Claytee D. White: Enthusiastic Collector of the Complete Las Vegas Story

How do we pay honor to our histories and build alongside them instead of paving over them?  This episode is an in-depth conversation with the inimitable Director of Oral History at UNLV, Claytee D. White. Join us as she shares her early experiences of connecting with the Black community through oral history before entering into a career in this field. We discuss the migration to Las Vegas, addressing misconceptions about its demographics, and touch on what it means to find commonalities across communities. Acknowledging the abundance of stories from migrants and immigrants, we discuss the importance of preserving them, and Claytee shares some of the methods she uses to do so. Next, Claytee uncovers the story of Mary Nettles’, a Black female property owner who helped to start the NAACP in 1928. Listening in, you’ll also get a preview of the areas of interest that Claytee will focus on in her upcoming book. Thanks for listening!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Welcoming historian, author, and oral history expert Claytee D. White. 
• The story of her first experiences with oral history and the Black community.
• Discovering unwritten histories to continue their legacy.
• Clarifying the misconstrued notion that the migration to Las Vegas was limited to a single people group.
• Finding the commonalities between the journey of different people groups. 
• The abundance of stories showing that the United States was built on immigrant and migrant labor. 
• Modern stories of migration motivated by climate change. 
• Claytee’s vision for the future of the East, West,’ and North communities of Las Vegas. 
• Her work in digitizing history and archiving information.
• The opportunities that the city has afforded Claytee and the amazing connections she has made because of them. 
• How Claytee is using history to enforce the 100 Plan Idea that emerged from the community.
• The story of Legacy Park, which pays homage to those who helped to build the community since 1870.
• Mary Nettles; a property owner whose story has been preserved through oral history.
• A sneak preview into the content of her upcoming book. 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Erica Vital-Lazare Researcher Profile
Erica Vital-Lazare on Literary Hub
Claytee D. White Researcher Profile
UNLV
Oral History Research Center
News from Special Collections & Archives
Women of Diversity Productions Inc.

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