Part of an interview with Katherine Duncan and Sarann Knight Preddy (not featured in clip) by Claytee White, November 28, 2004. Duncan describes how she started a black heritage tour of Las Vegas.
Oral history interview with Sarann Knight Preddy conducted by Yvonne R. Hunter on July 16, 1975 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. Knight discusses her bar (The Lincoln Bar) in Hawthorne, Nevada and how she built it for the African American community because of limited access to venues due to segregation. Knight then talks about working with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the influence that gambling had on the community.
Sarann Preddy was born July 27, 1920 in Eufaula, Oklahoma. Sarann Knight Preddy moved to Hawthorne, Nevada, in the 1940s, becoming a business owner and president of the NAACP. Later she moved to Las Vegas, where she served as a community activist and worked as one of the first black 21-dealers. Preddy bought the Moulin Rouge Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada and worked to preserve the building and its history. She passed away on December 22, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Interview with Sarann Knight [Preddy] conducted by Yvonne Hunter on July 16, 1975. Preddy moved to Hawthorne, Nevada, in the 1940s, becoming a business owner and president of the NAACP. Later she moved to Las Vegas, where she served as a community activist and worked as one of the first black 21-dealers.
Katherine Duncan was born in Ratio, Arkansas. Her parents, who were sharecroppers, and her 11 brothers and sister migrated to Boston in the winter of 1969. She moved to Las Vegas on July 7th, 1977 and started working at the MGM Grand Hotel. She also worked with the Nevada Motion Picture Services, at her own travel agency, and at the Riviera Resort and Casino. She started a black heritage tour of Las Vegas.
Woodrow Wilson was born in Morton, Mississippi on August 28, 1915. He moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1932. He worked at the Basic Magnesium plant, was the first African American Nevada Assemblyman elected in 1966, and served as president of the Las Vegas chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples.
The mission of the Urban Chamber of Commerce is to create and foster an environment that promotes development of members and black owned businesses. The Nevada Black Chamber of Commerce was founded July 7, 1980, after the idea was planted by Katherine Joseph. Ms. Joseph met with members of the Oakland, California Chamber of Commerce during a visit there and was very impressed with their efforts. When Katherine returned home she shared the idea with members of the NAACP. She solicited the help of Sarann Knight-Preddy who formed a board consisting of Dr.