Panel Discussion – The Social Side of Historic Westside

Panel discussion as part of celebrating Black History Month 2022

Join us as we explore how the community developed to campaign for desegregation, racial equality, and the end of systemic racism through social, civic, and spiritual organizations.  We will discuss social life on the west side, what is being done now to preserve Historic Westside, and how each panelist foresees its future.

Introductions by Carmen Beals, Nevada Museum of Art

Facilitator: Claytee White,  Director, Oral History Research Center UNLV

Panelists are all grew up in Las Vegas and are advocates for the development of, and investment in, Historic Westside:

• Councilman Cedric Crear, previously served on the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education and Las Vegas Planning Commissioner, recently elected President of the Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities Executive Board
• Ida M Gaines, community activist and longtime resident of Westside, was an active NAACP Board member, one of the founders of Gamma Phi Delta, and worked with Harry Reid for several decades.
• Commissioner William McCurdy for District D, first African American and youngest chair of the Nevada State Democratic Party
• Eva Simmons, retired educator and former Area Superintendent for CCSD, and La Femme Douze co-founder