An Online Reference Guide to African American History
Quintard Taylor
Scott and Dorothy Bullitt Professor of American History
University of Washington, Seattle
Sarann Knight migrated to Las Vegas in 1942, settling with her husband in the Westside African American community. Preddy first sought employment on Jackson Street, the black business district, and soon became a Keno writer in the Cotton Club. Preddy moved to Hawthorne, Nevada with her husband and purchased her first gaming venture, a nightclub for blacks offered to her for $600.00. Borrowing the money from her father, Preddy renamed the enterprise the Tonga Club, and operated it for seven years. With club ownership she became the first black woman to own a gaming license in Nevada. Sources:
Claytee D. White, An Interview with Sarann Preddy. Las Vegas Women in Gaming and Entertainment Oral History Project, 1998.
Contributor:
University of Nevada Las VegasEntry Categories:
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