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Sarann Knight-Preddy (July 27, 1920 - December 22, 2014) was an American business leader and gaming pioneer in the U.S. state of Nevada. In 1950, she became the "first and only woman of color to receive a gaming license" in the state. Born in Eufaula, Oklahoma to mixed-race parents, Preddy married just out of high school and moved with her family to Las Vegas. At the time she arrived there were few work opportunities for blacks, but Preddy learned to write keno and deal blackjack. Following her second husband to Hawthorne, Nevada, where he worked at the ammunition depot, Preddy had the opportunity to purchase a bar. She bought it and licensed it, becoming the first woman of color to have a gaming license. After seven years, Preddy returned to Las Vegas and worked in various "after hours" clubs in West Las Vegas, until a city ordinance was passed which banned black dealers. She tried her hand at running a dry cleaning business and a dress shop, but sold them to buy the Playhouse Lounge. Preddy was approached by the NAACP to try to break the color line against dealers. When she was unable to secure a gaming license for her own club, she agreed to a six-month trial at Jerry's Nugget and ended up staying seven years. Preddy left Jerry's to run for a seat on the Las Vegas City Council and was the first black to win a primary. But in the final contest, she lost the seat by seventy-two votes. She returned to the gaming business, buying and operating the People's Choice Casino. She was heavily involved in trying to revitalize West Vegas, which had declined after desegregation. She operated a non-profit and tried to attract investors. She, her husband and son worked to get the historic Moulin Rouge Hotel listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They succeeded, bought the hotel and reopened it for business, but a fire destroyed the interior in 2003 and a second one 2009 destroyed the structure. Preddy was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and had been the subject of numerous projects, including interviews and documentaries, to preserve the history of West Las Vegas, prior to her 2014 death. ==Early life and background== Sarann Childs was born on July 27, 1920 in Eufaula, Oklahoma to Carl and Hattie Childs. Preddy, of mixed ancestry — Caucasian, Spanish, Muscogee, and African-American — married Luther Walker, shortly after finishing high school in Okmulgee, Oklahoma and moved with her husband and father to Las Vegas in 1942. Preddy's enthusiasism for business came from her parents, who were successful entrepreneurs; her father owned a cinder block factory before the family's move to Las Vegas. Preddy recalled her first venture into business; at age 13 she was selling pig's feet for five cents and was hard pressed to obtain enough to satisfy her customers.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sarann Knight-Preddy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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