Skip to main content

Help the UNLV Oral History Center celebrate 20 years of capturing the voices of Las Vegas and Southern Nevada! In honor of this milestone, we have launched a fundraising campaign to further support the center’s important work. Make a gift.

The Oral History Research Center (OHRC) was formally established by the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada System in September 2003 as an entity of the UNLV University Libraries’ Special Collections Division. The OHRC conducts oral interviews with individuals selected for their ability to provide first-hand observations on a variety of historical topics in Las Vegas and Southern Nevada.

Claytee White, Founding Director of the Oral History Research Center standing in front of bookshelves.
Claytee White, Founding Director of the Oral History Research Center. Claytee learned the art of collecting oral histories as a graduate student in UNLV’s history department.

Goals of the OHRC:

  • Design projects that will orally capture the history of Las Vegas and Southern Nevada.
  • Act as a clearinghouse for oral history projects throughout the UNLV campus as well as those at other locations in the Las Vegas area (libraries, historical societies, museums, the Community College System, etc.) to enable us to provide information to patrons and to serve as a repository for certain projects.
  • Play an active role in state, regional, and national oral history associations that will provide an audience for and critiques of our various projects.
  • Teach classes and seminars in the art of collecting oral histories.
  • Assist Special Collections in securing collections of historical documents where appropriate.
  • Promote oral history as a method of gathering and preserving historical information.
  • Promote and foster professional standards and practices in the development of oral history.

Staff:

  • Claytee White, Director of the Oral History Research Center
  • Stefani Evans, Project Editor