Description
Gertrude Toston was born in Galveston, Texas, and grew up in Austin, Texas. Her parents moved to Seattle, Washington, to provide more opportunities for their children but ended up separating. Trudy's mother brought the children to Las Vegas in 1960 to have the support of her sister while she divorced. Her sister's husband, Reverend Coleman, was pastor of Second Baptist Church, and the family became very involved in church activities. The family settled in Highland Square near Owens and J Streets, and Gertrude's mother supported the family by working at A1 Phillips Cleaners, taking in foster children, and selling clothing lines from home. Many of Trudy's relatives had at least some college, and some were teachers or administrators. To Gertrude, it was a given that she would go on to higher education after graduation from Western High School. In 1964 Gertrude entered UNLV and began working at the Boulevard store and Head Start to support herself through school. She had several
Text
Unknown
This material is made available to facilitate private study, scholarship, or research. It may be protected by copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity rights, or other interests not owned by UNLV. Users are responsible for determining whether permissions are necessary from rights owners for any intended use and for obtaining all required permissions. For more information, please see the UNLV Special Collections policies on reproduction and use (https://www.library.unlv.edu/speccol/research_and_services/reproductions) or contact us at special.collections@unlv.edu.
![[Unidentified soldier in Union frock coat holding Company G, 12th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment forage cap next to unidentified woman in front of an American flag]](https://d2l9jrtx1kk04i.cloudfront.net/6a15ff464d8595b07ae2fd931a4789463476a3c4.png "[Unidentified soldier in Union frock coat holding Company G, 12th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment forage cap next to unidentified woman in front of an American flag]")
![[Union nurse Helen Louise Gilson]](https://d2l9jrtx1kk04i.cloudfront.net/46b9377ca467cd61e37b224c9e0f0ea30a1ee713.png "[Union nurse Helen Louise Gilson]")
![[Sybil Jones, Quaker missionary who nursed Union soldiers and Confederate prisoners in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.]](https://d2l9jrtx1kk04i.cloudfront.net/4bcdb6d2af1979a6ccdbed23039409d754781102.png "[Sybil Jones, Quaker missionary who nursed Union soldiers and Confederate prisoners in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.]")