Episode 13. Vana Thiero describes a Great America where the kids of today become leaders who speak their minds and seek what is best for the greater good ALL humanity for the long term.

Vana Thiero is a single mom of two sons diagnosed with autism. She is a producer, writer, public speaker, Emmy winning editor, activist and comedian, who goes by the letter V.

Vana grew up in Pontiac, during the time in the 60s when blacks were migrating to the north for great jobs. It was a time of positivity and great opportunities. Her family was the first black family to buy a house in her neighborhood, so she was friends with white and black children alike growing up. Their house was featured in Ebony Magazine.

In Search of the Great America Podcast

13 - Los Angeles, CA: When We Live Our Best Truth and Speak Our Minds

LOS ANGELES, CA: THE GREAT AMERICA OF 1900-1950

The first half of the 20th century was arguably the heyday of Los Angeles. This was the era when what was once considered a secondary city at best, first surpassed rival San Francisco as the largest city in California, and then became one of the largest cities in the country. Where economic expansion was once restrained by a modest supply of fresh water and the lack of a natural harbor, massive projects pushed by city leadership addressed these limitations, and Los Angeles became a center for trade and petroleum production, well prepared for the industrial boom to come. Los Angeles in this era seemed to embody the dream of opportunity, economic and otherwise, which had been associated with California in the American imagination since the days of the Gold Rush.

More than anything, however, what elevated Los Angeles to the status of great American city was the outsized place that it would hold in popular culture thanks to it having become a center of the burgeoning motion picture industry. Echoing previous generations of emigrants who came west to escape the constraints of the east, film pioneers settled in Los Angeles starting in 1910 to evade legal entanglements in the Atlantic states and to take advantage of year-round sunshine. By the 1930s, six Los Angeles based film studios, all started by Jewish immigrant entrepreneurs who had come from the East coast, would dominate the industry and the local economy. As an extension of filmmaking, Los Angeles quickly became a focus for the arts in general, and a vision of a lifestyle driven by Southern California’s sunny climate influenced American notions of fashion and leisure.

Civic boosters likewise found certain communities inconvenient to their vision of what they wanted the city to become and found them all too easy to set them aside in the name of progress. At the beginning of the century, African-Americans saw Los Angeles as a haven from the discrimination they faced in the East, but by the 1920s, they found themselves increasingly segregated by language in deeds, euphemistically referred to as “restrictions,” which limited their choice of neighborhoods. A thriving and well-established Chinatown was forced to move as a result of railroad expansion in 1938. 
Nowhere does this seem more ironic than in the case of the Mexican-Americans community, once the city’s majority, but now less than ten percent of the population. Though Los Angeles embraced architectural elements like Spanish tile and promoted an admittedly antiseptic version of its Spanish and Mexican past, the people who represented that heritage were marginalized and had little voice in the City’s future. Restrictions kept Mexicans, immigrants from Japan and certain parts of Europe, in neighborhoods like Boyle Heights. Eventually, the sense of solidarity that emerged in these communities would provide them with some political clout, but this would be in the future.

Los Angeles continued to thrive after World War Two, but as it reached two million people, it became increasingly difficult to simply engineer its way out of problems or to ignore its issues. Growing suburbs in places like Orange County now competed for resources and political power. Emerging African-American and Mexican-American political leaders challenged the cliquish leadership at city hall. More than anything, this city that emerged largely during the era of the automobile was becoming too spread out and difficult to manage. The city is now more diverse and more representative than it was in those days, and retains its special place in our popular culture, but there is still a sentimental attachment to the era when it seemed that anything was possible there.

-Tom Prezelski

13.2 - Los Angeles, CA History: center of the burgeoning motion picture industry

Episode 1. Clottee Hammons describes a Great America where there is the "cultivation of what it means to be a neighbor." 

She is the founder and creative director of Emancipation Arts in Phoenix, which has the mission to use the arts to raise the profile of black artists in the community in Arizona. And to use the arts to create collaborations between egalitarian arts and community.

As a black woman, there was no Great America in the past, but she finds promise in the present that can grow into a better future.

In Search of the Great America

1 - Phoenix, AZ:  What it Means to be a Neighbor with Clottee Hammons

Episode 2. Daryl Seymore describes a Great America "when we are not thinking about ourselves, but we are starting to think about others."

He is a long time resident of Show Low. He grew up and stayed to raise his family there. He's been Mayor for 8 years and on city council for 16 years. Currently elected as County Supervisor of Navaho County.

From his ranching and entrepreneurial background and being an active part of the community, he feels that America is great because of the opportunities people have to make a good life for themselves and their families.

2 - Show Low, AZ:  Thinking About Others Rather Than Ourselves with Daryl Seymore

Episode 3. Christopher Valles describes a Great America with "a strong economy based on sharing, on love, on compassion, on humility and on an equal distribution of wealth."

He is a small business owner from New Mexico, born and raised. Openly gay since he was 16. He is mixed race hispanic from a family with a long heritage in New Mexico.

His connection to nature and people is his refuge during these hard times, helping him stay solid and grounded for his family, friends and the broader community. He runs three meetup groups to help others have this connection to each other and nature.

3 - Albuquerque, NM: A Strong Economy Based on Sharing, Love, and Compassion with Christopher Valles

Episode 4. Mike Hobbs describes a Great America where we start to recognize hearts rather than political positions. 

He is the creator, owner, and operator of Hat Six Cattle Company New Mexico Land and Cattle Incorporated. And a hardworking guy that enjoys his life.

Having traveled the world and experienced many different places and cultures, he would choose to live in this country. He has great love and hope for a unified America that does what rural Americans do: an America where neighbors help each other, no matter what their political beliefs.

4 - Springer, NM: To Start Recognizing Hearts Rather Than Political Positions with Mike Hobbs

Episode 5. Michael Diaz describes a Great America where education is important so we can learn, understand, grow and be able to share that with others.

He is a father of four who enjoys playing with his kids in the park. He has been working in the IT industry or over 20 years.

With his and his wife's diverse backgrounds and fond memories of family traditions, which range from Saint Patrick's Day to making Christmas tamales, he makes sure to pass them down to his own kids. His Great America is about opportunity, dedication and inspiring others.

5 - Pueblo, CO: To Learn, Understand, Grow and Be Able to Share That With Others with Michael Diaz

Episode 7. Glenna Hirsig describes a Great America where Americans of all ages find ways to bring peace and equality to the nation.

She is a longtime resident of Wyoming. Glenna worked in retail merchandise and spent her entire married life as a ranch wife. She is a member of Cowgirls of the West, which has a museum in Cheyenne that is open to the public.

Glenna grew up post World War II in Wyoming working for room and board on a ranch, putting up hay, milking cows, gathering eggs and riding fences. They also cooked and cleaned, and all this was by kerosene lamp. This experience taught her that hard work could be fun and rewarding.

7 - Cheyenne, WY: To Find Ways to Bring Peace and Equality to the Nation with Glenna Hirsig

CEDAR CITY, UT: THE GREAT AMERICA OF 1918-1941

Local historians in Cedar City, Utah, point to the period between the two world wars (1918-1941) as a time when the town showed its best as a community. In those years, residents came together to embrace a new economy and to save the town from collapse during the darkest years of the Great Depression.

Cedar City was founded by Mormons in 1851 as a hub for iron and coal mining in the region. It was a fairly modest community, with a population of less than 1500 at the beginning of the twentieth century. However, it remained growing and prosperous as an economic center for the region.

Expansion of nearby Mukuntuweap National Monument into Zion National Park in 1916 was seen as an opportunity by the town’s leadership. In 1919, the local chamber of commerce raised money to build an elegant hotel, El Escalante, to serve and attract tourists. Transportation would remain a problem until 1923, when the Union Pacific Railroad built a spur to the town to serve local mines and agriculture.

Tourism quickly exploded, and the hotel hosted thousands of visitors every year, including celebrities and President Warren G. Harding. The Union Pacific purchased El Escalante and ran a tour company, the Utah Parks Company, out of the hotel and adjacent depot. A vehicle fleet, first of Model T Fords, but of busses by the late 1930s, would take visitors to national parks as far away as the Grand Canyon.

Even with this new industry, the Great Depression (1929-1939) would hit Cedar City as hard as it did most other places, but resident’s willingness to come together as a community helped the town survive through the crisis. One such occasion occurred in 1931, when state regulators ordered the closure of the Bank of Southern Utah, the main financial institution in the town and the surrounding region, for not having enough cash on hand to cover its deposits. Residents raised $90,000 to re-open the bank and held a ball to celebrate its survival. This incident, and others like it, remain part of local lore as an example of Cedar City’s unique solidarity and resilience as a community.

This solidarity, however, tended not to include the local Southern Paiute tribe, who remained on the fringes of the community and the economy. Under a series of Federal and State policies intended to force assimilation of tribal people, the Southern Paiute had become landless and destitute, serving largely as laborers for local Mormon families and exploited as tourist curiosities. This state of poverty and dependence would continue for decades until the focus of Federal Indian policy moved to one of building tribal self-governance.

With the expansion of auto travel after World War Two, rail travel declined in importance, though Cedar City remained a “Gateway City” to the National Parks of Southern Utah. The town continues to embrace tourism and has dubbed itself “Festival City U.S.A.” for the numerous arts and cultural events that have located there. This was all made possible by the vision of the town’s leaders a century ago.

The rapid postwar growth of the town in the subsequent decades meant the loss of the community’s character as a scrappy small town. However, a spirit of civic pride remains from those days as the town continues to find inspiration in their forbearer’s willingness to set individual concerns aside to work together as a community.

-Tom Prezelski

9.2 - Cedar City, UT History: How the Community Came Together and Saved the Town

CHEYENNE, WY: THE GREAT AMERICA OF 1867-1887

The time when Cheyenne was “great” was the years between 1867 and 1887, the years of the cattle boom in Wyoming. Though much has happened since then, Cheyenne continues to celebrate this era and Wyoming’s branding as “The Cowboy State” remains central to Wyoming’s identity as a state.

It is important to understand that the American cowboy, and the cattle industry as we know it, has its origins in Mexican-American traditions in the states along the southern border, but the image of the cowboy in popular culture owes much to the works of author Owen Wister, who is credited with creating the western as a literary genre. Though he set his writings in various places around the west, his two most famous and endearing novels, Lin McLean (1897) and The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains (1902) took place in, and were based on first-person accounts of, Wyoming during the cattle boom. Together with his illustrators, Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington, two other great American mythmakers, Wister had helped secure a special place for the Wyoming cowboy in the popular imagination.

The origins of the Wyoming cowboy, the beginnings of the cattle boom and the genesis of the city of Cheyenne all happened at the same time. In 1867, the Union Pacific railroad laid track across what would become Wyoming Territory and established a railroad depot at Cheyenne. Within two years, the so-called “Magic City of the Plains” was home to 200 businesses, had a population of 4000 people and was the capitol of the new territory.

This growth was powered by the rapid development of the cattle industry. Though there was some ranching in the area since the 1850s, it suffered from lack of access to markets. The railroad not only addressed this problem, it also brought investors from the Eastern States and Britain. This ushered in the era of huge, heavily capitalized cattle operations. It seemed, for a time, that no one could lose money in the cattle business.

Cattlemen dominated politics. In 1879, the Cheyenne Club was established in an ostentatious building which nearly dwarfed the territorial capitol. This became the premier gathering place for the biggest players in the cattle industry, and functioned as some ways as a “third house” of the territorial legislature where deals would be made over liquor, cigars and oysters.

While this arrangement worked very well for a small number of cattlemen backed by Eastern and foreign financiers, it excluded many Wyoming residents. In their quest to monopolize land and water resources, the heavily capitalized large cattle operations were engaged in conflicts, sometimes violent, around the territory with sheepherders, farmers, and small-time ranchers.

Another excluded group seems a little ironic. Though the city was named Cheyenne, the tribe would not be a part of the life of the community. In the 1870s United States was actively at war with the Cheyenne and other plains tribes and the army was initially the primary market for beef. 

Beyond this, a lot of people got written out of the mythmaking of the period. Though a significant number of cowboys were African-American or Native American, and Mexican-Americans worked the initial cattle drives to Wyoming from Texas, these were not the men elevated by Wister. The author considered the Anglo-American cowboy to be a paragon of the nation’s values and dismissed others with words like “mongrel.” His heroes were White, Anglo-Saxon and Protestant, and this shaped the popular notion of the cowboy in Wyoming and beyond.

The cattle boom came to an abrupt end in 1887. The number of cattle both exceeded market demand and the capacity of the range to support them. The final blow was a particularly severe winter in 1887. The Cheyenne Club was soon abandoned. Though the industry survived, it was no longer dominant in the same way.

-Tom Prezelski, Resident Historian

7.2 - Cheyenne, WY History: Powered by the Rapid Development of the Cattle Industry

Episode 10. Jewel Cummings describes a Great America that is a unified country through listening, caring and understanding each other.

She is a college student studying accounting and is a return missionary from southern Germany and Salzburg, Austria. She loves the warm weather of Southern Utah.

Jewel grew up in Mill Creek neighborhood in Salt Lake City, Utah with five younger sisters. She enjoyed the diversity and amenities of Salt Lake City. Her mission to Europe during the COVID virus was an exceptional experience. These foundational experiences of family and her faith taught her the value of listening to people and hard work.

10 - Salt Lake City, UT: Unified Through Listening, Caring and Understanding with Jewel Cummings

PHOENIX, AZ: THE GREAT AMERICA OF 1950-1980
Phoenix boomed in the decades after World War II, an era of seemingly endless prosperity when local boosters would say that opportunity was available for anyone who wanted to work for it. The city’s population grew tenfold between 1950 and 1980, newcomers drawn by the promise of an expanding economy and of a cheap and easy lifestyle in contrast with the drudgery of older eastern cities. A business elite known as the “Phoenix Forty” and a political machine smoothly ran local affairs. Companies like Dial and Motorola had their headquarters there. It looked like the growth would never stop.

Because the city’s growth happened entirely in the era of the automobile, accommodating cars was a priority in city planning. Phoenix became a paragon of the new urban landscape associated so closely with what became known as the Sun Belt: neat subdivisions of wide streets, single-family homes and shopping malls. The “American Dream” of a ranch-style house and a lawn seemed more available in Phoenix than it was in other places.

This sort of development required a lot more land than what had been the traditional cityscape, the result being that the city grew from about seventeen square miles at the end of the war to nearly five hundred square miles by 1980. While there were concerns about the potential for natural resources, particularly water, to be overtaxed, there were few voices who challenged the wisdom of unbridled growth. Instead, leaders lobbied for the massive Central Arizona Project, a four billion dollar canal that took water from the Colorado River over three hundred miles uphill to Phoenix and Tucson. 

The narrative of boundless opportunity came short in other ways as well. While times were good for the business elite and for the largely Anglo and Midwestern newcomers coming in pursuit of the suburban dream of ranch-style houses and picket fences, there were those who were left out. The city’s significant and well-established Asian-American, African-American and Mexican-American communities remained shunted from the rest of Phoenix by both legal and de-facto segregation. Some of these neighborhoods, particularly on the southern edge of the city, were little better than shantytowns, with unpaved streets and inadequate water and sewer infrastructure.

As much as the city fathers tried to keep the focus on Phoenix’s prosperity, these communities would not let themselves be ignored. A renegade Franciscan priest named Emmett McLaughlin used his position to call attention to those that were left behind by the city’s progress. Meanwhile, the communities themselves pursued a sort of self-sufficiency, with their own businesses, newspapers and social-support systems. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Civil Rights movement nationwide and the Farmworker movement in the west led by Cesar Chavez, an Arizona native, had an impact in Phoenix and led to the development of a new political leadership class. People like Cloves Campbell, Alfredo Gutierrez and William Ong were elected to office. While this did not bring immediate change, it set the foundation for a more representative future.

It seems inevitable that this era of unprecedented growth would have to come to an end. By the late 1980s, Phoenix was almost completely encircled by the rapidly developing surrounding suburbs, some of which did not yet exist when the boom started. Once supreme, Phoenix would now have to compete for amenities, resources and political power with dozens of other communities. Unable to rely on unfettered growth to assure future prosperity, leadership looked inward, setting new priorities for the city. Though Phoenix remains vibrant and prosperous, it is a very different city than it was in the boom years.

- Tom Prezelski our Resident Historian

1.2 - Phoenix, AZ History: the American suburban dream

SHOW LOW, AZ: THE GREAT AMERICA OF 1950-1970

Show Low, a relatively remote town in the Ponderosa pine forests of Northern Arizona, had its heyday in the mid-twentieth century, when the harvesting and processing of timber that gave the town and surrounding communities economic vitality, and more importantly, stability. Generations of locals were assured steady jobs with good wages in the timber mills, enabling workers to raise families and build a strong sense of community.

The mills recruited a diverse work force that included African-Americans, Mexicans and Apaches from the nearby Reservation. These workers were initially segregated into separate crews, housing and schools in satellite communities like McNary, separate, but mutually dependent on a common economy.

This relative prosperity could not last. A handful of pioneer families controlled local politics and saw little reason to look toward diversifying the economy. By the 1970s, the industry was slowing down, and the mills began to close and the jobs disappeared. Many families simply moved on to make a life elsewhere. It was a story familiar to many communities in rural Arizona.

With new highway construction, Show Low became a destination for tourists and retirees. Though the town’s population was short of 3000 at the height of the timber industry, it has since blossomed to over 11,000 people with a hospital, chain stores and even a community college branch campus. However, it is a very different community than it used to be, one that is less diverse, less connected, and more dependent on a precarious low-wage service economy.

Special thanks to Clair Thomas, Executive Director of the Show Low Historical Museum for her contributions.

-Tom Prezelski, Resident Historian

2.2 - Show Low, AZ History: from pioneer timber town to tourist destination

ALBUQUERQUE, NM: THE GREAT AMERICA OF 2000-2020
Albuquerque, New Mexico, may be unique among the cities discussed in this project because its best times as a community could arguably be our present era. Nearby federal facilities like Kirtland Air Force Base and Sandia National Labs have made the area a magnet for investment in the tech and alternative-energy sector, making for a vibrant and growing economy. New Mexico’s aggressive pursuit of the entertainment industry in the 2000s have made Albuquerque a center for film production, giving the southwestern hinterlands an outsized place in American popular culture. A diverse and forward-looking local political leadership promotes sustainable development, having invested in transit and promoting local arts and culture. It has all contributed to a new sense of civic pride in a community which, unfairly, had been the butt of jokes for decades.

While the city’s prosperity seems inclusive across its diverse population, the current boom time has its discontents. Though Hispanos have long been well-represented in local government, Chicano and Native American activists have long argued that these were just a manifestation of an old landed elite which is often out of touch with the rank and file citizenry. A recent scandal which revealed how Natives and Spanish-surnamed residents were targeted for brutal treatment by local police tended to show that mere representation is not enough to ensure equity and justice from the government, even in a city where Anglos are in the minority.

The way that the city has developed also poses potential long-term problems. The city’s growth has largely passed over the city’s south-western quarter and adjacent unincorporated communities, which still cling to an older economy harkening back to the days when Albuquerque was a transportation hub for agriculture in the Río Grande Valley. These largely Hispano “traditional” communities are losing population to other parts of the city, leaving them hollow and vulnerable to gentrification. Activists in the unincorporated area south of the city are contemplating incorporation as “South Valley” in an effort to have some control over development.

While other cities have experienced similar growing pains, Albuquerque’s unique history and political culture arguably make it well-equipped to deal with these issues. At the very least, its successes as a community show that it should not be easily dismissed as it once was.

-Tom Prezelski, Resident Historian

3.2 - Albuquerque, NM History: diverse and forward-looking local political leadership

SPRINGER, NM: THE GREAT AMERICA OF 1882-1897
Springer, a town of about a thousand residents in far northern New Mexico, some sixty miles south of the Colorado state line, seems like a small and quiet place where not much happens. Yet, it has a certain charm that continues to attract tourists and retirees. Much of this has to do with a downtown of stately and elegant buildings, in particular the prominent two-story brick courthouse, which speak to a time when the town was more prominent, and had a central role in some of the most momentous events of the nineteenth century southwest.

Springer was the seat of Colfax County in 1882-1897, in the midst of one of the most bitter and violent conflicts of the era. The Colfax County War pitted Hispano and Anglo settlers against the Maxwell Grant and Railroad Company. The area was included in an enormous land grant dating back to Mexican times, which was acquired by the first of a series of groups of foreign investors in 1870. Conflict arose when the new owners attempted to evict the settlers, who were suddenly seen as squatters, even though they themselves understood that they had the right to be there. The Utes and Jicarilla Apaches whose tenure predated everybody else, were not part of the discussion.

The conflict attracted the attention of the Santa Fe Ring, a powerful clique of attorneys and real-estate investors who controlled the Territory, who sided with the Company, bringing the full force of the Government, including the Army, to bear on the settlers. The County Seat was moved to Springer 1882 from a previous location because the railroad and the Company moved its headquarters and the leadership there was seen as more favorable to the Ring.

Factional violence continued to plague the County. One of the most spectacular confrontations occurred in March, 1885, when Sheriff’s deputies loyal to the Company faced a large party of armed settlers led by future U.S. Congressman George Curry on the courthouse lawn in Springer, leaving two settlers dead.

While the conflict seems the stuff of cinema, a movie of the feud would be disappointing. Though figures like legendary gunfighter Clay Allison fell in with the settlers, there was no man on a white horse riding in to lead the humble sodbusters to victory over the villainous corporation. In fact, the Company ultimately won, their ownership of the land confirmed by an 1887 Supreme Court case. Many of the settlers, out-gunned and with no legal recourse, moved on.

By 1897, the railroad had moved its operations to Raton, some forty miles away, and nearby coal mines there had attracted investment and settlers. Furthermore, the local leadership was largely favorable to the Company. Now out-voted, Springer lost the county seat after a bitter political fight.

Some historians say that Springer went into “decline” after losing the seat, but in a southwest littered with ghost towns this does not seem fair. Springer remained a small but vital community. Arguably, the fact that it no longer attracts the attention that it did during its heyday, when it was the focus for major historical events, might be the reason why it retains a picturesque downtown that recalls a colorful past.

-Tom Prezelski, Resident Historian

4.2 - Springer, NM History: one of the most bitter and violent conflicts of the era

Episode 6. De La Vaca describes a Great America where there is a return to indigenous structures and indigenous ways of life in America and globally.

He is the managing editor of Yellow Scene Magazine in North Metro Denver and Boulder County Colorado and is a journalist of color. "North Metro Denver and Boulder County's leading arts and entertainment magazine flooding the front range with slightly irreverent content monthly."

De La Vaca is a global soul, born in East L.A. but having travelled the world and lived many places. He is comfortable living in one place for a while, but equally comfortable packing up and leaving at a moment's notice.

6 - Denver: A Return to Indigenous Structures with De La Vaca

DENVER, CO: THE GREAT AMERICA OF 1983-2003

The years between 1983 and 2003 were a time when diverse, progressive and forward-thinking leadership elevated Denver to a position of national prominence rare for a city in the intermountain west. These were years when Denver emerged from a depression after the collapse of domestic petroleum production to become not only economically prosperous, but a center for arts and culture and an exciting place to live.

The energy crisis of the 1970s prompted the nation to look for domestic sources of energy, and Colorado’s coal, natural gas and oil shale resources attracted the attention of investors. This led to a real-estate boom in Denver, whose once-humble downtown suddenly sported glass-and-steel skyscrapers. When oil prices crashed in the mid-1980s, the real-estate market did as well, and the downtown was described as having “see-through buildings,” as many of these high-rises were unfinished or otherwise unoccupied.

Denver’s recovery was due in large part to the leadership of two mayors, who were remarkable not only in terms of their policy accomplishments, but also because the coalitions that got them elected reflect a unique and vibrant political culture. Federico Peña, elected in 1983, was the first Mexican-American mayor of Denver. During his term, the city invested in the downtown as a cultural center, with a library, convention facilities, and, perhaps most famously, a major league baseball franchise, the Colorado Rockies. Additionally, construction of a new, modern airport was started during his tenure. Peña’s work drew national attention, and after he stepped down, he was tapped to serve in the Clinton Administration as Secretary of Transportation.

He was succeeded by Wellington Webb in 1991, who would be the first African-American mayor of Denver. Webb would continue Peña’s work, seeing to the completion of the airport, making further investments in cultural amenities like museums, and overseeing the redevelopment of formerly blighted industrial areas into parkland. His efforts at broadening the city’s economic base increased employment and dramatically reduced crime. Like Peña, Webb would achieve a national profile, and served as the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Conference of Black Mayors.

Though it may be better in this regard than some cities, this should not be taken as a sign that Denver is some kind of paradise of racial harmony. The activist culture that started the careers of Peña and Webb and was the basis of their political coalitions was born out of strife. Denver had historically been hostile to African-Americans, even becoming a nexus for Ku Klux Klan activity in the 1920s and 30s. The African-American community organized and formed partnerships with sympathetic whites to fight discrimination, and this tradition of activism would remain in the community, continuing into the 1960s and 70s. Webb’s own activism seems is part of this legacy. 

Ironically, perhaps, considering this background, the city was criticized for who did not get included in its progress. The airport project, along with controversies regarding jurisdictional disputes, cost overruns and planning process failures, was also called out for failing to grant more contracts to women and minority-owned businesses. Likewise, transit expansion and other economic development projects threatened minority neighborhoods like the historically African-American Five Points neighborhood with gentrification. All of this tends to show that mere representation is not always enough to assure equity.

Nonetheless, Denver in this period blossomed and embodied a unique political culture which embraced its diversity in a way that most cities did not. This continues today, though it remains to be seen if more recent leadership will achieve the sort of sweeping change and national prominence that came to fruition during the terms of these two mayors.

-Tom Prezelski, Resident Historian

6.2 - Denver, CO History: diverse, progressive and forward-thinking leadership

7.2 - Cheyenne, WY History: powered by the rapid development of the cattle industry

Episode 8. Louisa Hunkerstorm describes a Great America where people take really good care of the land, the water, the air and the environment.

She is an educator who currently works at Central Wyoming College. In the past, she has worked as an outdoor educator and in other teaching and learning settings. She is a proud Wyomingite, a parent of two little kids, cross-country skier, and a lover of literature and beautiful places.

Louisa grew up in Wyoming on a farm, 30 minutes away from school and other amenities. She used her imagination and spent lots of wonderful time playing out in nature. This experience of growing up with a deep connection to the land lead her to a career in outdoor education. After many travels and adventures she returned to Lander to share her knowledge and raise her own family.

8 -  Lander, WY: Where People Take Good Care of the Environment with Louisa Hunkerstorm

LANDER, WY: THE GREAT AMERICA OF 1983-2007

Lander, Wyoming, experienced a heyday from the mid-1980s to the 2000s, as the city recovered from the economic blow of a mine closure to become an internationally known center of the emerging outdoor recreation industry. The city of less than 8000 residents is an example of a successful shift from extractive industry to ecotourism and tells a story of the American West in transition.

At the turn of the twentieth century, Lander served as a railroad hub for ranching, farming and mining in the region. By the 1960s, nearby iron mines dominated the economy and local affairs. This came to an end in 1983, when the last of the mines closed as the American steel industry collapsed nationwide. The streets of Lander were soon lined with for-sale signs as families went elsewhere to find employment.

But the foundations of a new economy were already in place. Already a destination for tourists for hunting opportunities and dude ranches in the Wind River Country, the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), which specialized in outdoor skills and eventually, environmental education, was established in 1965. It moved into a permanent headquarters in downtown Lander in 1971, and expanded rapidly through the 1970s and 80s as outdoor recreation came into its own as an industry nationally. By the 1980s, Lander became a focus for what would come to be called ecotourism as other outdoor programs and environmentally-oriented nonprofits like the Nature Conservancy would establish themselves there. In the 1990s and the 2000s, Lander achieved a reputation as a “college town without a college” for a youth-oriented culture and an active arts scene which belied its relatively small population, even becoming home to a well-regarded record label and an NPR affiliate. 

Lander, however, faces a problem common to other towns dependent on a tourism economy, namely housing. While after the closure of the mine, there was plenty of housing available, this would not last as NOLS and the tour companies expanded. The community has been hard-pressed to house the seasonal workers the tourist industry needs, and the shortage of affordable housing has increasingly made attracting permanent employees a challenge. This would become a perennial issue as local leaders continue to struggle to address this need.

Lander’s status as a “college town without a college” ended in 2007, when Wyoming Catholic College was founded there, attracted by the unique cultural vibe of the place. The city remains a center for outdoor recreation and the spectacular scenery of central Wyoming assures its future vitality as a community. However, recent efforts by state and county officials to attract investors to re-open the iron mine, something which has been met with a certain ambivalence in Lander, show that there are still those in leadership who have not accepted the new economy. This will doubtless be a source of tension in the future.

-Tom Prezelski, Resident Historian

8.2 - Lander, WY History: a successful shift from extractive industry to ecotourism

Episode 9. Tamra Borchardt-Slayton describes a Great America that is a melting pot of diversity, acceptance and knowledge, where people actually listen to each other instead of fighting.

She is the Chairperson for the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah.

Tamra grew up in rural Enoch, Utah on a road past where the pavement ended. Although, Enoch acts as a suburb of Cedar City, it is actually its own town. Growing up, there was no gas station or store in Enoch so they would drive ten miles into Cedar City for supplies. She was one of very few minority students at her school, but loved the family and farm community she grew up in.

9 - Cedar City, UT: A Melting Pot of Diversity and Acceptance with Tamra Borchardt-Slayton

9.2 - Cedar City, UT History: how the community came together and saved the town

SALT LAKE CITY, UT: THE GREAT AMERICA OF 1847-1857
Salt Lake City was great from 1847-1857, its founding decade. Though the city, which serves as a financial, political and spiritual center of the Inland West, has long been prosperous and known for its livability as a community, it was in those earliest years that the utopian dreams of its founders came closest to being fully realized. Left more or less alone, adherents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS or “Mormons”) were allowed to build a new society in the Great Basin, and this period of relative autonomy would continue to shape the sect’s relationship with its neighbors.

Fleeing bigotry and mob violence in Missouri, LDS President Brigham Young led a band of followers across the Great Plains, eventually arriving, on July 24, 1847, at the shores of the Great Salt Lake in what was nominally Mexican territory, where Young famously declared “this is the right place” (or “this is the place” in some accounts). The surrounding valley reminded Young of accounts of the geography of the Holy Land, with the brackish water of the lake evoking the Dead Sea. An adjacent river was dubbed the Jordan to complete the biblical analogy.

Like many religious groups that emerged out of the “Great Awakening” of the early 19th Century, the Mormons practiced what we would now call “intentional community.” The new settlement, initially called “Great Salt Lake City” would be laid out in keeping with previous neatly planned Mormon communities in Illinois and Missouri, with some modifications by Young. At the center of the city a square was set aside for a temple. Though the actual building would not be completed for decades, this prominent location symbolized the church’s central role in the life of the community

This utopian dream, however, was meant to include only church adherents. Upon arrival, the Mormons saw what they believed to be an unpopulated valley, but this was because a smallpox epidemic had devastated the native Shoshone months before. Future interactions with native tribes were largely friendly, church leadership recognizing that these were potential allies, but they were marginalized and even converts could not hope for more than second-class status at best. Non-Mormon settlers, who became more plentiful as Salt Lake City became a key stop on an important route to California, also found themselves regarded as outsiders, and were regarded with indifference or hostility by church members. Their grievances would bring unwelcome attention to the Mormon experiment in Salt Lake City.

This era of relative autonomy would come to an end in the summer of 1857. A year before, the platform of the new Republican Party opposed the “twin evils of polygamy and slavery,” reflecting a growing national distrust of the Mormons, with particular suspicion focused on the unusual practice of plural marriage, though their communitarianism were also a source of mistrust as well. Responding to public pressure, newly elected Democratic President James Buchanan sent a new slate of appointed officials with an escort of some 2500 soldiers, about a sixth of the regular army. The subsequent “Utah War,” which consisted mostly of Mormon guerrillas harassing federal troops by destroying supplies and blocking roads, would finally be settled in April, 1858, when the Mormon leadership agreed to accept the authority of non-Mormon federal appointees.

The historical memory of the early years of hostility and oppression from the American mainstream has contributed to a sense of common cause among Mormons. This solidarity has assured their continued prominence as a political and cultural force in the western states. Likewise the legacy of what they accomplished in the Salt Lake Valley during the decade when they had a degree of self-determination, remains an inspiration as well and a reminder of what they could achieve as a community.

-Tom Prezelski, Resident Historian

10.2 - Salt Lake City, UT History: realizing the utopian dreams of its founders

Episode 11. Johnn Jones describes a Great America that is compassionate, loving, respectful of ourselves, of others and of the planet.

Johnn Jones is a husband, brother, friend and petter/feeder of two shelter dogs. He is also a musician and media content producer in Las Vegas.

Johnn grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. His parents practiced unconditional love and taught him the value of self respect and respect and consideration for others. He learned to play the piano as a young child and brought his love of music and performing into adulthood. This has served him well in every aspect of his life and career as a musician, performer and media producer.

11 - Las Vegas, NV: Respectful of Ourselves, of Others and of the Planet with Johnn Jones

LAS VEGAS, NV: THE GREAT AMERICA OF 1946-1980
The usual consensus is that the “golden age” of Las Vegas occurred between 1946 and 1980, as the desert city became known as the “entertainment capital of the world” and assumed a unique place in the popular imagination. Though the bright lights gave the city a surreal aspect that seemed removed from the prosaic day-to-day concerns of mainstream America, Las Vegas would confront issues similar to those that faced the country as a whole.

Las Vegas’ reputation as a haven for vice go back to its earliest days as an incorporated municipality, the term “sin city” dating back to 1906. Nearby federal projects in the form of the construction camp at Boulder Dam (1931-1936) and the Las Vegas Army Airfield (1925, later Nellis Air Force Base), each with an almost entirely male workforce, were a ready market for gambling (legalized in 1931), liquor (illegal during prohibition) and prostitution, all of which were readily available in the city. Efforts by officials to crack down on or otherwise control vice merely provided an opportunity for organized crime, which arrived in the form of gangs from the East Coast.

There was a nugget of truth to the popular notion that the mob ran Las Vegas. Local government was weak and decentralized, something which left space for organized crime to exert influence. This led to a free-wheeling, almost libertine vibe. For most Americans, the city quickly came to represent a special sort of freedom, a place that seemed built just for a certain notion of leisure that allowed for an escape from the responsibilities and expectations of working life in the United States. By the same token, investors similarly saw opportunity in a place where they could build a business without some of the constraints seen elsewhere, and created a gaudy and ostentatious cityscape.

Beyond gambling (soon rebranded as more respectable “gaming”), entertainment options were generally affordable and accessible, with middle-class people able to see performers like Liberace and Frank Sinatra in the relative intimacy of a lounge. Significantly, these performers were often people past their heyday, and Las Vegas provided an opportunity for them to find new relevance in an era when rock-and-roll was ascendant in the rest of the country. The lounges helped preserve a swaggering, cigarette-smoking notion of cool made obsolete by the social upheavals of the 1960s and 70s.

Segregation was an issue as well, though the city’s unique political dynamics made the struggle play out differently than it did in other places. The mob, largely Jewish and Italian, were at best ambivalent about segregation, and saw it as bad for business. They defied the hidebound elected city leadership, who continued to champion southern-style segregation through the 1950s and 60s. Additionally, entertainers like Frank Sinatra refused to perform at segregated clubs, further pressuring the city to integrate. Segregation was brought down by a series of dramatic protest actions starting through the 1960s and 70s by a coalition that included the NAACP and an increasingly powerful (and integrated) Culinary Workers Union.

In 1980, a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel killed 87 people and injured nearly 700 more. A subsequent inquiry found that the death toll was due in large part to a lack of sprinklers, something that was allowed by city officials. The resulting outrage led to reforms as it became clear that the city’s permissiveness could not continue. By this time, most of the old organized crime figures who once held sway in Las Vegas were no longer in the picture, and federal law enforcement had broken the power of the mobs nationally. Increasingly, the resort industry in Las Vegas would become a well-marketed corporate venture.

-Tom Prezelski, Resident Historian

11.2 - Las Vegas, NV History: the “entertainment capital of the world”

Episode 12. Mary Love describes a Great America where there are jobs and our financial future is upbeat and positive.

Mary Love is a widowed mother of one, entrepreneur and realtor. She has had several businesses and loves to be creative.

Mary grew up in rural Utah and when she was six, moved to Caliente, NV with her parents so they could work as school teachers. The family farmed in the summer and went to school the rest of the year. She learned fundamentals of working hard and being frugal.

12 - Caliente, NV: When We Care About People, Do Our Best and Stay in the Moment with Mary Love

Though it was never a large community, Caliente, Nevada briefly boomed in the interwar years as a headquarters for the railroad. Much smaller now, the town still lives on the foundation established in those days even as local leadership pursues new economic opportunities.
The valley formed by the junction of Meadow Valley Wash and Clover Creek had attracted ranchers since the 1860s. The town of Caliente was established in 1901, when the Union Pacific Railroad’s new branch line north to Salt Lake City was built through the valley and built a station there. The town was designated a “division point” for the railroad, where crews and engines would be switched out. It also served as a headquarters for maintenance workers and administrative staff. An estimated ninety percent of the jobs in town were with the railroad.
The town reached a population of nearly 5000 by the 1930s. It had an active social life, with an Elks Lodge for the professional men in town, and an Odd Fellows Lodge for the working class, as well as a number of women’s clubs.

The hot springs that gave the town its name attracted additional attention. A large hotel was built to accommodate tourists. The railroad also did its part to make the place more appealing to travelers by constructing an elegant new depot in 1923 to replace a previous utilitarian building that was gutted by a fire. Like a lot of public buildings in the west during that era, the new depot was built to evoke a Spanish past by emulating the missions of California, though the actual Mexican-American population of Southern Nevada was declining in terms of real numbers in those days. In addition to offices and dormitories, the new building had a second floor which was set aside as a hotel.
Though the railroad attracted an ethnically diverse workforce, largely of European immigrants, African-Americans were considered unwelcome, which seems ironic given that the two original American settlers in the valley in the 1860s were escaped slaves. Reformers dubbed Nevada the “Mississippi of the West” because political leaders actively pursued Jim Crow-style segregation. In Caliente and surrounding Lincoln County, the Black population remained quite small, but witnessing the mistreatment of an African-American family friend during his depression-era boyhood in the town helped inspire a man named Ralph Denton to work for change. During his long career as a lawyer, activist, and elected official, Denton championed civil rights and transformed both the Democratic Party and Nevada politics in general.

With the transition to diesel engines, the division point at Caliente was no longer necessary, and operations were moved to Las Vegas in 1948. The population quickly declined, though the railroad would remain an active element of the town’s economy. Local leadership continues to pursue development of a tourist industry related to the area’s natural beauty, though a shortage of hotel space presents a challenge, as does concern about retaining the town’s character. The depot, one of the few such buildings from its era which still stands, would become a city hall, museum and community center and serves as a symbol for the town.

-Tom Prezelski, Resident Historian

12.2 - Caliente, NV History: headquarters for the railroad

Hello! I am your host, Laura Milkins.

In Search of the Great America is a public history podcast project. Asking people to define their great America: past, present and future. 

The mission is simple, to ask people to define their Great America (past, present and future) and to uncover the diversity, complexity, and community connections that already make us great. To find out what people really want for America, outside of the framework of politics and the media. With this project, I offer a non-judgmental space for people to share what they wish for themselves, their family and their community.

Each interview is only 15 minutes long. The guest will answer the following questions:

-Where did you grow up and what was it like?
-Was there a time in history that you thought America was great and why?
-What is great about America now for you?
-What does your great America look like in the future?
-Who are we when we are our best?

So… What’s your Great America?

ARTIST BIO
I am an interdisciplinary artist living in Tucson, AZ. My work explores vulnerability, intimacy, and cultural norms, using variety of media: online-interactive performance, video, drawing, painting, and live radio/podcasting. Since 2012, I have taught Art and Visual Culture at Pima Community College. I received an MFA in painting from University of Arizona in 2008. In 2009, I was a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico City.

My recent work includes The Depression Session, a website dedicated to de-stigmatizing depression, and to help listeners feel less alone in their struggles with depression. The Depression Session project was a way for me to relate to others, to understand my own depression, but more importantly, to give back in providing a source for others to find connections and resources.

Past work includes Of Birds and Men, 27 portraits of men in power accused by women of sexual harassment and abuse, facing a bird with the same letter as their name. Zero Packaging Project, a year without packaging; and Walking Home: stories from the desert to the Great Lakes, in which I walked 2,007 miles from Arizona to Michigan wearing a live webcam; Walking Stories: Mexico, I walked across Mexico City in the company of strangers, posting the stories they shared each night on a BLOG.

My work has been exhibited across the U.S., Mexico, and in France. I have received grants, awards, and international recognition for my work, including a Fulbright award to travel and work in Mexico City and a Tanne Foundation Award.

In Search of the Great America Podcast

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