In the days of segregation, black entertainers often found themselves in the bitter position of performing in venues they could not enter as customers. In Las Vegas, famous black performers stayed in private homes with black families while in town.
During this time, the Moulin Rouge was the only hotel and casino in Las Vegas to allow black patrons and guests. The Moulin Rouge was the creation of restauranteur Louis Rubin and real estate entrepreneur Alexander Bisno. It opened in May of 1955 and closed in September of the same year. During its brief life, however, many well-known black celebrities such as Lena Horne and Sammy Davis, Jr. stayed at the Moulin Rouge while singing at Caesar's Palace, The Sands and other "white" establishments.
There are a number of theories regarding the hotel's failure. Some suggest that the integration of the major, more centrally-located casinos caused its customer base to disperse. Others point to changes made in the contracts of entertainers at the other five casinos in town which prevented them from playing after-hours gigs, a change that effectively (and perhaps not coincidentally) barred a lot of popular acts from playing the Moulin Rouge.
The 1960 agreement that ended segregation in the hotels and casinos of Las Vegas was signed in the Moulin Rouge. The property, which has since passed from one owner to another, was on the National Registry of Historic Places until it was destroyed in a fire on May 29, 2003.
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