LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders make up the fastest growing community in Southern Nevada. Yet, they are underrepresented in our region's history.
Good Morning Las Vegas anchor, Justin Hinton shows how UNLV's Oral History Research Center is looking to change that.
The mob with its cast of colorful characters often takes center stage when talking about Las Vegas history.
ORAL HISTORY
"A lot of it has been documented through the eyes of the traditional male, white perspective," said oral historian Cecilia Winchell, a senior at UNLV.
She's part of a small but mighty team looking at the story of Las Vegas in a different way. She and her team look through the lens of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who call this city home.
"This project is an attempt at diversifying our historical records and making sure that we have a more well-rounded scope of how Las Vegas was built, how it runs today and what the future's going to be like," Winchell said.
Hours and hours of conversations cataloged, first in print, then later online. All part of the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander Oral History Project taking shape at UNLV.
"Before I joined the oral history project, I didn't know what oral histories were," she said.
Now she's a pro, conducting more than 100 in-depth interviews during her time as a student. Photos and other documents accompany the stories she hears from those who have made their mark on Las Vegas.
She interviewed people like retired assistant fire chief Cherina Kleven, who at the time was the highest-ranking Asian American female officer in any U.S. fire department.
Winchell's team shared a snippet of Kleven's interview talking about her time in Las Vegas as a child.
"Went to three different schools, and they turned us away. The only one that actually accepted us was Roy Martin, so my heart belongs there. It wasn't because they had a teacher there that taught English as a second language. It was because of a teacher by the name of Sandra Young," Kleven said in her UNLV interview.
Kleven goes on to say, "she was an English literature teacher, of Korean descent, and she spoke Japanese. Both my parents speak fluent Japanese as well, so they were able to converse."
COMPLETE PICTURE
These pages grounded in the AAPI experience uncover different elements about the city's history that paints a more complete picture.
"My official time with this project will come to a close once I graduate, because it is a student oral historian position. I will no longer be a student, however, I'm definitely planning on personally keeping up with the project and seeing where it goes," Winchell said.
"You mentioned earlier that when you started this, you didn't know what an oral history was, so now that you've been a part of this process, what do you consider an oral history to be?" Hinton asked.
"A fleeting bit of knowledge. It's something that you capture in a moment and could be different the next day, but it is what it is in that moment, and it captures just that tiny piece of history that you can hold onto," she said.
