Walter Spears Claytor was raised in Gainsboro and spent his career attending to the dental needs of the community. He was born on December 18, 1925, to Dr. John B. Claytor, Sr., and Roberta Woodfin Claytor. Apart from his time in school and his military service, he lived in Gainsboro all his life. He attended Lucy Addison High School and graduated at the age of 15. He spent two years at Knoxville College, then transferred to Tennessee A&T in 1944. Next, he attended Meharry Medical College School of Dentistry and received his Doctorate of Dental Surgery degree in 1948 at only 22 years old.
From 1948 to 1966 Dr. Claytor served as a clinician in the Dental Clinic for indigent children at Burrell Memorial Hospital, where his father was a co-founder. In 1949 he opened a private dental practice within the Claytor Memorial Clinic, where his brothers and father also had offices. He worked there until his retirement in 1994.
Dr. Claytor’s work as a dentist was put on pause from 1951 to 1953 due to his service in the Air Force. Here, he met his future wife, Eiko Kimura “Kim” Claytor, whom he married on May 12, 1954. The two had three children: Kaye Linda, David, and Mark.
Dr. Claytor has been an incredibly active force within the Gainsboro medical community and beyond. From 1957 to 1971 Dr. Claytor served on the Board of the Burrell Memorial Hospital. For five of those years he was the board’s chairman. He was a member of the Old Dominion Dental Society, serving as the organization’s president in 1961 and receiving the President’s Award in 2007 for his service and membership. Dr. Claytor also served as the secretary and treasurer of the Magic City Medical Society.
In 1970 Virginia Governor Linwood Holton appointed Dr. Claytor to the Virginia State Board of Dental Examiners. He was the first African American south of Washington, DC, to hold such a position. He served as the board’s secretary-treasurer for the last two years of his five-year term. He also worked to critique the examinations for the Dental Licensure in Kentucky and Tennessee, and for this work he was appointed a “Kentucky Colonel” by Governor John Y. Brown.
Case Against the RRHA
Between 2001 and 2005, Dr. Claytor represented the J.B. Claytor family in a lawsuit against the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority. In 1972, as a part of urban renewal, the RRHC declared a one-acre property belonging to the Claytors on the 400 block of Gainsboro Road as blighted. This area held the Claytor Memorial Clinic, as well as the Claytors’ family home, their Esso gas station, and several storefronts. The Claytors’ property remained under the threat of condemnation through eminent domain until 1998, when Dr. Walter Claytor was notified that the RRHA was no longer considering acquiring the property.
Dr. Claytor filed a lawsuit against the authority in 2001, claiming that the threat of condemnation hurt his family’s ability to rent out spaces within the property. In 2005 the court ruled that the Claytors deserved compensation, which the RHHA was ordered to pay the family, along with interest and legal fees.
This was the first court case of its kind brought in the Commonwealth of Virginia and transformed eminent domain law in the state. The case subsequently allowed legislation to pass that put a five-year limit on condemations.
Community Involvement
Dr. Claytor is a life member of the NAACP and SCLC. The Roanoke branch of the NAACP granted him the Business Award in 1991, and he was honored by the SCLC with the Drum Major for Justice Award. In 1998 Dr. Claytor’s alma mater, Meharry Medical College, recognized him for his 50 years of service in dentistry. Additionally, Dr. Claytor is a longtime member of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Gainsboro, and in 2003 he was honored as the church’s Man of the Year.
Sources
Chittum, M. (2005, November 17). A long time coming. The Roanoke Times.
Chittum, M. (2006, January 18). Claytor case costs taxpayers $730,000. The Roanoke Times.
Life travels of Walter S Claytor. (2013, November 22). [Document]. WalterSClaytor.com. Gainsboro Library Vertical Files, Roanoke, VA, United States.
Woodbury, M. C., and Marsh, R. C. (1994). Virginia kaleidoscope: The Claytor family of Roanoke, and some of its kinships, rrom rirst ramilies of Virginia and their former slaves. Published by Margaret C. Woodbury and Ruth C. Marsh.