Essie Shelton Jacobs (Essie Jean Shelton) was born in Fordyce, Arkansas on July, 11, 1925. Jacobs arrived in Las Vegas 1963 and worked in housekeeping at Aladdin Hotel for twenty-three years. Active in the Culinary Union, she worked as a supervisor and shop steward.

Eva Poole Whaley was born on November 22, 1942 in Fordyce, Arkansas. She moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in the early 1960s. She worked in the Clark County School District. She and her husband were restaurant owners before Eva worked at Nevada Power, and then for the telephone company.