In The News: University Libraries
As Sara told UNLV oral historian Claytee White, “From the day Roosevelt was elected we had a picture of him in our house. And I still have it in my house.”
The anticipation surrounding the 2024 General Election continues to grow and so has the hype behind obtaining some exclusive ‘I voted’ stickers.
Drawn within a Nevada-shaped border are three animals – a bird carrying a tote bag, a bear in a skirt and a cat wearing a white backpack. They are all lined up in front of a “vote here” sign.
Crystal chandeliers that once glimmered above a swanky lounge, bright blue costume feathers that cloaked shimmying showgirls, and fake palm trees that evoked a desert oasis are just some the artifacts making their way from the latest latest casino graveyards of Las Vegas into Sin City history.
Bally’s Corporation, the operator of the to-be-imploded Tropicana Las Vegas, has agreed to donate a variety of memorabilia to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The casino company was contacted by the university’s Special Collections and Archives department, which wanted to preserve a part of the historic resort.
After it’s imploded on Wednesday morning, the best way to relive memories of the Tropicana Las Vegas will be to head two miles east of the vacant lot to UNLV. Nevada’s largest university recently received five boxes of history from the Rat Pack-era casino resort, most of which it has processed and made available for public perusal — both in person and online.
The iconic Tropicana Hotel, a fixture on the Las Vegas Strip for 67 years, is set to be demolished next Wednesday. The historic property, which closed its doors in April, will make way for a new Major League Baseball stadium.
For 67 years, the Tropicana was a staple on the Las Vegas Strip. It first opened on April 4th, 1957. UNLV history professor Micheal Green said the casino was the most advanced when it was built, now symbolized as part of the old Las Vegas.
In 1960, Dr. James B. McMillan served as president of the local Las Vegas NAACP, Branch 1111. In March of that year, he received a letter from the organization’s national office in New York — encouraging branches nationwide to elevate activities that would lead to integration of public accommodations. McMillan, using that same mode of communication, sent a letter to Las Vegas Mayor Oran Gragson — demanding integration of the Strip and Downtown in two weeks. McMillan clearly stated that if integration did not occur, the Black community would march down the Strip on the Saturday evening of March 26, 1960.
About half a block away from where a now-viral TikTok was filmed showing racist harassment against a Black man sits a state historical marker titled “African Americans and the Boston Saloon.” It details the story of William A.G. Brown — a freeborn Black man who, between 1866 and 1875, operated the Boston Saloon, one of the mining boomtown’s best known taverns. Decorated with intricate gas lamps and crystal goblets, the saloon offered an upscale atmosphere that contrasted the stereotypical image of a seedy saloon — even recognized by figures such as Mark Twain.
About half a block away from where a now-viral TikTok was filmed showing racist harassment against a Black man sits a state historical marker titled “African Americans and the Boston Saloon.” It details the story of William A.G. Brown — a freeborn Black man who, between 1866 and 1875, operated the Boston Saloon, one of the mining boomtown’s best known taverns. Decorated with intricate gas lamps and crystal goblets, the saloon offered an upscale atmosphere that contrasted the stereotypical image of a seedy saloon — even recognized by figures such as Mark Twain.
Reducing free play offers to gamblers has a minimal impact on the likelihood that they will return to a casino, according to a new academic study. However, completely removing free play incentives could prove problematic for casino operators, according to the same study.