The Harmon family was one of the early settlers of Las Vegas, Nevada. Since the early 1900s, the Harmon family has been invovled with Las Vegas's political and business development.

Adele Baratz (née Salton) was born in New Jersey on August 11, 1926 and her family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada when she was two years old. Her father sold bootlegger supplies and later owned and operated Al’s Bar, a popular place to drink among Union Pacific Railroad workers. For two summers, Baratz worked as a messenger and in the rationing department of the Gunnery School at the Las Vegas Army Airfield.