William H. "Bob" Bailey was born in 1927 and came to Las Vegas in 1955. First employed as an assistant producer and master of ceremonies in the first interracial hotel in Nevada, the Moulin Rouge, he describes the impact that hotel had on black entertainers during its brief existence. Bailey says the hotel brought life to the Westside where, in 1955, there were only a few telephones and the streets were largely unpaved.

Mary Louise Williams was born on October 20, 1926 in Cleveland, Ohio to Carrie Randolph and Tom Forte. She was musically trained and first arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1955 to work at the Moulin Rouge Hotel and Casino. Even though as a dancer she worked frequently in Las Vegas and visited the city many times, she didn't move to Las Vegas until her retirement from her career in social work and teaching in New York.