"Sarann Knight Preddy" (1920-)

sSarann migrated to Las Vegas in 1942,settling with her husband in the Westside African American community.Sarann first sought employment on Jackson Street,the black business district,and soon became a Keno writer in the Cotton Club.She moved to Hawkthorne,Nevada with her husband and purchased her first gaming venture, a nightclub for blacks offered to her for $600.00.Borrowing the money from her father,she renamed the enterprise the Tonga Club,and operated it for seven years.With club ownership she became the first black woman to own a gaming license in Nevada.She returned to Las Vegas in 1955 and one year later went to work at Jerry's Nugget as an experiment.The NAACP had been told that Jerry's would hire a black dealer if they could send in a qualified person.She accepted the challenge,intending to work at the North Las Vegas casino for six months. Sarann stayed there for seven years.She went back into business for herself as the owner and operator of The People's Choice Casino.Sarann then purchased the famed Moulin Rouge.Since its 1955 opening and closing, the resort had passed through several owners never realizing the success that it had enjoyed in its heyday.The problems continued despite her best efforts.The Moulin was closed in the late 1990s.The famed hotel casino burned to the ground in 2003.Sarann also ran for the Las Vegas City Council,served on the local NAACP Executive Board.organized the Women's Auxiliary to the local NAACP branch,and became a founding member of the Las Vegas Barbara Jordan Democratic Club.She was a key leader in the business sorority,Gamma,Phi Delta.She still resides in Las Vegas and is currently working with a group of black womento organize the Las Vegas Black Historical Society.