Jeremiah David Wright Hoggard was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on November 25, 1914. As a child, his parents would take him to National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) meetings, and he joined the organization before serving in the United States Air Force during World War II. In 1945, he was transferred to Nellis Air Force Base. By the next year, Hoggard moved to Las Vegas, Nevada with his two sons after being recently widowed.

Sarann Preddy was born July 27, 1920 in Eufaula, Oklahoma. Sarann Knight Preddy moved to Hawthorne, Nevada, in the 1940s, becoming a business owner and president of the NAACP. Later she moved to Las Vegas, where she served as a community activist and worked as one of the first black 21-dealers. Preddy bought the Moulin Rouge Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and worked to preserve the building and its history. She passed away on December 22, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada.