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Photograph of Mayor Oran K. Gragson and Sammy Davis, Jr. cutting the ribbon for the Las Vegas Pageant of Progress, Las Vegas, Nevada, circa 1960s-1970s

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Download pho017985.tif (image/tiff; 17.05 MB)

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Creator

Date

1960 to 1979

Description

Several people, including two Pageant contestants, look on as Las Vegas Mayor Oran K. Gragson (left) assists Sammy Davis, Jr. (center) in cutting the ribbon for the Las Vegas Pageant of Progress. Oran Kenneth Gragson (February 14, 1911 – October 7, 2002) was an American businessman and politician. He was the longest-serving mayor of Las Vegas, Nevada, from 1959 to 1975. Gragson, a member of the Republican Party, was a small business owner who was elected Mayor on a reform platform against police corruption and for equal opportunity for people of all socio-economic and racial categories. Gragson died in a Las Vegas hospice on October 7, 2002, at the age of 91. The Oran K. Gragson Elementary School located at 555 N. Honolulu Street, Las Vegas, NV 89110 was named in his honor. Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American Jewish entertainer. Primarily a dancer and singer, he was also an actor of stage and screen, musician, and impressionist, noted for his impersonations of actors, musicians and other celebrities. Davis was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award for his television performances. He was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1987, and in 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Digital ID

pho017985

Physical Identifier

0310_0044
    Details

    Citation

    pho017985. Oran K. Gragson Photographs. PH-00310. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/d1p55dm2p.

    Rights

    This material is made available to facilitate private study, scholarship, or research. It may be protected by copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity rights, or other interests not owned by UNLV. Users are responsible for determining whether permissions are necessary from rights owners for any intended use and for obtaining all required permissions. Acknowledgement of the UNLV University Libraries is requested. For more information, please see the UNLV Special Collections policies on reproduction and use (https://www.library.unlv.edu/speccol/research_and_services/reproductions) or contact us at special.collections@unlv.edu.

    Standardized Rights Statement

    Digital Provenance

    Digitized materials: physical originals can be viewed in Special Collections and Archives reading room

    Extent

    4928 x 3621 pixels
    16.427 x 12.07 inches
    17,879,040 bytes

    Language

    English

    Publisher

    University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Libraries

    Format

    image/tiff