Dr. Cheryl Radeloff was born in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up in Beavercreek, Ohio in the 1960s. Radeloff received her master's degree in sociology from the University of Toledo in 1996, and heard about a research position at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). She contacted Dr. Maralee Mayberry and Dr. Peg Rees of the UNLV sociology department and was hired as a graduate assistant through Promise (Projects for Interdisciplinary and Multi-cultural Study in Education).

Sam Stearns was an owner-operator of several casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1935 he bought the Meadows Club on Boulder Highway with his brother Dave Stearns and Larry Potter. By 1941, the Stearns brothers also operated the Northern Club in downtown Las Vegas, which Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel invested $18,000 in.

Michael Jay Shane grew up in Kew Gardens in the Queens borough of New York City, New York. Shane graduated from High School of Performing Arts and later attended Peabody Conservatory of Music before leaving to launch his full-time entertainment career. He moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1995. He played piano at Wynn's Tower Suite Bar, Bootlegger, and Italian American Club.

Joyce Moore was born May 8, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois. Her family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in December of 1953. Moore attended school at Sunrise Acres Elementary School until eighth grade and then went to Rancho High School, graduating in 1962. As of 2018, she works as an archivist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.