Jerome Countess was born on December 22, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York. His mother raised him as a single mother, making ends meet with her job in a clothing factory. Countess's father rarely held a job, and his mother divorced him when Countess was three-years-old. Countess grew up in the borough's Jewish neighborhood, and he developed a reputation for being a skillful handball player and a great dancer.

"Dr. Charles West was a prominent African-American figure who worked to advance the cause of civil rights in Southern Nevada.

Charles I. West was born in Washington, D.C. on September 27, 1908. His parents, Dr. Charles and Rebekah West, had four children.

Cora Semmes Ives (1834-1916) was an American writer during the mid-1800s. She was well-known for writing the pro-Confederate utopian novel, The Princess of the Moon: A Confederate Fairy Story.