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African Americans: The Las Vegas Experience

Discover the momentous events that defined the African American experience in Las Vegas throughout the Civil Rights era. These events altered the city’s history and changed thousands of lives. For example, the Moulin Rouge Agreement of 1960 affected residents as it desegregated the city while the Westside Riot of 1969 rocked the entire community to its core.

Our story introduces individuals who are connected to these events, and to each other. Featured interviewees include Claytee White, Dr. Earnest Bracey, Robert Stoldal, Dr. Sylvester S. Rogers, Jean Childs, Hannah Brown, Helen Anderson Toland, Theron Goynes, Naomi Goynes, John Edmond, Agnes Marshall, Jarmilla McMillan Arnold, Ruby Amie-Pilot, Henry L. Reagan Jr., Leonard Polk, Claudette Enus, Jackie Brantley and Eva Simmons.

Funding for this production was provided in part by grants through the Institute of Museum and Library Services and The Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial.

For additional information and materials visit Documenting the African American Experience in Las Vegas.

Extras

The Black Church

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Reflects on the Black Church

2:46
Published:

The Black Church is the place where the African American made their way in society.

Independent Lens

Tell Them We Are Rising - Separate But Unequal

3:06
Published:

Thurgood Marshall, after graduating Howard U. law school, takes a road trip in 1934 with dean Charles Hamilton Houston to the deep South. 

American Masters

Aviator Bessie Coleman

9:03
Published:

Bessie Coleman was the first African American woman aviator.