Don Cunningham, Jazz musician and Las Vegas resident was born in 1931 in St. Louis, Missouri. As a child he was heavily influenced by blues and jazz musicians such as BB King, Count Basie, and Ella Fitzgerald. Growing up in St. Louis Cunningham worked shining shoes and cleaning steps going to white neighborhoods working inside taverns. He received saxophone lessons from a family friend and joined the band attending a segregated high school.

Isabella Jessie Curtis was born February 26, 1922 in Monroe, Wisconsin. She moved to Las Vegas, Nevada when she was 25 years old because her husband had a job as a cook in a restaurant called the White Spot. She worked as a waitress in multiple casinos throughout Las Vegas, including the Tropicana Hotel, the Showboat Hotel and Casino, and the El Cortez Hotel.

Ellen Knowlton, retired FBI agent and former Mob Museum Chairman of the Board grew up in Merced, California. She attended Sacramento State University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business, later adding on an MBA from St. Mary’s.

Dr. Darville Knowles was born September 11, 1948 in Miami, Florida. His mother and father were schoolteachers in Dade County, Florida. After their divorce in 1962, Knowles’ mother relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada with her two sons and took a teaching position there. Knowles graduated from college and attended Howard University and Stanford University Medical School and completed his internship at the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, Missouri. Dan Wilkes, a family friend and pathologist in Las Vegas, convinced Knowles to look at Las Vegas for job opportunities.