{"id":54459,"date":"2023-07-06T02:59:54","date_gmt":"2023-07-06T02:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gaming-awards.com\/NEWS\/?p=54459"},"modified":"2023-07-05T10:06:52","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T10:06:52","slug":"the-first-ever-black-woman-casino-license-owner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaming-awards.com\/NEWS\/the-first-ever-black-woman-casino-license-owner\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Ever Black Woman Casino License Owner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Sarann Knight-Preddy<\/p><\/div>\n

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 \u2013 and white – women worldwide.<\/p>\n

Born in 1920 at Eufaula, Oklahoma, she grew up in a period when a woman\u2019s place was considered in the home \u2013 not running a business, and as a serial entrepreneur to boot. Discriminated against for being both black and female, she didn\u2019t let the naysayers stop her. To the extent she wasn\u2019t just a gaming pioneer, she also later went on to become a much-admired civil rights activist.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t 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 \u2018upped sticks\u2019 to look for a better life. They landed in the West side of Town on Jackson Street \u2013 an area synonymous with black business. Her first foray into the world of gaming was a Keno writer at the city\u2019s Cotton Club here. But it wasn\u2019t long before she craved more action and took up residence at the Tonga Club\u2013 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\u2019s 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\u2019s Choice.<\/p>\n

Knight-Preddy\u2019s 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).<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 and selling her own home to fund the project \u2013 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\u2019t help.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

One of these people who revered her was Las Vegas City Councilman Ricki Barlow. He described her as \u2018a true Nevadan.\u2019 And that was in terms of the work she\u2019d done for the city alone.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cYou couldn\u2019t 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\u2019t afraid to speak her mind, even if she didn\u2019t agree with you. She was a beautiful person inside and out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow politician, State Assemblyman Harvey Munford also delivered a turkey to Knight-Preddy and her family every Thanksgiving. \u201cShe had her heart and soul in the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview when she turned 90 years old \u2013 and was still driving – Knight-Preddy said: \u201cI feel proud. Sometimes I think, \u2018How did I do all of those things?\u2019 Then I think, \u2018I\u2019m 90 years old. I had to do something, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t know what to do with myself if I wasn\u2019t busy.\u201d
\nShe added: \u201cMy life has been really great,\u201d she said in 2011. \u201cI never worry about the past. I\u2019m always looking toward the next thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

As you might expect, Knight-Preddy\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Manager of the complex is Dora LaGrande. She was lucky enough to meet Knight-Preddy back in 1985. \u201cShe was one of the most compassionate women you will ever meet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe developed a heart-warming relationship, she was a mother figure to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knight-Preddy\u2019s great-grandson Avree Walker is also keen to keeps her memory alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my grandmother was such a great example of how much you can be effective as one individual,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn 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,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Knight-Preddy, herself modestly put most of her successes down to \u201cgood timing.\u201d 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 \u2013 the first being singer Diana Ross.<\/p>\n

She passed away in December 2018, aged 94. Her fascinating and eventful life history is detailed in her autobiography, titled\u201872 Years in Las Vegas.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u2013 and white – women worldwide. Born in 1920 at Eufaula, Oklahoma, she grew up in a period when a woman\u2019s place was considered in the home \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":54461,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,11,8,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming","category-headlines","category-latest","category-n-america"],"yoast_head":"\nThe First Ever Black Woman Casino License Owner - iGaming Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gaming-awards.com\/NEWS\/the-first-ever-black-woman-casino-license-owner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The First Ever Black Woman Casino License Owner - iGaming Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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 \u2013 and white – women worldwide. 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