Duncan, Ruby
Description
The 1970s Welfare Rights story of Las Vegas would not be complete without the narrative of Ruby Duncan. Ruby’s life story began in the backwoods of Louisiana near Ivory Plantation, where she and other family members would work. Though her family was poor and her parents were dead before she was four years old, Ruby’s early life was nurtured by caring relatives. When one of her aunts moved to Las Vegas in the early 1950s, they insisted on her following them. Las Vegas life promised better wages and a fresh start for Ruby. She had no formal education past the 9th grade, plus she was a teen mother as a result of a rape. Though she willingly worked menial jobs, life was not that easy. During this two-session interview, she shares details of her employment history and the hardship of having to depend on public assistance to make ends meet. In Las Vegas, she also found the love of a husband with whom she had a family and her voice as a community leader. Ruby’s intellect and passio
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