American photographer Glenn Augustus Davis was born March 22, 1894 in Portland, Oregon. He attended school in Oregon and Washington prior to working in the lumber camps and saw mills of Washington and British Columbia. He served in the US Army from 1915 to 1920. He was a member of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) on the Western Front in France during World War I. In the years following the war, Davis returned to the US and worked as a cook, a cotton grower, and a seaman before following his passion for photography.

Arthur “Art” Sloan (1930-2019) was a philanthropist and a successful entrepreneur who ran multiple businesses that specialized in lighting and air conditioning. During his time in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sloan collected materials from casinos such as the Flamingo, El Rancho, and Hotel Last Frontier. These materials included ash trays, silverware, postcards, photographs, dice, playing cards, and casino memorabilia.

Martin Lopez-Castillo was born in the small town of La Perla, Cuautitlán Izcalli in the State of Mexico. He grew up in a large Catholic family and was taught the meaning of hard work from a young age. Competitive by nature, he excelled in academics and always understood the importance of receiving an education. He left his hometown, immigrating to Phoenix, Arizona, and finally reached Colorado, where he worked as a cook for a Village Inn.