Interviews provide a glimpse into the lives and times of African-Americans in Las Vegas during between 1950-1970. Mr. Walter Mason discusses is work with Sammy Davis Jr. at the Sands and Ceaser Palace Casinos. Also some of the prejudice which existed Art Jordan recalls his life in Las Vegas which included working with a young O. J. Simpson at a local market. Mrs. & Mr. Jordan talk about how segregation affected their life here in Las Vegas.

Esther Taylor: Well, like what the conditions? You mean? With me it was fine, because like I said I was in the powder room and it was fine with me, I had no problem. Sam Boyd and Gil Gilbert were the owners of the Mint, and Sam Boyd, everybody was afraid of Mr. Boyd. Mr. Boyd, Ooh if he walked out they would say Ooh here come Mr. Boyd. I wasn’t. He didn’t bother me. He was just Mr. Boyd. He owned the Mint. I think he could see that or what ever. He took a liking to me. He would come and talk with me, and call me in his office. They would say “Mr. Boyd wants you.” And everybody, the porters and the maids they’d be standing around. “What did Mr. Boyd want, what did Mr. Boyd want?” He just wanted to talk. He wanted to know where I was from and when did I go to school at, those kind a questions.

 

I came to Las Vegas in 1968 with a very outstanding and foresighted young man who’s name was Sammy Davis Jr. I was his production manager of all of his shows and he gave me an opportunity and that’s why I knew he had foresight. He had a vision and it was not of just his desire to be on the stage and pleasing an audience. But he gave opportunities to Ozzie Davis, other great performers and actors who had a desire who had the preparation to become, and he gave them the opportunity.

 

Brianna Jackson: Mr. Jordan, what was the school like in Las Vegas?
Arthur Jordan: Well, I’ll give you a brief synopsis of what it was like. When I came here to work as a teacher there were two schools on the Westside. One school was known as the Old Westside School. The other school was known as Madison. Madison was built, I believe, in 1953 and that’s where I worked. I was an 8th Grade teacher and we had about 800 students - Maybe not that many, about 700 students. And the ratio between white and Black teachers was about, Blacks numbered about 35-40% and white teachers numbered the remaining 60% but the thing that was ironic about this particular school at the time was this. They had another school, the one I just mentioned Westside, and the principal there was Doris French and I was told several times by educators and other people that she believed that a Black student should stay in the First Grade at least two years. So that was the trend when I came because a lot of the students I taught were behind. It was terrible. I’m not sure but this is what I heard, and I have a tendency to believe this, that Black students, may I make this remark, I would say at least 90% or the Black students in Las Vegas, from Kindergarten through Jr. and Senior High School were from Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and other places in the South and it was Mrs. French’s thought that, well actually she thought that Black kids should stay in the First Grade two years and as a result most of the kids that I taught in the 8th Grade were one year behind. Ok, so I came in ’54 and I was at Madison. In 1956 Kit Carson was built. Kit Carson is on the Westside. Its located on D Street and at that particular time I applied for the principalship of that school because I felt that I was better qualified that the others and it was only about five blocks from where I lived. Unfortunately though, the school was given to Mr. H.P. Fitzgerald who was a friend of mine and who was a sharp teacher at Madison. The school was built in my neighborhood as I said about four blocks from my house which is where there were just a numerous amount of Black kids. It would not be uncommon to see at least as many as 40 or 50 maybe 60 kids playing in the street. These are all Black kids. On Saturdays, after school and so on. One reason was because they were not allowed to play in the playgrounds on the other side of town, and the reason for this is because, as I said, Black kids were seen as being human beings but of a lower nature. And at this particular time there were no Black parks on the Westside so the Street, that’s where we played. That’s where the kids played.

 

Reverend Scott: Well, the best thing about West Las Vegas is that they were able to get employment with the casinos as one of the reasons why they left the South during the late 20s the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Because they could get jobs that would pay more per hour than they could when they were in the South, and so the upside of West Las Vegas, the upside Las Vegas is that it offered opportunities for employment. The Down side is that nobody really encourages you to have advanced education to come out to people who own the businesses as they do in a lot of cities. The other down side is that many people feel that if they get a high school diploma they can drop out of school because they know that they can get a job on the Strip making 50-60 thousand dollars with a high school diploma if they good in mathematics and can count well. The down side of that is that if the person who come to the casino don’t like you and fire you – you have no protection then you on your own. We want people to stay in school and advance their education and be prepared no matter what the circumstances are in life you prepare to hold a job if you have advanced your education to that extent.

 

Walter Mason: Do I know the exact day that I came to Las Vegas? Yes I do. I came to Las Vegas in 1968 with a very outstanding and foresighted young man who’s name was Sammy Davis Jr. I was his production manager of all of his shows and he gave me an opportunity and that’s why I knew he had foresight. He had a vision and it was not of just his desire to be on the stage and pleasing an audience. But he gave opportunities to Ozzie Davis, other great performers and actors who had a desire who had the preparation to become, and he gave them the opportunity. I recall a story that he once told me about Maya Angelou who was, at the time, desirous of playing a role in Porgy and Bess and the company that she was to begin playing Porgy in the production of Porgy and Bess because of her height, she had oversized, the need for oversized shoes and the producer said, “Well just do it in your bare feet.” He said, “No! Have some shoes made that would fit her.” And its this kind of overcoming an obstacle that is placed in your way and he had the vision to say, “No, if the boat doesn’t leave the coast first class then we will wait until it leaves first class.” He was empowering to me and inspiring to me that if you had the preparation, if you had the ability to become a production manager of his shows going on all over the world and you knew you had these qualities and you exhibited these qualities by making sure that the boat didn’t leave the dock until you had those abilities in line and in check and not allowing it to happen until that time. He was a visionary. Many people didn’t quite understand the Sammy Davis because he was always in “SHOWBUSINESS” but he also had a larger vision that needed the help of all of the people to make that happen.

 

Natalie Robinson: Did O.J. Simpson working at the Ranch Market and how do you feel about what their doing to him today.
Arthur Jordan: Yes, I remember O.J. as a young boy about 15 or 16 years old. He was quite an athlete at that time. He worked inside, I don’t remember exactly what he did but Mr. Lloyd Armstrong was his uncle and at that time he was just like any other 16 year old. Boys and girls that age they weren’t much different from the ones that you see now. They like to have fun the only thing the fun was cleaner. He liked girls, he liked to play basketball, liked to run. I just think what’s happened to him is kinda sad. The only thing I can say, I just wish he had stayed in Florida because Las Vegas is still a racist and a prejudiced town when it comes to Blacks. And those are my beliefs and I’m quite sure there are other Blacks who feel the same way. Things are much better but not as good as they should be.

53:17
Natalie Robinson: Mrs. Jordan, did O.J. Simpson work at the Market?

Mrs. Jordan: Yes, I saw O.J. there several times and he was working in the Butchery Department I think.

53:33
Natalie Robinson: Mr. and Mrs. Jordan how do you feel about the way O.J. Simpson’s being treated?

Mrs. Jordan: I don’t feel that they are doing the right thing. I think this is just a way of getting back at him. Just because of how they felt.

Arthur Jordan: Yeah, I think the worst thing he could of done was come back to Las Vegas. This is in my opinion a vendetta against him. I think he should have realized this. … Then, supposedly going with a couple of guns, if that is true, and tried to recover some of the awards and things that were given him during his younger life. If he had been a white man, I think that he would probably be on the streets today. Not locked up behind bars.

 

Natalie Robinson: Did O.J. Simpson working at the Ranch Market and how do you feel about what their doing to him today.
Arthur Jordan: Yes, I remember O.J. as a young boy about 15 or 16 years old. He was quite an athlete at that time. He worked inside, I don’t remember exactly what he did but Mr. Lloyd Armstrong was his uncle and at that time he was just like any other 16 year old. Boys and girls that age they weren’t much different from the ones that you see now. They like to have fun the only thing the fun was cleaner. He liked girls, he liked to play basketball, liked to run. I just think what’s happened to him is kinda sad. The only thing I can say, I just wish he had stayed in Florida because Las Vegas is still a racist and a prejudiced town when it comes to Blacks. And those are my beliefs and I’m quite sure there are other Blacks who feel the same way. Things are much better but not as good as they should be.

 

Pa’Tina Horner: Can you tell me what the conditions were like on the jobs?
Mrs. Bryant: We were like one big happy family. The African Americans who were working these jobs and the people who were over us treated us fairly well. I’ll never forget Mr. Al Benedict. He was the president of the Stardust hotel. He was a very good person to work with. He was president but he would come down and socialize with the rest of us, talk with us, and he was just a regular person. He didn’t act like he thought he was more than anybody else. Then he brought his son in to work and his son started right at the bottom as a dish washer but he soon elevated and got up farther but he started at the back. I don’t exactly know what you wanted to know about the work conditions but we worked. We knew we were making more money than we ever made before so it was alright to us. We worked out there at the hotels on the strip, downtown but as soon as we got threw working we knew we had to come back to West Las Vegas because we were not allowed to gamble. We were not allowed to see a show, we were not allowed to do anything but make it back to West Las Vegas and we had some good times in West Las Vegas on Jackson Street. We really had some good times, and we were just one big extended family. People from Louisiana, people from Arkansas, Most of us were from Louisiana and Arkansas and we would get together and on Saturday nights, Fridays nights and we would just visit one casino to the other one. The Louisiana Club, the Cotton Club, the La Morocco all those different clubs even the Brown Derby. When I first came here the Brown Derby was a nice place to go and socialize, it wasn’t all that fighting and going on then. We were just like one big extended family enjoying each other on Saturday nights they way we used to do in Louisiana and Arkansas.

 

Barbara Coleman: You worked at white Cross Drugs, what did you do at White Cross Drugs?
Agnes Clay Marshall: I was washing dishes there, and Mr. and Mrs. Bruno would make the beautifulest pies. That’s why I think I learned how to make pies was seeing her do that. Mr. and Mrs. Bruno and they would make the pies and cook the food for the little restaurant in the White Cross Drugs there. And Blacks wasn’t supposed to, couldn’t come in there and sit down and eat. Because I was in there and Nat King Cole would have came in there and quite a few entertainers. They had to take their food to go. Yes. Made me feel bad but that was just the way that life was then. Back in ’64 or ’65 when they finally let me, I did the window dressing in the stores like Eadons, I forget those other little stores, Baines and all them. [I] would do the dummies, like window dressing. I did a lot of that. I liked that. So I was working there at Baines when they said that we could go on up to the drug store and eat. First place I went was went up to White Cross and sit at that counter! And I sit right beside a white guy and he got up, he didn’t want to sit next to me. I didn’t care I’m gonna sit here and I enjoyed my lunch. Well, and every day I would go up there and eat, and other places.

 

Mr. Walter Mason Mr. Art Jordan Mrs. and Mr. Jordan

 

Interviews with Mr. Walter Mason, Mr. Art Jordon and Mrs. Jordon by Las Vegas Clark County Library District
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