H. Clyde Mathews, Jr.: Oral Autobiography of a Modern-Day Baptist Minister Life in California, Missionary to the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Office of Economic Opportunity, Nevada Politics and Civic Affairs Interviewee: Clyde Mathews, Jr. Interviewed: 1967-1968 Published: 1969 Interviewer: Mary Ellen Glass UNOHP Catalog #029 Description H. Clyde Mathews, Jr., was born in California in 1924. He received his education in public schools in California, San Jose State College, and the Berkeley Baptist Divinity School. Mr. Mathews’s work and professional experiences range from a job as storekeeper in a small town in California to a position as head of the Office of Economic Opportunity for the state of Nevada. For ten years, Mr. Mathews was missionary to the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. In 1968 he was a Republican candidate for Congress from Nevada. He was been active in community affairs in Nevada for the entire period of his residence in the state. Clyde Mathews is known to many people in Reno and throughout Nevada with reference to different facets of his varied career—as a minister, an educator, a political candidate, and an administrator of social services. To most of us, however, he will be remembered as an indefatigable advocate of the interests of minority members of the local community during a period of Nevada history when few citizens concerned themselves with such matters. He is one of those who cared, and whose life orientation is to involvement and service—often with regard to issues which are unpopular to the majority. In his memoir, Clyde Mathews reveals himself as a child of the Great Depression, the son of an itinerant churchman from the Midwest, whose early life was spent among the small communities of southern and central California where his parents carried out their missions. It was in the context of the intensive poverty and labor struggles of the 1930s and 1940s, in the period when the “Okies” were the vanguard of the tide of migration into California, that he recalls the earliest formation of those values and concerns which were to guide his later choices in work. The circumstances of his coming to Reno in the 1950s, and the first years of his ministry at Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, will be of special interest to all who have actively participated in the improvement of Indian and white relations in this community. Clyde Mathews’s honest and uncomplicated recollection of those years, and his often ingenuous anecdotes, will provide a moving—and, in some instances disturbing—experience to those who may be familiar, but not so intimately involved, with the problems which existed. A significant portion of the autobiography deals with the period in which Mathews emerged into active political advocacy, first on behalf of the Indian community where he had his mission, and then as a dedicated participant (Continued on next page.) Description (continued) in the incipient civil rights movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s in Nevada. He provides a frank appraisal of this period—a chronicle of events seen from the inside and a sympathetic, though uncompromising, recording of impressions of legislative behavior and the role of political figures. Mathews’s warm, personal tributes to John Dressler of the Inter-Tribal Council and to Eddie Scott of the NAACP and Race Relations Center affirm the fact that involvement, dedication to major social issues, and participation in mutually significant social tasks are the fundamental conditions for the resolution of the serious problems of human relations in our society. H. Clyde Mathews, Jr.: Oral Autobiography of a Modern-Day Baptist Minister H. Clyde Mathews, Jr.: Oral Autobiography of a Modern-Day Baptist Minister Life in California, Missionary to the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Office of Economic Opportunity, Nevada Politics and Civic Affairs An Oral History Conducted by Mary Ellen Glass University of Nevada Oral History Program Copyright 1969 University of Nevada Oral History Program Mail Stop 0324 Reno, Nevada 89557 [email protected] http://www.unr.edu/oralhistory All rights reserved. Published 1969. Printed in the United States of America Publication Staff: Director: Mary Ellen Glass University of Nevada Oral History Program Use Policy All UNOHP interviews are copyrighted materials. They may be downloaded and/or printed for personal reference and educational use, but not republished or sold. Under “fair use” standards, excerpts of up to 1000 words may be quoted for publication without UNOHP permission as long as the use is non-commercial and materials are properly cited. The citation should include the title of the work, the name of the person or people interviewed, the date of publication or production, and the fact that the work was published or produced by the University of Nevada Oral History Program (and collaborating institutions, when applicable). Requests for permission to quote for other publication, or to use any photos found within the transcripts, should be addressed to the UNOHP, Mail Stop 0324, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, NV 89557-0324. Original recordings of most UNOHP interviews are available for research purposes upon request. Contents Preface to the Digital Edition ix Introduction xi Special Introduction by Professor Warren L. d’Avevedo xiii 1. My Life and Early Careers 1 2. The College Years 25 3. Ministry at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony 33 Community Attitudes toward the Indian Problems in Education and Recreation for Children The Center’s Program - Education and Recreation The Church at the Colony Observations on Indian Culture, Colony Leaders, and Tribal Policies Indian-Police Relationships The Tribal Council: Insight into Indian Methodology Indian Humor; Indian Language—the Communication Gap Relationships Between the Colony and Welfare Organizations Observations of Changes over the Twelve-Year Period, 1955 1967 viii H. Clyde Mathews, Jr. 4. Activities in Civic Organizations and Welfare Groups 79 Washoe County Ministerial Association The Nevada Council of Churches Charitable Organizations Testimony before the Interior Department Task Force on the Washoe Project 5. Civil Rights Activities 97 Lobbyists of my Acquaintance The Supreme Court Test of the Equal Rights Commission Minority Groups’ Problems in Nevada 6. The Office of Economic Opportunity 125 7. Conclusion 137 Original Index: For Reference Only 145 Preface to the Digital Edition Established in 1964, the University of While taking great pains not to alter Nevada Oral History Program (UNOHP) meaning in any way, the editor may have explores the remembered past through removed false starts, redundancies, and the rigorous oral history interviewing, creating a “uhs,” “ahs,” and other noises with which record for present and future researchers. The speech is often liberally sprinkled; compressed program’s collection of primary source oral some passages which, in unaltered form, histories is an important body of information misrepresent the chronicler’s meaning; and about significant events, people, places, relocated some material to place information and activities in twentieth and twenty-first in its intended context. Laughter is represented century Nevada and the West. with [laughter] at the end of a sentence in The UNOHP wishes to make the which it occurs, and ellipses are used to information in its oral histories accessible indicate that a statement has been interrupted to a broad range of patrons. To achieve or is incomplete…or that there is a pause for this goal, its transcripts must speak with dramatic effect. an intelligible voice. However, no type font As with all of our oral histories, while contains symbols for physical gestures and we can vouch for the authenticity of the vocal modulations which are integral parts interviews in the UNOHP collection, we of verbal communication. When human advise readers to keep in mind that these are speech is represented in print, stripped of remembered pasts, and we do not claim that these signals, the result can be a morass of the recollections are entirely free of error. seemingly tangled syntax and incomplete We can state, however, that the transcripts sentences—totally verbatim transcripts accurately reflect the oral history recordings sometimes verge on incoherence. Therefore, on which they were based. Accordingly, each this transcript has been lightly edited. transcript should be approached with the x H. Clyde Mathews, Jr. same prudence that the intelligent reader exercises when consulting government records, newspaper accounts, diaries, and other sources of historical information. All statements made here constitute the remembrance or opinions of the individuals who were interviewed, and not the opinions of the UNOHP. In order to standardize the design of all UNOHP transcripts for the online database, most have been reformatted, a process that was completed in 2012. This document may therefore differ in appearance and pagination from earlier printed versions. Rather than compile entirely new indexes for each volume, the UNOHP has made each transcript fully searchable electronically. If a previous version of this volume existed, its original index has been appended to this document for reference only. A link to the entire catalog can be found online at http://oralhistory.unr.edu/. For more information on the UNOHP or any of its publications, please contact the University of Nevada Oral History Program at Mail Stop 0324, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, 89557-0324 or by calling 775/784-6932. Alicia Barber Director, UNOHP July 2012 Introduction H. Clyde Mathews, Jr., is a native of October 10, 1967, and January 18, 1968. In California, born in 1924. He received his reviewing his oral history, Mr. Mathews made education in public schools in California, San no significant deletions, but added the account Jose State College, and the Berkeley Baptist of his 1968 political campaign which appears Divinity School. Mr. Mathews’ work and on pp. 244-250, as well as a few explanatory professional experiences range from a job as notes all of which are included as part of the storekeeper in a small town in California to text.