where the construction of Hoover Dam promised jobs. So they moved from Louisiana, leaving most their family behind. However, when the grandmother fell ill in 1950, Dell Ray’s mother wanted to nurse her and made what was to be a temporary visit to Las Vegas. As often happens, she remained and this is how three-year-old Dell Ray came to live in the Las Vegas area. Decades later, Dell Ray sat for this interview and recalled when her mother worked housekeeping in a list of Las Vegas’ early hotels. The family resided on the Westside where she attended Westside Elementary School, Madison Elementary School, Jim Bridger Middle School, and graduated from Rancho High School. Dell Ray tells of marrying young and working a variety of jobs between the births of her seven children. Among her jobs was being one of the first blacks to work in UNLV’s Registrar office and her final career was at the U.S. Post Office where she worked for about eight years until her retirement in 1995. During this interview, she discusses the early 1970s when civil rights was an uneasy topic in Las Vegas and school integration and the sixth grade plan were making waves. iv Table of Contents Preface……………………………………………………………………………………iv Born in Omega, Louisiana; moved to Las Vegas at three-years-old with mother and two brothers. Grandparents had moved to Boulder City in 1937 for work on the Boulder Dam. Her step-father worked at Mercury and Test Site. Tells about mother working as a maid at Tam O’Shanter, Stardust, Frontier, Bally’s; member of Culinary Union.………...1 – 5 Talks about going to school on Westside; no sidewalks or paved streets; playground; teachers. Member of Girl Scouts of America. Mother bought house on J Street in Highland Square and she attended sixth grade at Madison Elementary School. Tells about taking dance lessons; rec center activities. Recalls neighborhood people such as David and Mabel Hoggard, Larry Bolden (police officer), Sarann Preddy…..……………6 – 10 Westside church life is discussed; Second Baptist, Pilgrim Rest, Macedonia Baptist in Four Mile. Parents raised chickens and pigs on a piece of Four Mile property they owned. Graduated from Rancho High School and got married to Charles Freeman, a cook at the Golden Nugget. She talks about going to work in 1967 at Central Telephone Company; later for Captain John Foremaster, Metro police department; then at UNLV registrar’s office; describes Concentrated Employment Program (CEP) and working there in 1968- 1971.……………………………………………………………………….………11 – 15 Photo Section: features snapshots of the Westside, Las Vegas Club, Brown Derby interior and Four Mile………………………………………………………………………16 - 19 Recalls Ruby Duncan and participating in the march on the Strip; story of a death due to police brutality. Mentions other jobs she held over the years; retired from the post office on Bonanza Street; delivered mail on the Westside, Berkley Square……………..20 – 27 Shares memories of the Westside as a neighborhood where everyone knew everyone; living in shacks and tents because area was growing so fast; outdoor plumbing. Remembers Berkley Square and Bonanza Village being built. Mentions “consent decree’ and the plan for integration in 1969-1970; Charles Keller; reviews how Westside was “a better place before integration”…………………………………………………… 28 – 38 Index…………………………………………………………………………...……39 – 40 Appendix: Dell Ray’s autobiography and certificates of acknowledgement. v vii It is April 1st, April Fool's Day. And I am with Dell Ray Rhodes in her home here in Summerlin. We're going to talk about the Westside School, but we're also going to talk about her life in early Las Vegas. She came here in 1950. So how are you this morning, Dell Ray? Oh, I'm making it. How are you? Wonderful. It's wonderful to be in your house. I just love this place. Thank you very much. So tell me a little about growing up in Louisiana. Till I was three years old. Okay. So now, do you have any memories of Louisiana at all? I just remember playing in the front yard sometimes as a baby while my momma was in the cotton fields. So that was in the area of Tallulah? That was in Omega. How far is Omega from Tallulah? Probably about 20 minutes. Okay. And the reason that we have the radio on in the background today is because a famous radio station that is in the same building as the Westside School. It's KCEP; it was owned by EOB, the Equal Opportunity Board, and this is the last day of the current format. It's being taken over by another nonprofit organization. So it will never be a part of EOB again. That's why we have it playing in the background. So tell me a little about coming to Las Vegas and how that happened. Oh, my grandmother came here in 1937. Her husband, Ike Johnson, worked at Boulder Dam. And so my grandmother came here in 1937 with him. She worked at Boulder Dam. She was like a cook and a laundry lady. She got sick in 1950 and my mother just came out here to take care of her and she was going back to Louisiana. But she ended up staying in Las Vegas after 1950. So Ike was your grandfather. No. Ike Johnson was my grandmother's husband. My grandfather is Sam Gregory. That's my mother's father. 1 So Ike Johnson and your grandmother both worked at Hoover Dam. Yes. Boulder Dam. Oh, yes, Hoover Dam. Boulder Dam is fine. Did they ever tell you stories about working in Boulder City? Yes. My grandmother, she lived up there for a while. But then after a while they moved down to Las Vegas. But they did live in Boulder City for a while but just for a short period she said. They let black people live in Boulder? She was living in Boulder City when she first came back here way back then. Yes, she lived in Boulder City area. Yes, that's where they lived, right there near the dam. And she did all kinds of -- She did laundry work and she cooked. And do you know where or anything about that? Well, I know after she came out to Las Vegas, she worked for Deluxe Hand Laundry. I remember that because when I was a kid I used to go to Deluxe Hand Laundry. She worked right in the front window on Main Street. I could see her and I would go in and say, wow, you know. So do you remember any of the stories about Boulder City? Well, I used to hear her talking as a kid. And she was saying the more white people that came, the more racism followed them, and so it started getting pretty bad up there. So that's why they moved down to Las Vegas. And what kind of work did Ike do? Ike did the construction-type work. I can't remember exactly whether he worked with concrete or what, but he did construction-type work. So he was one of those 40 black men who worked -- He was from Tallulah. -- who worked on the dam? Yes, he, worked on the dam. Okay, good. Well, thank you for that. Now, tell me about coming to Las Vegas in 1950, what your first memories were. My first memories. I remember that Las Vegas didn't go much farther than Rancho because I remember my father talking about going hunting. He used to go hunting and fishing. My 2 stepfather, Earnest Oliver, he worked for Mercury and he worked for the Test Site. But as a kid, I mean I just remember having fun as a kid. And I remember that most blacks -- he said back then they watched each other kids.

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