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.

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.

Saturday marks two years since a gunman opened fire at UNLV, killing three professors and injuring a fourth. The shooting happened December 6, 2023. Police say the gunman came to campus heavily armed and opened fire at Beam Hall, hitting four professors. Three of them died. Two Metro Police officers gave medical assistance to the fourth victim in the middle of the active scene. Those officers were later honored for saving his life.

Two years after the tragic shooting that killed three professors on UNLV’s campus, ways to honor the victims’ memory are beginning to take shape.

Two years after a gunman killed three UNLV professors and seriously injured another, the college says it has plans to construct a healing garden that memorializes the tragedy.