A fifth-generation Nevadan, Aaron Mayes is the Curator for Visual Materials in UNLV Libraries Special Collections. He is also a photographer who documents Southern Nevada, its built and natural environments, and the people who call it home. Mayes began his career as a photojournalist for the Henderson Home News and Las Vegas Sun, before working as UNLV’s university photographer documenting life on campus. In his role as Curator for Visual Materials he is responsible for growing the Special Collections’ archive by creating and collecting photographs, as well as providing technical expertise for digitization efforts. Mayes’ work has been seen in many national and international publications and in local media outlets. 

Born in Altheimer, Arkansas, in 1940, Clinton Wright attended the University of Arkansas, where he studied industrial and mechanical education. He moved to Las Vegas in 1959 and began to work as a photographer for the Black newspaper Las Vegas Voice. Wright documented celebrity weddings and photographed Black entertainers when they visited Las Vegas, including Sammy Davis Jr. and Bill Cosby. His photographs serve as a record of Black life in Las Vegas in the 1960s and 1970s, including the historic Black neighborhood of Westside and the dramatic changes taking place during the civil rights era.His photographs were featured prominently in the 2017 PBS documentary African Americans: The Las Vegas Experience. An archive of Wright’s photographic work from 1964 to 1971, as well as oral history interviews, are kept at the University of Las Vegas Libraries Special Collections.

Claytee D. White is the inaugural director of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries. In this position, she collects the history of Las Vegas and the surrounding area by gathering memories of events and experiences from long-time residents. White received her Bachelor of Arts degree in social work from California State University Los Angeles, a Master of Arts degree in history from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, and engaged in additional graduate work at the College of William and Mary. In 2025 she became a Distinguish Nevadan and was granted an honorary Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters. A native of Ahoskie, North Carolina, White is a member of the national Oral History Association, past president of the Southwest Oral History Association, former Chair of the Las Vegas Historic Preservation Commission, and serves on Boards for BlackPast.Org, The Mob Museum, Women of Diversity, and the Obodo Collective.

Ilayna Utley and Kurtran Wright are Clinton Wright’s children. Utley is a commercial property management professional in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Wright is a Missional Pastor at One Community Church, Plano, Texas.