Abstract
The Harrah’s Entertainment Corporate Archives (dating from 1811 to 2004 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1940 to 2000) contain the promotional and corporate files of Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. and its predecessors, as well as Bill Harrah’s personal papers and card game collection. The materials were compiled and developed as a corporate archive by Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.’s Corporate Communications Department. The collection is primarily comprised of casino and employee periodicals, reports, manuals, promotional files, ephemera, and newspaper articles that document Bill Harrah’s casinos in Reno, Nevada and Lake Tahoe as well as Harrah’s Inc., Holiday Inns, Inc., Holiday Corporation, the Promus Companies, and Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. Also included are photographs that document the construction of Harrah’s properties, business operations, the people who worked and performed at Harrah’s properties, and Bill Harrah’s automobile collection. The collection also contains Bill Harrah’s collection of playing cards and card games. Also included are photographs of the Harrah family.
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Scope and Contents Note
The Harrah’s Entertainment Corporate Archives (dating from 1811 to 2004 with the bulk of the materials dating from 1940 to 2000) contain the promotional and corporate files of Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. and its predecessors, as well as Bill Harrah’s personal papers and card game collection. The materials were compiled and developed as a corporate archive by Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.’s Corporate Communications Department. The collection is primarily comprised of casino and employee periodicals, reports, manuals, promotional files, ephemera, and newspaper articles that document Bill Harrah’s casinos in Reno, Nevada and Lake Tahoe as well as Harrah’s Inc., Holiday Inns, Inc., Holiday Corporation, the Promus Companies, and Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. Also included are photographs that document the construction of Harrah’s properties, business operations, the people who worked and performed at Harrah’s properties, and Bill Harrah’s automobile collection. The collection also contains Bill Harrah’s collection of playing cards and card games. Also included are photographs of the Harrah family.
Access Note
Collection is open for research, with the exception of legal work product which is restricted. Restrictions are noted at the file level of this inventory and will be open for research January 1, 2055. Some of the decks of cards are sealed in their original wrappers or bear historic seals from tax or import/export agencies. These decks are to remain unopened.
Where use copies do not exist, production of use copies is required before access will be granted; this may delay research requests. Advanced notice is required.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
These records are organized into three series:
Series I. Harrah’s Entertainment corporate files, 1950-2004;
Series II. Card games,1811-1993;
Series III. Harrah family photographs and personal files, 1958-1990.
Biographical / Historical Note
Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. began as a short-lived bingo parlor in Reno, Nevada, first formed in 1937 by William (Bill) Fisk Harrah. Bill Harrah re-opened his casino as Harrah’s Tango Club in 1938 and grew the business by acquiring neighboring casinos in Reno. He expanded the Harrah’s brand over time and in 1971, the company made its initial public offering as Harrah’s Inc.
Harrah’s Inc. was purchased by another hotel corporation, Holiday Inns, Inc., after Bill Harrah’s death in 1978. The corporation retained the Harrah’s brand on its existing Nevada hotel-casinos, Harrah’s Reno and Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, and built Harrah’s Del Rio (later renamed Harrah’s Laughlin) in Laughlin, Nevada. The Harrah’s brand expanded into Atlantic City, New Jersey with the construction of Harrah’s Marina (later renamed Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City).
In 1990, The Promus Companies assumed ownership of part of Holiday Inns, Inc.’s former holdings, including the Harrah’s properties. In 1995, The Promus Companies separated its hotel-casinos from its non-gaming hotels, creating Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. as the parent company of the 16 gaming properties. In 2005, Harrah’s Entertainment acquired Caesars Entertainment, Inc. but continued to operate under the Harrah’s Entertainment name until late 2010, when the corporation changed its name to Caesars Entertainment Corporation.
In 2020, Caesars Entertainment and Eldorado Resorts merged and as of 2025, continue to operate as Caesars Entertainment.
Sources:
McGinness, Brett. “Timeline: Harrah's 82-year history in downtown Reno.”
Parmley, Suzette. “The gambling world gets a new top dog - Harrah's.”
“Promus plans corporate split - Harrah's casino division to separate from hotel business.”
William (Bill) Fisk Harrah (1911-1978) was a Nevada businessman and founder of Harrah’s Inc. Bill Harrah’s success in the gaming industry began in 1946 when he purchased a casino in Reno, Nevada that he renamed Harrah’s Reno Club. In 1956 Harrah opened Harrah’s Tahoe Club and established a busing program that brought lower income and working class gamblers from northern California to his Reno and Lake Tahoe casinos. Harrah’s busing program, as well as his hands-off management style, contributed to the profitability of the casinos in the 1950s and 1960s. Leaving the day-to-day management of the casinos to employees, Harrah spent a majority of his time devoted to his vehicle collecting hobby, amassing a large collection of automobiles, motorcycles, and airplanes. Although the Harrah’s casinos were profitable, Harrah’s personal spending placed a financial strain on the business, and in 1971 he decided to take the company public. In 1973 Harrah’s Inc. became the first gaming company to have stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Bill Harrah, son of Amanda Fisk Harrah and John Harrah, was born in Pasadena, California in 1911. He grew up in Venice, California and was first introduced to gambling when his father opened a gambling shop on the Venice pier in the 1930s. Bill Harrah briefly attended California Christian College and the University of California, Los Angeles before quitting school to help run his father’s gambling business. John sold the business to Bill who then relocated the business to Reno, Nevada in 1937.
Between 1937 and 1946 Harrah had small successes with various joint venture businesses. In 1946 he opened the casino Harrah’s Reno Club as the sole owner. In 1956 he opened a second casino called Harrah’s Tahoe Club in Stateline, Nevada. The two casinos were highly successful because of a busing program that brought gamblers from Northern California to Reno and Lake Tahoe. Harrah also brought internationally famous performers to his casinos as entertainment for his customers.
Harrah married six times and had two sons. He wed Thelma Batchelor in the late 1930s and divorced her in 1948. In 1948 Harrah married Scherry Teague Fagg and, apart from a brief divorce and remarriage, the couple stayed together for over twenty years. They adopted two sons together, John and Tony. After divorcing Scherry in 1969, Harrah married country musician Bobbie Gentry. He divorced Gentry in 1970. He also was briefly married to Mary Berger and then Roxanne Carlson before marrying Verna Frank in 1974.
Bill Harrah spent a large portion of his time and wealth creating the Harrah Automobile Collection of over 1,500 automobiles, motorcycles, and airplanes. In the 1970s, due in large part to his personal spending, the company experienced cash-flow issues. Harrah decided to take the company public in 1971 and in 1973 Harrah’s Inc. was traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1978 Bill Harrah died while recovering from a surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm.
Sources:
King, R. T., Mary Larson, and Dwayne Kling, eds. Every Light Was On: Bill Harrah and His Clubs Remembered, from Oral History Interviews by Dwayne Kling. Reno: University of Nevada Oral History Program, 1999.
Preferred Citation
Harrah’s Entertainment Corporate Archives, 1811-2004. MS-00460. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2002 by Harrah’s Operating Company, Inc.; accession number 2002-033.
Processing Note
In 2017, as part of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) grant-funded project "America's Great Gamble," Hana Gutierrez and Hannah Robinson processed, arranged, and described the materials.