Operation Life was a nonprofit organization in Las Vegas (Clark County), founded by Ruby Duncan, Ruby Freeman, Aldine Weems, Alversa Beals, Rosie Seals, Essie Henderson, Emma Stampley, and Mary Wesley in May 1972,[1] that campaigned for welfare rights in West Las Vegas.[2] The founders of Operation Life organization along with a group of Westside mothers, Ruby Duncan, Aldine Weems, Mary Wesley, Essie Henderson, Alversa Beals, Emma Stampley, Rosie Seals, Roma Jean Hunt and many others campaigned for welfare rights.[1] The women also founded the Clark County Welfare Rights Organization in 1967 which later became Operation Life, which was also a chapter of the National Welfare Rights Organization.
Ruby Duncan was the executive director of Operation Life from 1972 until 1990 when she retired due to her health.[3] The organization established the first library, first day care center, and first public swimming pool in Las Vegas's Westside neighborhood, and also created a children's medical clinic, a jobs program, and a drug and violence prevention program, among other services.[4][5] Operation Life employed over 100 people, mostly former welfare mothers, by 1980.[6] The organization received grants in the 1980s from the city of Las Vegas and the U.S. Dept. of Housing to build new housing for low-income families.[6] The nonprofit ceased operations in 1992.[4]
Further reading
editOrleck, Annelise. Storming Caesars Palace: How Black Mothers Fought Their Own War on Poverty, Boston: Beacon Press, (2006) ISBN 978-0807050316.
References
edit- ^ a b Jackson, Raven (13 February 2017). "Six women honored in North Las Vegas for work on behalf of poor". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- ^ "Ruby Duncan". Women in Nevada History Legacy Digital Project. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- ^ "Guide to the Ruby Duncan Collection, UNLV Libraries Special Collections EAD finding aids". UNLV Libraries. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
- ^ a b "Duncan, Ruby (1932- ) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". The Black Past. 2007-02-12. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
- ^ Jetter, Alexis (1997). Orleck, Annelise; Taylor, Diana (eds.). The Politics of Motherhood: Activist Voices from Left to Right. University Press of New England. pp. 111–112. ISBN 9780874517804. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- ^ a b "Mother Warriors Voice". Welfarewarriors.org. Retrieved 2016-06-24.