The First Ever Black Woman Casino License Owner

Sarann Knight-Preddy

The first black woman in history to receive a gaming licence and later set up an integrated casino, Sarann Knight-Preddy is an inspiration to millions of black – and white – women worldwide.

Born in 1920 at Eufaula, Oklahoma, she grew up in a period when a woman’s place was considered in the home – not running a business, and as a serial entrepreneur to boot. Discriminated against for being both black and female, she didn’t let the naysayers stop her. To the extent she wasn’t just a gaming pioneer, she also later went on to become a much-admired civil rights activist.

It wasn’t until 1950 when Knight-Preddy received her gaming licence. This was after she moved to Hawthorne, Nevada with husband Luther Walker in 1942. The pair ‘upped sticks’ to look for a better life. They landed in the West side of Town on Jackson Street – an area synonymous with black business. Her first foray into the world of gaming was a Keno writer at the city’s Cotton Club here. But it wasn’t long before she craved more action and took up residence at the Tonga Club– the only casino for black Americans in town. Borrowing $600.00 from her father to fund the venture, she turned it into a nightclub and casino for locals. She happily dealt tables there for seven years before finally heading off to Las Vegas and working as a dealer at Jerry’s Nugget. She had intended to just work for six months as the only black dealer on the Strip. But she stayed six years, before returning to the black neighbourhood to open her own casino, The People’s Choice.

Knight-Preddy’s activism led to her becoming one of the original founders of the Las Vegas Black Historical Society. She was also former vice-president of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP).

In later life, she and her third husband, Joe Preddy, fought to bring the dilapidated casino and bar Moulin Rouge in Las Vegas, back to life. An important building to Knight-Preddy, being the first integrated hotel-casino in the city when it opened in 1955, she wanted to revive its legacy. After all, it was here that a document was signed on March 26, 1960 that made segregation on the Las Vegas Strip illegal. Despite working on the building between 1985 to 1997 – and selling her own home to fund the project – she was finally forced to put her plans on hold due to further funding difficulties. The fact that at that point Knight-Preddy was also refused a long-term gaming licence, didn’t help.

During her 20s and 40s Knight Preddy divorced her first husband, married another and gave birth to four children. In total she married five times.

It wasn’t her money men were after. There was her indominable spirit, of course. But Knight-Preddy was also stylish, beautiful and compassionate. In other words, she had everything going for her; she was admired by both men and women.

One of these people who revered her was Las Vegas City Councilman Ricki Barlow. He described her as ‘a true Nevadan.’ And that was in terms of the work she’d done for the city alone.

He added: “You couldn’t get around that she was such an elaborate dresser. She had an elegant turn of phrase and carried herself well. Not only that, but she handled most situations very well and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, even if she didn’t agree with you. She was a beautiful person inside and out.”

Fellow politician, State Assemblyman Harvey Munford also delivered a turkey to Knight-Preddy and her family every Thanksgiving. “She had her heart and soul in the community,” he said.

In a recent interview when she turned 90 years old – and was still driving – Knight-Preddy said: “I feel proud. Sometimes I think, ‘How did I do all of those things?’ Then I think, ‘I’m 90 years old. I had to do something, “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I wasn’t busy.”
She added: “My life has been really great,” she said in 2011. “I never worry about the past. I’m always looking toward the next thing.”

As you might expect, Knight-Preddy’s legacy lives on in the area in which she lived and worked. She became the first President of the Nevada Black Chamber of Commerce, after all. A position she used to help her advocate for the needs of the residents of West Las Vegas. An affordable housing complex on Jackson Avenue, built in 2009, is named after her. Its community room is a shrine to her achievements.

Manager of the complex is Dora LaGrande. She was lucky enough to meet Knight-Preddy back in 1985. “She was one of the most compassionate women you will ever meet,” she said.

“We developed a heart-warming relationship, she was a mother figure to me.”

Knight-Preddy’s great-grandson Avree Walker is also keen to keeps her memory alive.

“I think my grandmother was such a great example of how much you can be effective as one individual,” he said.

“An individual who was African American, she took risks and made sacrifices for the benefit of people who look like me. She made sure you understood that you had power within you,” he added.

Knight-Preddy, herself modestly put most of her successes down to “good timing.” At the age of 88 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. She is only the second black woman to do so – the first being singer Diana Ross.

She passed away in December 2018, aged 94. Her fascinating and eventful life history is detailed in her autobiography, titled‘72 Years in Las Vegas.’