Moulin Rouge

University of Nevada
Oral History Program
Mail Stop 324
Reno, NV 89557-0099

775/784-6932
Fax: 775/784-1365
E-mail: ohp@unr.nevada.edu

Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Room 109 of the Mack Social Science Building on the University of Nevada, Reno campus

Moulin Rouge Agreement

By the end of the 1940s, the gaming industry was the major source of employment in Las Vegas, but segregation limited blacks to the most menial jobs on the Strip and denied them access to the hotel-casinos as customers. The black community in the 1950s sought an end to racial discrimination using boycotts and demonstrations, which culminated in 1960 with the Moulin Rouge Agreement.
The Moulin Rouge Agreement occurred on March 25th, 1960, as part of negotiations between the black community, Las Vegas business leaders, and local and state government officials to avert a demonstration scheduled for the next day on the Las Vegas Strip. The agreement required the gaming industry to stop discriminating against blacks in employment and to open hotel-casinos to blacks as customers. As a result of the settlement, the gaming industry expanded employment opportunities for blacks to include the positions of dealers, floor managers, and personnel managers. Blacks also formed teams to test access to the hotel-casinos. A few casinos, such as the Sal Sagev and Binion's, did not participate in the agreement until later.
Dr James McMillan was the president of the Las Vegas NAACP at the time and acted as the voice of the black community in the negotiations, while other NAACP members at the meeting included Dave Hoggard, Woodrow Wilson, Bob Bailey, Lubertha Johnson, and Donald Clark. Hank Greenspun of the Las Vegas Sun acted as mediator, and Las Vegas Mayor Oran Gragson and Nevada Governor Grant Sawyer were also instrumental in achieving the agreement. Oscar Crozier, the black owner of the El Morocco, had connections to the gaming industry and played an important role as a liaison between the NAACP and the hotel-casino owners.

		Lubertha Johnson (1906-1989) was a member and a past president of the Las Vegas NAACP.
		Woodrow Wilson (1915-1999) was a member of the NAACP executive board and participated in the Moulin Rouge meeting.
		James McMillan (1917-1999) was the president of the Las Vegas NAACP at the time the Moulin Rouge Agreement was negotiated.
		Clarence Ray (1900-1993) was a founding member of the Las Vegas NAACP.