Collins, Gene, 1943-

Gene Collins was born to Gertha and Isaac Collins in Lake Providence, Louisiana. Gene's mother relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada in the 1950's with his sisters but Gene stayed in Louisiana with his grandparents until college and then migrated to Las Vegas in 1966. Gene and his family lived in West Las Vegas which at the time was a thriving community due to segregation on the Strip. Gene worked as an operator's engineer at the Nevada Test Site and later trained as an engineer. He worked with John Patawski and later joined the Aaron Williams Youth Organization and founded a community baseball organization. As a state assemblyman, Collins was instrumental in getting the Martin Luther King Holiday Bill passed along with establishing the Sarah Allen Credit Union. Because of his involvement with the Ministerial Alliance, he was asked to run for president of the NAACP. Under his presidency, he addressed the lack of African Americans in the gaming industry in addition to filing the largest EEOC discrimination suit filed in the state of Nevada against The Mirage Hotel and Casino.