Historians say the contributions of Black women during that era helped shape the city’s cultural and economic identity.

One of this work’s main contributions is the analysis of the relationship between a difficult past and a tourism-oriented future, heard in the voices of those who are often ignored but directly affected by planning strategies and policies.

The Moulin Rouge Agreement opened Strip casinos to Black patrons, but full workplace integration took more than a decade longer

Las Vegas sold glamour long before it sold equality. In the mid-20th century, the Strip proudly booked Black entertainers to headline its most famous showrooms — while quietly denying many of them the right to fully exist in the same spaces they helped make profitable, according to historical accounts from the Nevada State Museum and local historians documenting segregation-era Las Vegas.

The earliest settlers and their direct descendants became notable leaders throughout Las Vegas in the 20th century, helped build up the Historic Westside, and now make up the African American community across the Las Vegas Valley.

The project is part of the HUNDRED Plan, an acronym for Historic Urban Neighborhood Design Redevelopment. In 2016, residents worked with graduate students from UNLV to create a vision for what they wanted to see on the Historic Westside.

During the segregation era, Black residents, workers, and entertainers were largely pushed off the Strip and into the Westside because of discriminatory housing and business practices that limited where they could live and gather, according to historians and oral histories preserved by UNLV and local museums. What could have been a story of isolation instead became one of creation. Block by block, the Westside developed its own ecosystem of hotels, restaurants, clubs, and gathering spaces that welcomed people the Strip shut out.

Long before Las Vegas became the diverse media market it is today, Black journalists and radio personalities were helping shape local storytelling in a city where representation on air was limited. According to historical accounts archived by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Special Collections and longtime community historians, early Black broadcasters played a critical role in expanding who delivered the news — and whose stories were told.

More than 70 years later, the low-income housing complex in the Historic Westside is being redeveloped, with the high-priced venture set to completely remake a pocket of a neighborhood once defined by segregation.

Slot machines in Nevada have gotten tighter over the years, according to a recent report from UNLV. The university's Center for Gaming Research published its annual report on the historical hold percentage, or the portion of money gambled that a casino retains, for Silver State slots.

There’s a theory — maybe call it a conspiracy theory? — that the reason Nevada gaming win is up despite visitation being down is that the state’s slot machines are taking more money than they’re legally allowed. But Nevada regulators say not only is that virtually impossible, but that casinos would be foolish to even attempt it.

The difference between online and physical slot machines is another factor influencing expectations. Online titles often feature higher RTP rates, typically ranging from 95 to 98 percent, compared with land-based games, which may sit closer to 90 or 92 percent. Supporting this, Nevada Gaming Revenues' Long-Term Trends, conducted by the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2025, notes that slot machine units on casino floors have dropped more than one-third since 2000 (as they are migrating to online platforms), but total win has climbed almost 70 percent.