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

©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.

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

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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.

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.

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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.

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

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. I don't remember anybody, you know, any kids being picked on or whatever. We all got along good. Like that. What kinds of stories did you hear about Mercury and the Test Site? Let me see. I have to think. I should have thought about that. Did he drive back and forth or did he live out there? Depending on how far out he had to go, he would stay the week and then he'd come home on Fridays. But it depended on if he worked at Mercury. He would sometimes come home every night. But I think most of the time he stayed all week up at the Test Site at Mercury and then he would come home. He worked for a guy -- now, I remember that -- Russell V. White. He worked for Russell V. White, him and some of his brothers. He would come home and talk about things, him and my mom. But I guess I wasn't too interested because I would be outside playing a lot of times. But I'll probably remember some things in a minute. Well, good. If they come to you, please, we can just stop whatever we're talking about and talk about that. Tell me more about your mother's work here. Oh, okay. My momma was a maid. I remember she worked for the Tam O'Shanter. She was the housekeeper I guess. She knew the owner because it was so small back then. And she was a housekeeper and she did the hiring of maids. I remember that because I used to go down with my stepfather to pick her up from work a lot of times. She worked for the Thunderbird. She worked for the Stardust. She worked for the Frontier and she worked for the Tam O'Shanter. I remember when we would go pick her up, most of the maids were black women. They were black women that did that work and a few whites and a few Orientals. And that was it. That's who did the maid work back in those days. We'd go pick her up with my stepfather. Like in the wintertime sometimes they weren't doing construction and he would be in town. So we'd go with him to pick my mother up. We'd be traveling to California. We'd pick her up sometimes on her off day as the maid, and then we'd drive straight to California. She also worked for Hughes Liquor and Sugar Hill.

Where would you go in California? L.A. His brother owned a pool service in L.A., pool company, built pools. Okay. Was your mother a member of the Culinary Union? Yes, she is. She retired from the Culinary. Last place she worked was Bally's, pantry worker. She was a pantry worker at Bally's. Tell me what a pantry worker does. Now, she did tell me. I do know what she did. She cut up fruits and vegetables. That's what she did as a pantry worker; she cut up food. Preparation, prep work for the cooks. Did she ever tell you why she moved around from one place to another? The Tam O'Shanter shut down. I think she left the Thunderbird because a friend of hers at the Thunderbird got a job in another hotel. So they brought her to the new hotel. That's why most of the time she would leave. But she also had other jobs. [She also worked at Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn, El Rancho Vegas.] She worked usually two jobs as I can remember all her life. I don't know why. But she did because my stepfather was killed about 1966. He was killed in a car accident. Was he killed coming from -- No. They were going up to Lake Mead to fish. They went to pass a big truck and the truck they were in started shaking. They hit the brakes a lost control and the truck flipped. It killed my brother and my stepfather. My mother had broken her arm. It broke my auntie's back. Then my other brother I think broke both his legs. There were five of them in the truck. Wow. So black people did a lot of fishing? Uh-huh. My stepfather fished and hunted. That was how they fed us a lot of times. What about hunting? Hunting for what? He hunted deer and rabbit. And he would send it over to the meat market place and they would process it. Oh, that's interesting. So tell me about your schooling. I remember 'cause I heard my momma talk about it. As to kindergarten I went to Westside. We didn't have any paved streets and we had no sidewalks. And we would walk up D Street. From my momma's house we would walk up D Street. She said me and Curtis Crockett; that's who I walked with. And she tried to teach us not to

walk in the road, you know. She said that she had to spank us two days because we'd wander into the road. They'd follow us and watch us and we'd wander into the road. And they had to spank us a couple of times so we learned we didn't walk out into the road; we'd know where to stay. So I remember walking to Westside School. I remember if I was at my grandmamma's house, as I got older I remember walking past Our Lady of Las Vegas because it was on C Street. And now it's on Alta. So where did your mother live? My mother lived at D and I think Adams. And my grandmother lived at A and Monroe. And so either place you were, you would walk to school from there? Uh-huh. So what did the school look like to you as a little girl just walking to school for the first time? It was school. It was beautiful to me. I always loved school. I always liked school, so it was beautiful to me. It was somewhere else to go besides being at home. How many years did you attend? I left Westside in 1956. So you attended there? For three years; kindergarten, first and second. So later on sort of at the end of those three years, do you have a better memory of what it looked like? I remember going through the first building. Came up D Street, turned on Washington. That first building sitting right there on the corner that's boarded up now, that's where I entered school. I remember that's where I entered school to go into school. And how many grades were in that building? I don't know. How many classrooms? Seemed like it was two, but it might have been more than that because maybe my classroom was close and so I only saw two. Okay. And there were bathrooms in that building? I don't know.

So when you went out to play, where was the playground located? In the back behind the building. So now, is that building the building that's closest to that nunnery -- well, it was like a nursery school that the nuns had? Is that the building that's closest to that? Uh-huh. Okay. So you played behind that building? Yes. And what else was on that same Westside School property? There was a swimming pool. I remember that from when I got older. There was a swimming pool because I was baptized at that pool. That's where I was baptized. There was a swimming pool at the Westside School? In that whole lot that's there with the nursery and everything was a swimming pool back there, too, yes, because I was baptized. Wow. Was there a division between the Westside School and that nursery that I'm talking about? Was there a fence there? Back then that I can remember -- no, I don't remember a fence being there at that time because -- There was no fence at that time. Okay. -- I remember climbing on a little wall and going over to the -- I liked to go over and look at the pool. They had it fenced. So the pool was really where the nursery is? Yes, over in that parking lot, yes. Okay. I see. What else do you remember about the school grounds? I remember we had slides and monkey bars because I would swing on them. And I remember tetherball. We used to play tetherball. And was there another building, another school building as well, or just that one building? I just remember the one building. Okay. So do you have any stories about the school? I see that you wrote some things down? It wasn't really much. What I just told you. Do you remember any of your teachers?

I remember Ms. Jarrett. I remember Ms. French. Okay. Who is Mrs. Jarrett? She was a teacher. She was one of my teachers, Ms. Jarrett. She was a real nice lady. I think I learned everything I learned in my school years at Westside and Madison because the teachers, they were so caring. They took the time to, you know, if you didn't understand something, to explain it to you and show you how to do it. It made it easier to click because I guess I had that young mind and then I could remember. But I liked my teachers. What about Mrs. French? What was she like? I remember she looked mad all the time. She never pinched me, but I talked to several students that she had. And they said she used to pinch them. I don't remember her pinching me probably because of my grandmamma. Maybe she did pinch me, but she wouldn't have pinched me but once if I told because my grandmamma would come down there and have a discussion. I remember coming to the school in the evening time, my mother and them used to have meetings with grown people. Parent-teacher meetings? Like parent-teacher type meetings, yes. Well, no, not those. Well, they had those, but these were community meetings that she would go to. They would have community-type meetings. And she would bring us with her. And so I remember they signed me and my cousin up at the center in the back where it's a childcare now. They signed me and my cousin up for dance. And I never liked dancing. And so I did Girl Scouts. They also had Girl Scouts. We had Girl Scouts there. So I signed up for the Girl Scouts and my cousin did the dancing. Saturday was the dance lessons and the Girl Scout meetings were through the week. I remember that because I used to -- I was going to be a Girl Scout. So did you have the Girl Scout meetings after school? Yes. And did you, then, walk home by yourself? No. How did you get home?

My mother always came. My mother and Ms. Mary always came to meet us because we were small kids. So why did you transfer from Westside to Madison? Because my mother bought a house on J Street. So when she bought the house on J Street -- So J and? She bought the house at J and Owens. Now, is that Berkley Square? Huh-uh. Highland Square. What is it? Highland Square. Highland Square. So it wasn't Berkley Square. Okay. So J and Owens is too far away for do you to have gone to school and continued at Westside? Well, I guess it wasn't. I could have walked because it's not that far, but Madison was right down the street. So that's where I went, to Madison. So what was Madison like? Madison, I remember it was fenced nice. Now, it had a fence around it. I remember that because I remember always being in the fence looking out across the street towards the trailer court. And Madison was nice. I remember Ms. Hoggard and Ms. Fitzgerald. Those were some of the teachers at the school. But I'd like to find my records. I've been looking for my school records. Oh, good. I hope you can find them. I hope I can. How many grades were taught at the Westside School, from kindergarten through what? Well, I went from kindergarten to second. I don't know if it went higher. I'm sure it did go higher than that. But I went from kindergarten to second. But do you remember larger kids? Yes, I do. Okay. At Madison School, how many grades? It went to the sixth grade. So tell me about what you did in the community other than school activities and Girl Scouts.

What else did you do? Well, like I say I took dance lessons. The recreation center, on Friday nights they would have -- you know, kids could go over and dance at the recreation center. Now, which center is that? The one behind Westside. Was that the center that became a center after the war? I guess. I know they used to have dancing there because I went. I remember seeing James Brown there. That's why I remember it. Wow. I remember seeing James Brown. And I was right up front by the stage. Do you remember Jimmy Gay? Uh-huh. He had a house -- my grandmother lived on Monroe. His daughter's name was Phyllis Gay. I remember going over there for lunch one day. They lived -- I can go to the house. I'm thinking it was Jackson Street. It might have not been Jackson. It might have been the next street past Jackson. And I remember going over there. And they had a table sitting in the yard near the fence. I remember having lunch with Phyllis. Yes, I remember. Do you remember her mother, Hazel? Yes, I remember Hazel. She was a very nice lady, very, very nice lady. Did Jimmy Gay work at the recreational center? He might have. I don't remember. I don't remember. What do you remember about the family other than having lunch there? I remember they were quite active in the community because he would be at some of the meetings -- I'm sorry. So we were talking about the recreational center. Yes. They went to meetings. I remember them being at meetings with Mr. Gay. And who else? There were some more people. You mentioned his name. That's what made me think of him. Who else would be there? I remember the Hoggards and the Fitzgeralds being there because her cousin, her first cousin was Larry Bolden. Their fathers were brothers. Whose first cousin?

My mother's. Your mother's first cousin was Larry Bolden? Uh-huh. So Larry Bolden was the police officer? Uh-huh. And I remember that as a kid. He would come by the house. I remember Spears. The policemen then, they walked in the neighborhood. I remember that as a kid. The policemen walked in the neighborhood and they would talk to the men in the neighborhood. The men in the neighborhood would either be working in the yard -- on Saturday mornings they would either be working in the yard or working on somebody's house. And the police would come through and they would talk to them. And they were like friends in those days. They were like friends to the people in the neighborhood. I remember that because they used to walk down the neighborhood. And I remember Spears. My momma and Larry being cousins, he used to come to the house even on his off day, whenever. I remember big Walt Allen. What about recreation for the adults in the neighborhood? You were here when the Moulin Rouge opened in 1955. Do you remember that? 1955? I think my mom and my step-daddy probably went down there because they used to talk about it because they knew Sarann. My uncle married Sarann's first cousin. And you're talking about Sarann Knight Preddy? Uh-huh. Yes, they used to go to the Moulin Rouge and the Brown Derby, all of them. They stayed on Jackson Street. They went to the clubs on Jackson Street. The Cove Hotel, I remember when that opened because they talked about it, well, when it opened. The grand opening, they went to that and everything. Do you remember any of the stories that they would tell? Oh, I remember they'd [go out] like for New Year's; they always went out on the Westside to one of the clubs. And they would come home with more of the New Year's toys. It was so much fun to wake up the next day with all the hats and the horns. Yes, they used to talk about all the fun they had. There wasn't no fighting. I mean they always came home laughing and they'd talk about who was there. I remember she used to talk about Ike and Tina Turner and B.B. King. I do remember her -- at the time I was a kid. But I remember her saying something about I got to

shake Sammy Davis' hand. Now, I didn't know who Sammy Davis was till I got a little older. But, yes, I remember her talking about that. That's great. Tell me about church life. Macedonia Baptist in Four Miles. We used to ride the bus to Four Miles to Macedonia. But I was baptized in Pilgrim Rest. And where is that located? Pilgrim Rest was located on the corner of [A] and Monroe at the time. Is that the first church on the Westside? They say it was Second Baptist because I asked and they say it was Second Baptist. But I remember only seeing Pilgrim Rest. It was on the corner of A and Monroe, right across from the garbage company. Now, I remember that because then my grandmother lived -- the church sit over here on this side and my grandmother's house was on Monroe and sit on this side. So it was only like if I cross the streets I would pass two houses and then I was at the church. If I just cross right in front of my grandmother's house on the other side of Monroe, I would pass two houses and there was Pilgrim Rest. And that's where I was baptized at the center down there. They baptized me. Now, why did you go to Four Mile to go to church at first? Well, no. I went to Pilgrim Rest first. I went to Four Miles later on after we moved over on J Street. Why all the way to Four Mile? Because their friend George Washington, he was their friend and he was a deacon at the Four Mile church. And so he would take us out there to the Macedonia in Four Mile. He asked could I take the kids? Because my mother started working on Sundays when she was in the hotel. And so to make sure that we still get to church, she would let him pick us up to take us to church. So tell me about Four Mile. They would come out there sometimes through the week if we went for like a BYTU or whatever. They would come out there after work because they had pigs and chickens out at Four Miles, also. Who had pigs and chickens? My stepfather and my mother had pigs and chickens out at Four Miles.

So they had some property in Four Mile? They did. I think they sold it and they bought property over off Commerce. What did you ever hear about Four Mile? I used to play out there. I went to church in Macedonia and I used to play in Four Miles. It was a place where I've noticed a lot of people had property because George, the guy that took us to church, he had property out there. And I don't know. Did they have a house on the property or just vacant land? They just had the land. And it was like fenced in. Did you ever hear about Foxy's? Foxy's? I don't remember Foxy's. No, I don't remember Foxy's. It was a house of prostitution. Oh, okay. You never heard anybody talk about that? No. I don't remember Foxy's. No. That's why Four Mile was popular. Oh, okay. Okay. And did anybody ever tell you why they called it Four Mile? I don't know. She probably did, but I just can't remember right now why they called it Four Miles. But I remember Four Miles because we used to go out there quite a bit. So tell me about the bus transportation. When you had to take the bus out there, was that a long ride? Was it a long time waiting for the bus? Well, George, the guy I told you that's the deacon, he drove the bus. He would come by in the bus and pick us up. Oh, this is not a city bus? No. Oh. Tell me about the bus service, that bus service. Oh, no. It was a church bus. It was a church bus. So Macedonia Baptist Church had a bus? It had a bus.

I see. And it would pick us up. It would come to the house. And he would always call in the morning and tell [our parents to] have us ready and he would pick us up and take us out to Four Mile.. So did anybody else from the Westside go to Four Mile on the bus as well? George took his kids. He picked up some more people's kids. I didn't know them. But usually I'd sit up front. It was mostly boys. It was me and then my brothers. So they would all sit back there and I would sit up in front of the bus until we get to church. Okay. Wow. When you finished Madison School, did you go on to school at someplace else? I went to Jim Bridger [Junior High School]. Okay. So where was that located? Over in North Las Vegas. I think it's off of Civic Center somewhere. Okay. Why? Why did you go there? I don't know. Rather than downtown? That's where they sent us. They told my mother. They sent her a letter saying that we're supposed to go to Jim Bridger. And that's where -- the bus would pick us right up -- well, it picked me up right on the corner of Owens and J. That's where the bus picked me up. They would pick other kids up around the neighborhood. My friend Alma, we went to Madison together, Westside together and Jim Bridger and Rancho. And we're still friends. She in Seattle now, but we're still friends. And then you ended up at Rancho? Uh-huh. I graduated from Rancho [High School]. Okay. Wonderful. Tell me about what you did after high school. I got married right out of high school. I was a housewife for a while. This is when you married the love of your life? Charles Freeman. Charles Freeman. And tell me about Charles. Oh, he was a hard worker. He was a very nice person. He liked everybody and everybody liked

him. He was just a wonderful person. You know, I mean I never thought -- I always thought men were just like him because he was always happy. He went to work. And when he got off work, he'd go out with his brothers and his friends. And they would have fun. Then he would come home. He always took me places. We'd go to Lake Mead or we'd go up to Mount Charleston. He just enjoyed doing family things. But he also enjoyed going out with his brothers and whatever. But he always took care of home. He was a great provider. What kind of work did he do? He was a cook at the Golden Nugget. He was a cook at the Golden Nugget. So did he cook at home also? He would cook, yes. When I started working I started working downtown at the phone company. What year was that? [1967] I started working at the phone company. So they had a split shift. I would go to work at eight o'clock in the morning and work till 12. Then I'd come home. And then I'd have to go back at four o'clock in the evening and work till eight. So he would cook because I would come home and take a nap. Then he would cook, he would. He was a good cook. That's great. What was the name of the phone company then? I want to say Central—[Central Telephone at Fremont and Las Vegas Blvd. I can't remember the name of it. It used to be in a big building downtown? Downtown. Right there on Las Vegas Boulevard before you get to Fremont right behind that little store. That's where the phone company was where I worked. And I entered through that door right there on Las Vegas Boulevard. Tell me about working at the phone company. I was an operator. So people would call in the information and I would go through and get the number. I only worked there like -- that split shift was killing me. So I only worked there four or five months and I quit. A lot of black women working there at the time? Not a lot. Maybe three or four more that I remember. But we weren't positioned close together. I was positioned more with white women. And then at breaks, they didn't give everybody their breaks at the same time. So I never was -- seemed like I was on a break with any black women. Every time I was on a break it was Caucasian ladies. And usually we stood -- because I didn't get

a lunch. It was just a break. Oh, that's right. Yes, because it was split shift. So we had like 15 minutes. And we'd stand out front. And they smoked. I didn't smoke. But I'd stand outside anyway just to get some sun. But in there I don't remember any windows in that building. I don't remember any windows from the outside. I don't remember any windows in that building when I worked there. So you didn't get to look outside. You were just in this like big old like warehouse-type place. Yes. So you worked there for a few months. And then you went to work where? I had another baby. I think that's my reason for quitting a lot of time because I'd be pregnant because I did have a baby in '68. So how many children in all? Seven. And after I had Charles, I went to work for Captain John Foremaster at the police department. I worked at Metro police. I worked in the office right off of Las Vegas Boulevard and Stewart. That's where Captain John Foremaster's office was. I guess I was like an information clerk because I worked the desk at the front. I worked there for about six months. Then I quit again. I worked at UNLV in the registrar's office. His name was -- what's his name? I know his name? [Jeff Halverson]. He was assistant registrar. I dealt with more -- and I went to work there in 1970 -- '70, '71? Okay. And how long did you work at UNLV? I got pregnant and I quit again. I probably worked there about nine months. He sent me for a lot of training. I still have my paperwork where he sent me for different trainings on different machines. He wanted me to be prepared. I was like a registrar's assistant, but I did -- they had this machine in the back where you validated transcripts. And they had two rooms. And I was the one that did that. I didn't really sit -- I'd sit [in the main office] with other ladies, but I had like a separate section because I was the only one allowed in that room with that machine at the time to validate those transcripts. That machine is -- yes, I worked there about [nine] months before I quit.

Dell Ray’s 1952 kindergarten school photo. (Below) Dell Ray’s grandfather Thomas Oliver with his brothers, Henry Oliver and Sonny Boy (James Haley) at Four Mile in 1954.

Dell Ray with her brother in the alley behind her grandmother’s house, between Monroe and Jackson Streets in 1955.

(Above) Dell Ray with her husband Charles Freeman in 1965. A souvenir photo taken at the Nevada Club, downtown Las Vegas. (Below) Brown Derby Club. Vera Lee Stafford, Dell Ray’s mother, far right, with unnamed friends.

1997-1998 Band Booster photo: Marzette Lewis, left, Anthony Marentic and Dell Ray Rhodes.

Okay. Where was your next job? Oh, I worked at welfare office. Well, I worked at CEP. It was called Concentrated Employment Program [with Don McCormick]. I worked with Gloria Collins. She worked there. I worked for -- he went to work at the employment office, little bitty Caucasian man. What's his name? I used to remember these names. I can't remember them anymore, as I get older. But I worked for CEP in Nucleus Plaza. Tell me about CEP. I worked there for a while. I worked there for about two years. Tell me what kind of program it was. People came in to me to sign up for the program. And they would go to school and they got a check for going to school. So they would have to come in and sign in each day for the class so they could get paid. What kind of training was it that they were going to school for? Clerical. I remember clerical. It seemed like I remember some people getting training to be like work in casinos, dealers. Did Bob Bailey work for that program at one time? He worked there, but I didn't deal mostly with Bob Bailey. I dealt with this other guy. What about Q.B. Bush? Yes. I remember Q.B. Bush. I remember that name because I remember Gloria -- I don't know. It seemed like Gloria worked directly with Q.B. Bush. Me and Gloria, the lady that I remember, we didn't work in the same office. I issued the checks to the people after they went through -- each week they came through to pick up their check. They would have to come and pick their check up from me. And I kept the time and whatever. Do you remember a Leo Johnson? I remember that name, too, yes, Leo Johnson. Yes. I remember these names. I have to think. Yes, I remember Leo Johnson. I sure do remember that name. That was in Nucleus Plaza. That's where I worked. So was that program successful? It was.

Did a lot of people get jobs? Yes, a lot of people got jobs. They went through the training. They got paid. They got jobs because I remember the guy that was a job developer, [Don McCormick]. Yes, they got jobs because he was a job developer. He would go out -- and he did a good job getting jobs. He would always -- yes, he got them jobs. And they got jobs on the Strip? Yes. I remember -- what's his name? -- a guy named Curtis. I think he was one of the first black dealers that they hired at -- I can't think of the name. But I remember meeting his wife because he was so happy that they came up there and they was just thanking us and everything. But, yep, he got a job as a dealer. Great. Now, that CEP program, Concentrated Employment Program, that was part of EOB? Yes, I think it was. Do you remember any of the other EOB programs in the community? I remember WIC. And tell me what WIC is. That's for when you're pregnant or you just had a baby. They give you milk and eggs and cheese. It's to help the mothers supplement their diet so that they can have healthy children and well-balanced children. Okay. How long were you at CEP? I was at CEP for a while. Probably about two-and-a-half, three years. I was there from 1968 to I think when I left the phone company. I think that's where I went. I left the phone company and I think I went to CEP because I lived on J Street. So it was right around the corner from my house. So did you still live in the -- I went there from like '68 to '71 I think. So did you still live in the house that your mom lived in at J and Owens? Oh, no. I lived across the street in Sherman Gardens. Okay. So tell me about any other jobs that you had. I worked for the welfare department. I was an eligibility worker for the welfare department. I

remember back then when I worked there it was like -- I think Ruby Duncan had started the marching. And I remember one of her ladies came in one day and she had asked for help and they didn't do it. And the lady left. I don't know if Ruby was outside. But she came back real fast with Ruby. And Ruby got some stuff done. That was wonderful because they used to be -- I remember they was down at the Cove Hotel for a while, Ruby Duncan and Marzette [Lewis], because I remember I went down there to volunteer because I used to talk to Ruby back in those days because I worked at the welfare office. I remember Ruby coming over telling me, she say, whatever my people come in and do, she say, you don't say a word. She say you just sit here. I said okay. And I just sit there. She got things done. She really did. She's a wonderful person. Did you participate in the big march she had on the Strip? Yep. Really? So that was the one with Jane Fonda? Uh-huh. And my husband had to come down to get me because I knew I had to walk that far and I wasn't going to want to walk back. So he came and picked me up at the end of the march. Yes, I remember that. I remember that march. I remember we marched when they killed that Bush man. We marched from the Westside to the Strip. So to the Strip or down the Strip? Down the Strip. Do you remember which year that march was? No. I'm not good at years. But I remember we marched. So tell me about the killing of the Bush man. Who was that? The police killed him. So tell me about it. I remember the people telling me that the police went in his apartment. They just killed him. So the people were saying that they were tired of the police brutality. Is that the person who was asleep when they came in? Yes, he was asleep. Do you remember anything else about the story? That he had a white woman. I remember that.

And she was with him when they found him? Yes, she was with him when they found him. And I remember they organized a march on Eighth Street. Then we marched from H on down Bonanza and up Las Vegas Boulevard, up Main. Did you ever hear how many police officers were in his apartment? I remember somebody saying something about three, but then I heard different numbers. I remember the number three for some reason. I don't remember why I remember that number. I remember they said something about he was naked. I don't know if that was true because I didn't see it. But I remember hearing he was naked. Any other jobs that you remember after the welfare office? I worked for the [Las Vegas] Review-Journal for a little while. Really? You have done everything. I am. I'm telling you I worked some jobs and quit. I even went back to Our Lady of Las Vegas because I worked for them when I was a kid. I went down on Alta to see if they could find my work. And they can't find my paperwork when I worked there because they said they didn't keep paperwork way back then. I worked for juvenile way back when they had the kids. I worked there at night when I was about 16. It was on Bonanza. It's Pecos now. It was on Bonanza. I remember working there as a kid. I started working when I was nine baby-sitting. And I've worked ever since. But I worked a little bit. I retired from the post office. I started there in '88. Okay. That's what I was going to ask you. Tell me about the post office work. I was a letter carrier. I delivered the mail on the Westside. So you were a walking mail carrier? Well, I had a vehicle. But, yes, I would walk. I would park the vehicle and then walk in the neighborhood and deliver the mail in Cadillac Arms and Berkley Square and all over the Westside. So you knew all of the people? Oh, yes. Because you had lived there all your life.

Yes, I knew the people. I was surprised to see Betty and Geraldine Felfus—they lived in Cadillac Arms—because they were friends with my uncle. You probably don't know who they are. But anyway, they live in Cadillac Arms and I hadn't seen them for years until I started delivering mail. But, yes, a lot of people. So did you enjoy that job? I enjoyed the work, yes, when I worked for the post office. That's why I'm off on disability. I got harassed. I fell and hurt myself at the post office. Ended up having to have surgery. That's their modus operandi; when you injure yourself, they harass you. And they harass me and harass me. So my doctor took me off in 1995. I haven't worked since. I've been on disability ever since. How did they harass you? Oh, they called me names—[followed and stalked me.] Who is this doing this? It was the station manager and the supervisors. They did this. Oh, they're still doing it. I got a call just the other day. Can't you sue them? I put in an EEO against one supervisor. Equal Opportunity -- I don't know. Yes. Because they had favoritism towards whites. Okay. You had to opt on a route if a carrier was going off. I was a PTF at the time, part-time flex, because I had just started. I wasn't a regular carrier at the time. I had to do different people's routes. I remember the guy came over and he asked me to opt on his route. I opt on his route and I got it because he had told me when he was leaving. So he wanted me to do his routes. So I got it. But the white people wanted the Oriental woman to get the route. So I was able to get it because I was the first one in there. So I had to give the Oriental lady part of the route because they know you can't deliver a whole route because a regular carrier's been doing it twenty-something years. There's no way a part-time flex can come in and be able to pitch the mail and deliver as fast as the reg. So I had to give her a portion of the mail after I pitched it up. So I was giving her this one portion, which required walking because his route was all riding except a portion of it was walking. And she got some riding but the walking portion also. I gave that to her. He told me to do that when he left.

So I gave it to her. So after about three days the Oriental girl comes over. She's like, well, I want to get -- the Caucasian ladies had told her to tell me I want some of the riding part. I say I'm the one that got the opt, and so you take what I give you. This is the portion I'm giving you and this is the portion you're going to keep. So she left. And then she started crying. So they went in because the one woman was going with the manager. They went in and told him. So he comes out and he starts yelling me at me about I should be doing my work. Well, I'm standing at my case. Now, the Oriental girl done come back to apologize. She's standing there and he tells her, you go back to your case. What is a case? That's where you pitch the mail. You go back to your case. And, you, you do your work. Well, I never turned around to respond to the Oriental lady. As she's standing behind me talking, I'm still pitching my mail as she's talking to me. And then he yells at me. And so I turned around and I told him. I said my daddy don't yell at me. I say I'm a grown lady. I will not stand here and allow you to treat me like I'm a kid and yell at me like this. So he left. And I guess they went and told him he was the boss. The Caucasian lady talked to him. So he comes back. That was insubordination and you can be fired. I said, well, then either fire me or let me do my job, but stay out of my face. Do not come in my face yelling at me. I'm a grown woman. So he left again. And the black carriers came over and they said, Dell Ray, go now and call the EEOC. So I went and called them. And I don't know what they tell them when you call them. But the lady -- when I called I told them I wanted to file a complaint. She said you need to hold the phone. She asked me where I worked, who was station manager. I told her. And she was off the phone for about ten minutes. And then she came back. She said, okay, we're going to send you the paperwork and you fill it out. But he never said another word to me. So I guess when she got off the phone she must have called him and said I was fixing to file a complaint because he never said another word to me. But Pat Glasper, that's the one that I end up off of work because she just constantly,

constantly just beat me down about nothing. I even got to the point where I couldn't even drive on the post office parking lot without I just break out in tears. I mean that's how horrible it was. She did everything to me. I got a box out there in the garage this big full of papers of the stuff they did because when my doctor took me off work, the first thing that came from San Francisco when I put in my paperwork was we need documentation. And I have more documentation. I mean I be doing my work. The manager would come over and say, well, you need to answer the phones. Well, I'm back in the box section trying to put up packages because the supervisor done told me to put up packages. Then the manager come out and tell me you need to answer the phones. Okay. I got this [hurt] leg. I'm getting up. I'm trying to answer the phones. I'm trying to do the box section. I mean just constantly. I mean it wasn't just that. I sit in the post office. I'm sitting there freezing because of the way the post office was made. It was on Bonanza at the time. And the corner I sit in there was no heat. The heat mostly flowed on the work floor. I was freezing and I would wear coats and I brought covers to keep [warm]. And I was still sitting there freezing. So I asked for the station manager's heater. The supervisor said okay. So I got it because she wasn't there. I was sitting there and I'm warm because I got this little space heater keeping me warm. Then she realized I had a space heater. She came out and took it and said I hope you freeze and she took her heater. So I asked -- he was in the union at the time—James was his name, I said can you go in there and see if you can get Pat's heater. I'm freezing out here. He said, oh, yes, I'll go in there get it. He said I saw it the other day. So he goes in and he just picks it up and he's leaving with it. And she's like where are you going with that heater? He said, oh, I'm fixing to go out here and plug it up. She said, oh, okay. She said who are you plugging it up for? For Dell Ray, he said. When he said that, she said, I hope she freezes. You put my heater back. No, she cannot use it. So I mean I went through so much. You'd be amazed at the stuff. They even called her my momma when she came in. They say, ooh, your momma's here. That's what all the carriers would say. They knew this. When I needed documentation I went and asked the carriers to write me letters. I got letters from all of them because they knew it was favoritism going on. The Caucasian lady, she was on limited duty. And I was on limited duty. She was allowed to just do what she wanted to do. So I would go to lunch at 12:30 mostly every day. But Anna

would go at 11 or something. And she wouldn't be back at 12:30. She'd still be gone. But I would still go at 12:30. So it end up Pat noticed that because nobody was there answering the phones. She said y'all are going to have to get together and somebody needs to be here at all times. So I'm like okay. Anna went to lunch this particular day at 11:30. So at a quarter to one she still wasn't back. We only got a half hour. So when she finally came strolling in about one-something, about 1:20 or whatever, she said -- and she was talking to supervisor -- have you ever had your pool tested? This is what she's asking him. I'm like you were supposed to be back an hour ago. I say I have to go to lunch. I say and I had to wait past my 12:30 to wait on you to get back before I can go to lunch. Well, I don't see what the big deal is. So Pat heard us back there yelling and she come back. What's the problem? And so Anna going to tell her, well, Dell Ray's having a fit because I was a little late coming back from lunch. So Pat go and say, well, what's the big deal? I don't want to hear it. She was talking to me. So I got on up and went to lunch. And the white woman would bring her food all the time and bring her stuff. So I guess she thought I was supposed to do it. So she was like, well, Dell Ray, what did you buy me? I say excuse me, but you make more money than me. I didn't buy you nothing. So I mean it was just a horrible place to work. There was a lot of stuff there. And I got a call from Estelle. She's still there. She says it's worse now. She says they finally were able to get Pat out of there. Everybody signed a petition to get her out of there. So they got rid of her. See, but she was a vocal type that harass you. So how many years did you work there? 1988 to '95. So that was about seven, eight years. Wow. Whew. So is there anything else you want to add? When we first started you were saying that you might think of some other things about the Westside. Did you think of any other stories about the Westside? Well, the Westside, practically everybody knew each other and they took care of each other’s kids. You felt safe because my brothers would sleep outside in the yard. I mean him and his friends,

they was able to set up a camp. Back in those days, the fathers, they could build things. And they would make like little tents for them. They would get out there and they'd sleep in those little tents. Right across the streets -- okay. Before Sherman Gardens was built -- we moved in before Sherman Gardens -- there was a big rock sitting out there in the middle of the desert. We used to call it The Rock. We'd go out there and play. They'd play baseball and football. The streets weren't paved at the time. They paved them later on. We didn't have sidewalks, but we got them later on. I just remember having fun as a kid, you know, when I grew up. Do you remember when the Westside was growing so fast that some people had to live in shacks and tents? We lived in them. We lived in -- I was looking at the picture in the book you've seen and I know in the 50 years in the Clark County School District, they showed the Westside. I remember that when I saw it. I said, ooh, I remember we used to live in little shacks like that. I remember my grandmother's house on Monroe, it had an outside toilet. It had an outside toilet because we had to go out -- outhouse. That's what it was called, outhouse. We had to go to the outhouse to go to the bathroom. Do you remember when Berkley Square was built? Uh-huh. I remember 'cause my friend lived on Wyatt. Her house is the house that's in the paper as original, still original house, 517 Wyatt. That's where she was raised. So she lived on the same street that Dr. McMillan and Dr. West? And knew their kids. Jarmilla McMillan. She knew Dr. West's kids and she knew -- because I think she says Dr. McMillan was the only person I think that had a pool in his yard. I know that one of them had a pool, yes. I have to ask Alma. But she was telling me the girl used to invite her down there and she used to go down and swim in the pool. That's the only one in the neighborhood with a pool. Now, what was Bonanza Village like? Bonanza Village is now the part with the wall around it. Uh-huh. Was that there already?

It wasn't fenced in at the time. It wasn't fenced in. But I never lived in Bonanza Village. I know Ms. Toland lives over there now. I know quite a few people that live over there. Okay. Well, thank you so much. And like I say -- oh, yes. I was going to show you this, my picture at Westside. Oh, yes, please. Yes. I think I showed it to you. Did I show it to you? No. That's my picture at Westside. Oh, well, great. Let me see. Oh, this is great. So what is this, about first grade? Kindergarten. Oh, this is good. And then I know you talked to Frank Harris. Yes, I did. And he showed you his picture he gave me copies of. Oh, that's good. Now, is Frank Harris going to give us copies of these? Yes. If you want them, I'm sure he will. Okay, good. So I'll make sure -- oh, these are nice. If you want to copy -- I don't know why you'd want a copy of this, though. If you want a copy, I'll make you a copy. Well, what I would like to do is -- I'm pretty sure that Councilman Barlow's office is going to want copies of as many photographs as he can possibly get. And I will make a note that you have -- which classes are those that you have photographs of? '49, '50 and '51 I think. '49, '50 and '51. Yes, '49, '50 and '51. You have the class photos. Oh, and this is one class I'm in. Where is it? I know I kept it in here. Let's see. I was going to show you. You got those from not Otis Harris, but which one?

Frank. Frank Harris. Uh-huh. You probably have copies of this. I really don't have copies of that much of anything. No. This is something else. I was going to show it to you. Oh, is this the consent decree? No. Okay. What is that? This is the integration program. This is when they fought when they had that lawyer who came in here. Oh, I want a copy of that. Okay. Let me show you. I yellowed it out and then I gave it back. I usually put the highlighter. If you put it up to the light, you can see it's talking about Westside School when they closed it. Let me see where is my -- So you just have one copy of this? Well, I gave Ms. Toland a copy because they say they had tried to get a copy of that integration plan for years and they never could get it. Now, here is the what's-its-name that was wrote out. Now, I'm going to show you a letter. The integration plan. Let me see if this is the letter. Let me find my letter. It's in here somewhere. I'm going to show you this letter I wrote. Where did you get the integration plan? A lady -- okay. What's Barbara's name at the library? She's the librarian at the library. What's her name? Barbara Coleman asked me to find out whatever I could about the (integration) in West Las Vegas because they were trying to get the African American [special collection room] put together. So she asked me to go get the first black teacher and whatever. So I went out to the education center on Sahara and I looked around. They gave me some old stuff. This one lady came in. She said, Ms. Rhodes -- I didn't know who she was. I guess somebody went back there and told her I was back there, a Caucasian lady. She came in. She

said, Ms. Rhodes, she say, here is something that's going to be very important that you need to look at. She say and you can make copies. Because they were letting me make copies out at the ed center. She said you need to make copies. She said this is very important. So I'm looking at other stuff trying to find the first black student at what's her name's school and the first black teacher. She put these four books over to the side. She say, Ms. Rhodes, nobody's supposed to know this exists. She said it's been hid. So I'm listening to her, but, you know, I'm not really knowing what she's talking about when she tells me this. And I still didn't know what she's talking about when I made copies until I showed it to Ms. Toland. Ms. Toland say, Dell Ray, do you know what -- I'm going to show you a letter. They still don't know I got this, the school district. Let me show you the letter I got. Let me find it. I just had it. Maybe this is it. I hope this is it. Let me find it. When you see this letter, then you'll see what I'm talking about. I should have had it pulled out. That's what I should have done. Oh, this is fine. Just take your time. Good. I'll find it. I got it. Ms. Dondero gave me this. Yes. We have a copy of that in Special Collections. Let me find that letter. I just saw the letter yesterday. I want you to see this letter because you're going to be like -- and it's still supposed to be hid. They still don't know we got that because we had got together a couple of times, me and Ms. Toland and some more people, to -- you got copies of this, don't you? This is when they did the what's his name for blacks. Yes. This is the consent decree. That's what I thought you were pulling out at first. No. That's for the hotels. Let me find it. But we don't have a copy of this. Nobody's supposed to have a copy of that. I made a copy of that for Ms. Toland. When can you come on campus and bring this so I can make a copy of it? Let's see. I go get my hair did -- I could probably do it tomorrow because after I get my hair did I don't have anything else to do. I'm looking for Walt Russell's letter to me. And it's in one of these packages. Maybe it's in an envelope.

Tomorrow -- Well, it don't have to be tomorrow. I'm just saying tomorrow I know after I get my hair did -- That would be great. That would be excellent. I just looked at the letter. What time is your hair appointment tomorrow? Ten o'clock. And you finish at what time? I'll probably be through about 12 or one. Can you come before your hair dressing appointment? Ooh, yes. You see my hair. You say can I come before then. You know I like to go into stores and shop. I be wanting to go --I've got to find this letter now. Well, take your time. I have a luncheon appointment that starts at -- I have to leave the office at one o'clock tomorrow. So I don't want to miss you. And I really want to get these copies. Wait a minute. I'm going to show you this. I can't believe -- okay. Let me see. It's probably right here. You just probably don't see it right now. Uh-huh. I'm overlooking it. I know it's in one of these bags. When you see what they wrote me back, you're going to be like I don't believe they did that. Me and Ms. Toland, we're trying to get stuff together. How long are you going to be out tomorrow after you leave the beauty shop? It was a letter right on top of one of these. Let me see because this is what they sent me. Here it is. Okay. When I saw this, then I remembered it. Here we go. Okay. Now, here is my letter. I want you to read my letter. Then I went you to read what they sent me. I think it's right here. That's what I sent for this stuff. Now, I had it already because the lady had already [given] it to me. And what she told me, she said, and nobody's supposed to know you have this. That's what she told me. She said nobody's supposed to have this. So the lady at the library said that? No, no. The lady at the school district. She's an administrator. She gave me this. And she said

and nobody's supposed -- because it's supposed to be hid. She said it's not supposed to be made public now. Because Ms. Toland, now, said they looked for it for years. She said, the NAACP, they went up to Carson City, her and Kellar, the lawyer, because he was the one who sued. Kellar was the first one that sued. Kellar sued the school district? Uh-huh. And this is information you got under the Freedom of Information Act? No, I didn't get it. I had this. But I wanted to see because the lady had told me -- I told them what the lady had told me about it's supposed to be hid. Nobody's supposed to have it. She said it was hid and nobody's supposed to have it. And then this is what I got back. And this is what he sent me right here. This is what he sent me. Here is his letter. So you wrote a letter to them -- Yes. -- saying that under the Freedom of Information Act we are requesting an official copy of the Clark County School District of Las Vegas' Court's final decree of the integration program dated for 1969-70 school year. Uh-huh. I already had it, though. But I wanted to see if what she said was true; that it was supposed to be hid. So this is the letter you wrote them. And then they sent -- This is what they sent me. -- you this letter back saying -- And this is what they sent me. [Interviewer reads letter]-- "Dear Ms. Rhodes, I am writing this letter in responding to your letter of May 11th, your request of a copy. Based on the review of your concerns, the events surrounding the Kellar case, it has been determined that a copy of that sixth grade plan, which you previously were provided by our office, is the final integration plan." So they said what they gave you already was the final? Which is this. Okay. And they gave you the sixth grade plan --

That's what they gave me. -- of '72-73. Uh-huh. This is what he sent me with that. That's what they sent you along with the letter. And they never have sent me this. They still don't know we got it. Okay. So this was the integration plan for '69-70 school year. Uh-huh. Now, was this one ever enforced? Huh-uh. Okay. This integration plan you have in this notebook was never enforced? Never enforced. Never enforced. This is the only thing they did, this, and this is what they sent me because I asked him, see, because I had talked to him several times. I asked him for -- I even put 1969. I even put what was up there, 1969. '69-70. Uh-huh. Well, it's this. I think on the next page it says '69-70. That's what I asked him for. But, see, I wanted to see if what the lady said was true; that it's supposed to be hid and nobody's supposed to have it. And Ms. Toland and them say they had looked. See, Ms. Toland signed it. So why were they so interested in getting this if it was never enforced? Why was who so interested in getting it? You and the other people, Ms. Toland and other people? Because they never received a copy of it. They never received a copy. And they just wanted a copy of it, but they never could get a copy. The school district never would give them a copy of it. And so when I went over to Ms. Toland's one day and I'm like -- she asked me what I done found from the library. And I say, well, I -- you know, I told her some stuff. We went and visited this old lady. She used to have a house. She lived on -- what street that lady lived on? Anyway, she had a house that when the stars would come to town, they would stay with her. Was it Mrs. Harrison? Was it Ms. Harrison? Or Mrs. Shaw?

I'd have to ask Debra because [we] went together. And we talked to the lady for a long time, very nice lady. And so I had found that. I had talked to her. And then she was sort of telling us who one of the first policemen was. And so then I said I got also some integration program that, you know. And she's like you got what? I say some integration program. I say the lady gave it to me. I said I was in there and she brought that in there. She said wait a minute. She said where did you say you got it? So I told her. So when I pulled it out of my bag and showed it to her, she said, Dell Ray, do you know how long we looked for this? She said we have asked them for that copy. She just wanted a copy of the court. They wouldn't even give her. But it seems like the courts would have gave her a copy of this. That's correct. But they couldn't get a copy of that from the courts. So I showed her that. And she's like, oh, my goodness. So that's when I decided, well, I'm going to write and see if they're really going to try to hide it. And I wrote them. But it's at the school district. It's right up there on Sahara because this is where the lady brought the book. It was four books that she -- I didn't even copy everything. I didn't even copy everything because I didn't realize the significance at the time when she gave it to me. I just copied some of the stuff. She told me when I was through with the books -- she told me where she was sitting -- she said bring the books back. And I never said her name. I never told Ms. Toland or nobody else the woman's name because she said that nobody's supposed to have this, Dell Ray. And that was the first time -- I don't know why the lady came and brought it to me because that was my first time meeting the woman, you know. She came to me and gave me this. And I'm like okay. So I wrote them and this is what they sent me back is this here, right here. You know, this is not what I asked him for, but that's what they sent me. So, yes. All right. So I would love to make a copy of this, this school. Now, how many copies of this do you have? I just got one. I gave Ms. Toland one and then I gave Barbara one at the library. I just got the one because, you see, I've been writing on the back of it and everything. Oh, no, no, no. I'm not talking about this part. I'm just talking about that part.

Oh, okay. So I would like to have a copy of this. Oh, that's the Westside. Did you see what they said about Westside? Read the back. I saw that you had underlined that, yes. Well, I had highlighted it to make a copy of it for Ms. Toland. And when I highlighted it, it blacked it out some. But you can still sort of see. It if you hold it up to the light, you can read it still. But they show when Westside closed. So I thought maybe since you're doing it on Westside you might be interested in it. Oh, yes. That's why I want a copy of this. That's one of the reasons I want a copy of it. What else do I want a copy of? Anything I got, you can have. Let me see that. You have a copy of the sixth grade centers. Oh, you're talking about -- There was a plan I saw a few minutes ago for the sixth grade centers. Sixth grade plan? This? Are you talking about this? Yes. Well, I already had a copy of that. And then they sent me -- Yes, I would love to have a copy of this. They sent me this. That's the same thing they sent me. Is this the same thing? Same thing they sent me. So do you need both of these? Not really. Well, I think the reason it was important for them to get a copy of this; so they can make sure that the school district enforce it. And they didn't want to enforce what they had said in there, maybe, because you asked me why was it so important to them since they never enforced it? Well, they never enforced it because they never wanted it to happen. Okay. So the school district was supposed to enforce this? Ah, I see. Uh-huh. But they didn't. ------

So sixth grade plan, 1972 to '73. See, Charles Kellar. Oh, yes, I have that. Yes, I have that book that it came out of. And this is 71 pages. And I'm just going to -- Yep, that's what it is, 71 pages. Yes. The neighborhood -- I think the Westside was a better place before integration to be truthful because I mean after integration a lot of the businesses -- I remember the businesses. Everything was on the Westside. We had pharmacies. We had grocery stores. We had everything. Nothing but cleaners. We didn't have to go out of the Westside for nothing. I know you're saying that's horrible, you're limiting yourself. But I didn't feel it was limiting because the kids grew up better. When I went to Africa, I was amazed at how the kids are in Africa. I'm like, wow, they care about education and they're so connected. But I noticed the African families do everything with their kids. And that's the way we used to be when we were kids. Like I say my stepdaddy picked momma up and then we'd head to California. You know, they did everything with us. You know what the man told me as he was leaving -- well, not leaving Africa. But we were walking and talking. And he say in American you're giving your kids to the enemy. He say that's where the problem is. And I believe that. And we are. We're giving our -- yes. I'm like, huh, it's horrible. Okay. Oh, yes. I remember Joe Hanes taught sewing class. That was in the recreation thing. I remember that. Yes. And parents used to meet at the rec center. And I remember back in those days they used to talk about integration. I didn't know what it was at the time. But I be doing my Girl Scout thing. But, yes. But that was it. Wow. Thank you so much. Thank you.

INDEX

Adams, 5 Jim Bridger Junior High School, 14 Bally's, 4 Johnson, Ike, 1, 2 Bolden, Larry, 10 Johnson, Leo, 17 Boulder City, 2 Boulder Dam, 1, 2 KCEP, 1 Brown Derby, 11 Kellar case, 31 Brown, James, 9 Kellar, Charles, 30, 31, 34 Bush, Q.B., 17 King, B.B., 11

C Street, 5 Lake Mead, 4, 14 Cadillac Arms, 20 Lewis, Marzette, 19 Central Telephone Co., 15 church life, 11 Macedonia Baptist in Four Miles, 11 Coleman, Barbara, 27 Madison School, 7, 8, 9, 14 Concentrated Employment Program, 16 McCormick, Don, 16, 17 Cove Hotel, 11 Mercury, 3 Crockett, Curtis, 5 Monroe, 5, 9, 11, 12, 25 D Street, 5, 6 Moulin Rouge, 11 Davis, Sammy, 11 Mount Charleston, 14 Deluxe Hand Laundry, 2 Duncan, Ruby, 18, 19 NAACP, 30

EEOC, 22 Oliver, Earnest, 3 El Rancho Vegas, 4 Omega, Louisiana, 1 EOB, 1, 18 Our Lady of Las Vegas, 5, 20 Equal Opportunity Board, 1 Pilgrim Rest, 11 Felfus, Betty and Geraldine, 20 post office, 21 Fonda, Jane, 19 Preddy, Sarann Knight, 11 Foremaster, Capt. John, 16 Four Mile, 12, 13 Rancho High School, 14 Freeman, Charles, 14 recreation center., 9 French, Doris, 7 Frontier Hotel/Casino, 4 Second Baptist, 11 sixth grade center, 33 Gay, Hazel, 10 Stardust, 4 Gay, Phyllis, 10 Girl Scouts, 8, 9 Tam O'Shanter, 3, 4 Golden Nugget, 15 Test Site, 3 Thunderbird, 4 Highland Square, 8 Toland, Helen, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, Hoover Dam, 2 33

Westside School, 1, 5, 6, 9, 27 UNLV registrar office, 16 White, Russell V., 3 WIC, 18 Washington Street, 6, 12 Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn, 4