State Assemblyman Harvey Munford, center, listens during a Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee meeting at UNLV Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016.
Friday, Oct. 27, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Harvey Munford, a longtime educator in the Clark County School District and a Nevada assemblyman who represented Las Vegas’ Historic West Side for six terms, died Thursday of natural causes, according to multiple people close to Munford. He was 83.
Born in Akron, Ohio, in 1940, Munford moved to Las Vegas in the late 1960s during the height of the Civil Rights Movement to pursue a career in education after brief playing stints with both the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL and the NBA’s Lakers, who drafted him 167th overall in 1968.
Prior to that, the 6-foot-7 Munford was the first Black man to attend and graduate from Montana State University Billings, then known as Eastern Montana College, where the two-sport athlete was a two-time NAIA All-American and is still the record holder in men’s basketball for highest field goal percentage in a single season (65.2%) at a time when racial segregation was still commonplace.
Munford and his wife, Viviana Munford, were revered for donating thousands of turkeys each Thanksgiving and held an annual Halloween block party at their ranch-style home near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Washington Avenue, where children could romp around and ride horses kept on the property.
The Las Vegas City Council last year officially renamed the street he lived on from Sunny Place to Harvey Munford Street as a tribute to his contributions in the predominantly Black community.
“He made a huge, huge, huge impact over the years,” said Las Vegas councilman Cedric Crear, who not only lived down the street from Munford while growing up but led the council’s push to rename Sunny Place. “He was a quiet leader with a kind spirit. His outstanding work spans decades and this is a huge loss to the community.”
In a statement to the Sun, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford called Munford a “trailblazer” who worked on several bills regarding education and criminal justice, including one bill the two worked on during the 2015 legislative session that required police agencies throughout the state to mandate use of body cameras.
“He was a mentor to many entering into public service and a champion for the people in his district. His efforts in the legislature and the state are more than commendable,” Ford said in the statement. “We’ll sorely miss him. I offer my condolences to his family.”
Munford was a fervent believer in the public school system and was the lead sponsor of a 2015 bill signed into law by then-Gov. Brian Sandoval that mandated the inclusion of multicultural education in the state’s academic standards. He also was a member of the Assembly Education Committee and retired from public service after that session due to term limits.
In addition to a lengthy career with CCSD at Bonanza High School, Munford taught classes at the College of Southern Nevada and, briefly, at UNLV. And as a lawmaker, the Democrat also led the push on a 2011 bill to make Juneteenth — the day which marks the end of slavery in the U.S. — a state holiday. He also fought a push to permanently close F Street on the city’s west side in a bid to spur new development.
“I am proud of Harvey Munford’s legacy as an educator, community leader and legislator,” Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev. and chair of the powerful Congressional Black Caucus, told the Sun in a statement. “From his work on passing Juneteenth, to creating standards around multicultural education in our schools, to his partnership in advocating for the reopening of F Street. He will be missed for his stature, physically, and his moral righteousness to make things better for those who he came into contact with.”
Upon being inducted to the Montana Football Hall of Fame in 2016, he said at the time he was cut from the all-white high school basketball team back in Ohio, and came out west after flunking out of the University of Akron his freshman year.
Munford, however, credited his time in Billings for getting his life back on track and sparking a lifelong interest in political and social issues.
An entry on the Montana Football Hall of Fame’s website stated Munford was sometimes the subject of racial slurs, “especially on road trips,” and was once refused service at a restaurant in Butte, Mont., which prompted the teammates he was with to walk out.
Munford also was friends with NBA great Wilt Chamberlain as well as the late Harry Reid, the Nevada senator who served as majority leader from 2007 to 2015.
As a teacher, Munford led student trips to Washington 13 times in his career through the “Close-Up” program, in which students are invited to see the government work in action, and also attended the presidential inaugurations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. While Barack Obama was campaigning prior to his 2008 electoral victory, Munford welcomed the charismatic Democratic hopeful into his home on Sunny Place.
“Harvey was a trailblazer not only for Black politicians, but a trailblazer for white politicians too,” said William McCurdy Sr., father of the Clark County commissioner who bears the same name.
McCurdy, who owned a political consulting and advertising firm for nearly 30 years, and helped Munford first run for office, said Gov. Joe Lombardo once sought Munford’s endorsement when he ran for Clark County sheriff. Longtime Congresswoman Shelley Berkley also sought Munford’s approval.
“He was my best friend,” McCurdy Sr. said. “He was a giant for education, a giant for west Las Vegas. And he really believed in being a public servant.”
That admiration spanned generations.
“It’s a great loss, not only for the Historic West Side, but a great loss for our entire state,” said Clark County Commissioner William McCurdy Jr., who like Crear had known Munford since childhood and succeeded him as the Assemblyman for District 6.
“He should be remembered as someone who put community before himself,” McCurdy Jr. continued. “He talked to (everyone) about how they, too, can get involved not only in the electoral process, but also how they can get involved with the policymaking process. So he’s someone that is going to be remembered as a once-in-a-generation individual.”
In addition to his wife Viviana, Munford is survived by his children Helen, Donna, Jamila and Steve, as well as several grandchildren.
Service arrangements have not yet been finalized.
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