Soul to Soul

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The following is special programming sponsored by Public Radio KUNV 91.5. The content of Soul2Soul does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jazz & More, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

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This is Soul to Soul, universal ideas for a brighter tomorrow.

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This show is a free for all of positive energy that includes books, music, politics, books, food, COVID-19, oral interviews, more books, and Las Vegas history. So today my show is with one of the most renowned local historians in the city, Bob Stodall. You know Bob because he has done everything, television, radio, everything, newspapers, and now he's here with me to talk about the Biltmore. So let me warn you first. When we quote today, we may use the words colored and Negro and other terms that refer to black people at one point. So I just want

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to prepare you for that. Bob, how are you today? I am great and I like the fact that you referenced three times or four times in your introduction that this is about books. Because there's a person we're going to talk about that should have a book written about him.

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Fantastic. And you know Bob is probably the person to write that book. So we're going to begin today, we're going to talk about the Biltmore. And we're going to start with the term, just discussing it lightly, the Mississippi of the West. A lot of you asked me about that term. So Bob, how do you explain that connection using that term for Las Vegas and for Nevada? How did it happen? You know, I may get a

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bit emotional on some of these things, having researched this topic and having gone back to that period of time many, many times. We're talking about the 40s in Las Vegas. It was a period of time in Las Vegas where it was a massive amount of change was going on. It was the war time. It was the end of the war. It was post-war. It was building that was being held back because of supplies and all of a sudden post-World War II, buildings are going up left and right, things like the Flamingo Hotel. It was also a time of change for the community. Up until the beginning of that decade, the 1940s, most of the gambling and the hospitality industry was run and owned That all changed by the mid-1940s. It was a large number of people came from Southern California, gamblers, investors, restaurateurs, all kinds of people. There was also another influx, and this came from the South. There was a need for defense workers in Las Vegas, and there were a couple of communities, African-American black communities in the South, that supplied a lot of these workers in the early years, 1942-43, for Henderson. So up until that point, the black community in Las Vegas was probably less than a thousand, maybe five hundred, six hundred people, and all of a sudden, by the mid-1940s, it was closer to several thousand. And they were scattered from what was then basic, turned to be in the community of Henderson, and also in West Las Vegas. And there was a population, a larger population in West Las Vegas, largely because that was where the culture was, the culture of the churches, the culture, the religion side, the entertainment side, the stores, the businesses for the black population. And so when the jobs were eliminated because of the end of the war and there was no need for the defense workers, Las Vegas, the West Side, became the community where the African-American felt comfortable and in some ways, in more ways than one, was forced to live. They just were not allowed to buy homes elsewhere in the community or live or eat or gamble. It was an island in the city of Las Vegas. And so with that came a great deal of a lack of investment by the city of Las Vegas in that community, streets and services, whether they're electrical or water, all the essential things that were being provided to the rest of the community. And out of that was clearly voices were saying, wait a minute, this is not right. The voices were here in Las Vegas, but were also heard outside of Las Vegas. And with that came the title of Mississippi of

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Las Vegas. Wonderful. I think that is a wonderful way to explain that. I get the the question all the time and I admire that answer. Thank you. So in 1942, we've just been in the war for about a year. During our engagement in World War II, Bob Brooks built the Biltmore. So first tell me something about the importance of the location that he purchased.

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Well, the Biltmore, the Nevada Biltmore as it was, was on the northeast corner of Maine and Bonanza. Now today we would wonder why somebody would put a large resort, a casino, an entertainment facility at that spot. But in 1942, it was a major intersection. US Highway 91 coming in from Salt Lake City came down Main Street and then made a left going east on Fremont Street. Fremont Street was a U.S. highway, but there was a second highway, and that was U.S. 93 that was coming down from Reno and Tonopah. It came down Bonanza, and it too, this one made a right turn onto Main Street and then a left onto Fremont Street. The city's only bus line ran down Bonanza to the city and along Main Street, and there was a bus stop right there on the northeast corner. This was a major intersection between Fremont Street and there was something new that was being built out north, and that was called the Las Vegas Army Gunnery School. perfect spot for a casino, a resort and a hotel. And right behind it had already started something called the Biltmore Bungalows, a residential area that was being built. The key thing here that I want to think about is out of those four resorts, we had four different resorts. The first one was the El Rancho Vegas out in US 91 built by somebody from California. The El Cortez, which opened up in November 7th of 1941, down on East Fremont Street, that was built by Californians. A third place, called the Nevada Biltmore, the one we're talking about, was built, as you say, by Bob Brooks, who had a major restaurant called the Seven Seas. It was located across the street from Grauman's Theater, and he put on what were called authentic Polynesian shows. And at that time, they could be considered authentic Polynesian shows because he brought in people from Hawaii and got some pats on the back for putting on an authentic show. But of course, it was an entertainment show. So he came to Las Vegas, bought the property down on Main Street, largely because there was room to build there. Same reason that you had the building on the strip with the first the Old Rancho Vegas and then after the Biltmore was built, the last Frontier was built out on US-91, all because of space. There was no space in the first couple of blocks of Fremont Street. Those were all old buildings that were converted and were retailed. They were hardware stores that were converted into casinos, etc. But no room for pools, no room for all the amenities you would want in a modern resort. And that's why also the El Cortez moved all the way down to the 6th Street so it had space. But Bob Brooks found the spot, perfect place, US highway intersection between the Army Gunnery School and Fremont Street. So he built himself a Polynesian themed restaurant and casino and hotel, very upscale facility.

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So you have a postcard in your collection that shows a picture of it, can you describe it?

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Well, it was, if any of the Las Vegas were ever at Don the Beachcombers, it was like that. Bamboo, Polynesian, something Las Vegas didn't have that was very, and he knew how to do it, and he did it real well.

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So this was just the first owner. If your memory serves you right now, can you talk about a couple of those other owners?

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Well, as the war is coming to an end, Brooks, who later moved to Las Vegas, realizes the investment is not on North Main Street, the investment is out on the US highway. So he starts buying property out on the US highway, becomes good friends with Moe Dalitz, opens up a couple of his own motels that are out there, and decides about 44, 45, it's time to sell. So he sold it, and then that person had it for a little while and that person sold it to a band leader by the name of Horace Heights a Famous band leader in the United States and and Horace had it And over the period of time that he had it for a decade He sold it. I think at last count to least or sold it to eight different people It just was and they tried all kinds of different things. They brought in a gentleman by the name of Frank Barboro, and he was a major player in Detroit. He had a nightclub there for a long time, and when he bought the place, and usually the word bought and leased kind of interchangeably because they kept changing hands and foreclosing on each other. But he brought it in 1947 and he was bringing in entertainment, big names, and he announced that he was going to bring in Rochester. Wow. Eddie Anderson. So I know who that is, but I bet you our listeners don't. Edward Anderson was an entertainer that started in vaudeville, had a group called the three aces, and he auditioned in Los Angeles for a radio show that was popular, it was called the Jack Benny show. And Jack Benny was up there in the ranks with Bob Hope in the 30s and 40s, one of the day and they were looking for to add to the staff and to change, do some things. So they hired Eddie Anderson as was the the top jobs for African-Americans in the entertainment field within the movie industry and radio. You had your choice, you could be a chauffeur, you could be a butler, you could be a valet, you could be a pullman. Those were the jobs that were available in the entertainment industry as far as radio and film was both. So he was hired as a pullman.

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As a valet?

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A pullman on a train. Okay. That was uh... and he connected with the Benny crowd during the radio show. And it was a one-time, it was hard to do it once. His professional attitude with that one appearance set well with the Benny team, so they brought him back for another one. And he played a different role. But his gravelly voice and the way his timing and other things about him, the audience loved him. And within a few months, he was now a full-time character. And within a few years, he was the number two guy. He was, he still had, you know, still carried with him all those negative things that were attached to African-American personality in the films and so forth. If you were a chauffeur, all of those things, but you also probably gambled too much and you probably drank too much. So Rochester had those elements. Now they would evaporate out of his character, although he kept smoking the cigar, that was his signal, but by the mid to late 40s, the show had changed how it was handling the Rochester character. But in the meantime, Rochester becomes very rich, not only because he is being paid a salary in the $100,000 range, because he's a smart businessman, he makes wise investments, and so he has this and he's got that and money is coming in. And so he is on tour during the summertime when the Benny show is in reruns, when he's making appearances, and a big name, a big name, that was a big deal for the Biltmore. Well before that date appears, Barbaro, it turns out he was here to get a divorce, and then he didn't make enough money at the Biltmore, and he's booted out along with the idea that they were going to book big-name entertainers so Rochester didn't appear in 1947.

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Oh ok I didn't realize he did not appear so now the property is kind of in limbo as it has been for a while and they began to talk about operating it for the colored trade exclusively.

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Okay, you're about a year ahead of yourself.

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Oh, sorry.

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So let me, because in between, in between Rochester in 1948 is booked, he's the second person to be booked into this brand new hotel, the Thunderbird. The first person is Nat King Cole. The second person is Rochester. And guess where two of them can't stay? They can't stay at the Thunderbird Hotel. Natkin Cole finds a motel and is able to do that and later cuts a deal with the owner. But Rochester, well we know where he stayed. He stayed at the Harrison House. How do we know he stayed at the Harrison house? Because I found the newspaper article. Mrs. Harrison Said everybody here today is a great happy family. The place was packed There were two other musical groups In in the in the Harrison house of the time along with Arthur Simpkins and his wife. Oh, we all have dinner together We have a great time and we gossip about music and the entertainment, said Mrs. Harrison. Well let's back up here and that is Rochester. Eddie Anderson has a mansion in California that was designed by Paul Revere Williams and he has a movie studio where he can show movies. And it's this massive place and of course he has his own staff. And so he's used to that sort of living, not living at the Harrison House. So I'm thinking that's where a seed was planted for, by the end of the year in 48, there's already a buzz. A buzz that a black man is interested in buying the Biltmore Hotel. Right now, the Biltmore Hotel is owned by Lou Weiner, Bugsy Siegel's attorney, B. Milan Brown, another well-known attorney, former Justice of the Peace, Jimmy Sills, who had a drive-in restaurant at Charleston and Fremont, one of the big circular drive-ins where you drove up with your car and somebody came out and helped you. And Carl Amenti, a gambler, a well-known, well-respected gambler, they bought the place. They too, after six or seven months, said, ìThis is not working.î Somewhere along the line, they got connected with Anderson. And in November, the end of November, two of them go to L.A., a business trip, Amante and Sylve, within days after they come back, the rumor is around town that Anderson's going to buy the place. Well they said, no, no, wait a minute, they put out a release, they said no, but what they said no to was, and the quote was, nobody has provided us with a firm offer to buy the place. It is for sale, but nobody has given us a firm offer. That was the non-denial denial that it was Eddie Anderson. And so then things moved a little bit slower, a little backdoor, behind the scenes, and now we're getting into where Lou Weiner and his group, they decide, we're going to sell the place to somebody that is willing to sell it to Anderson. So why didn't he want to sell it to Anderson? That question needs to be determined, because you look at the history of Lou Weiner, you look at the history of Milan Brown, these two were progressive in their day and age and their history doesn't show hardcore signs of racism, just the opposite. But for some reason they felt that they needed to sell it to somebody else who would sell it to Anderson. And that guy, a company was formed called the Texas Nevada Corporation, and a guy from Texas, Russ Snowden, bought the place. And then he hired somebody, a guy by the name of Hunter, and Hunter was telling people he and hunter uh... was telling people he was going to open up as a uh... as a negro only uh... business casino

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game of the hotels and and so forth

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so for the color trade exclusively yes although i don't think i ever got quite to the phrase exclusively uh... uh... because there was a there's a line that that that hunter said that he was still trying to hire an all black staff. And we're talking about, and it makes me get just a little irritated, we're talking about 36 days. for black visitors, for the local population. But before those 36 states started, the city of Las Vegas, the mayor... And who was the mayor at the time, Bob? Ernie Cregan. Ernie Cregan also owned the El Portal movie theater and selected a place where the African-American moviegoer had to sit. That was over on the, as you're looking at the stage, it's over on the right side in the back. So Craig then already has a bit of a reputation as not supportive of the black community, largely because he is not moving forward with any improvements that we talked about before on streets and those kinds of things. And so the area, which is one of the oldest in town, goes back to 1905, was in disrepair in many ways. Then you had a gentleman that was on the city commission, his name was Reed Whipple, and was the one that said, no, the Biltmore is not going to get a gaming license, they're not going to get a liquor license, they pulled that out of the facility. And so the neighborhood behind that, the Biltmore, there were several residents there that also said, we don't want it, it's going to hurt the, if you turn this into a black resort, it's going to hurt our property values. A member of the Las Vegas City Commission, Wendell Bunker, agreed with him.

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Well, and at that time, in some cases, if you were too close to a black community, your house was, it could lose value.

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Well, that I think is worthy of a whole other discussion. But we're talking about a community where the African-American man, woman, or child was not allowed in restaurants. Adults couldn't gamble on Fremont Street. There's always going to be some unintended consequences with change. But this was the city of Las Vegas putting up roadblocks. In the meantime, Anderson is still trying to work out a deal. And we have about three minutes. And with the city of Las Vegas saying no gambling license, no liquor license, although they did allow the citizens to bring in their own liquor for when the restaurant was open. And for those 36 days that the Biltmore was open to African-American visitors and the locals, it's 36 days. It's a moment in our history that needs to be remembered.

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I agree, I agree. So quickly, tell me how the NAACP under Woodrow Wilson responded.

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Well, the NAACP was Woodrow Wilson as the people in the Biltmore, several of the people, not everybody in the Biltmore bungalows were opposed to it, but several people were opposed to it. At the same time, Woodrow Wilson, who was head of the, the president of the NAACP at that time, he had a meeting, invited the mayor and the city council to come down to, at the Second Baptist Church. They didn't show up they just send a message saying if you want to meet come over to the city hall so Woodrow Wilson said okay and fifty members of the community went over there and and and he made a very passionate uh... uh... speech saying no this this this is not right to the point that the mayors at least said publicly we cannot stop different races from attending that, going to that hotel. But behind the scenes, of course, things were different. But it was Wilson and the people with him that really put things in motion. Of course, he became a state legislator and is well respected for the work he did.

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This is amazing. This is history that we don't know. So I really applaud all of the research that you've done around this. So I'm going to claim it. I'm going to also write about it and talk about it. So thank you so much for coming to the program today. I will say it's been a very positive and emotional honor. Wonderful. So this is Soul to Soul, Sunday mornings at 830, the fourth Sunday of every month. Soul to Soul is universal ideas for a brighter tomorrow. It's a show about positive energy, a show that talks about music and politics and books and food and books and Las Vegas history. Have a wonderful day.

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You've been listening to special programming sponsored by Public Radio KUNV 91.5. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jazz and More, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

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so I'm not sure if I'm going to be doing a lot of work on this. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Thank you.

Transcribed with Cockatoo