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Evolution of a Black Community in Las Vegas: 1905 - 1940

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Fitzgerald, Roosevelt

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Essay by Roosevelt Fitzgerald exploring the history of the black community in Las Vegas from its founding in 1905 through the 1930s.THE EVOLUTION OF A BLACK COMMUNITY IN LAS VEGAS: 1905-1940 by Roosevelt Fitzgerald This paper will explore the evolution of a visible black community in Las Vegas, Nevada from its founding in 1905 through the 1930s. The area of Las Vegas which became the geographic location of the black community was first surveyed and platted in 1904 by John T. McWilliams, for whom it was originally named (Paher, 1971: 70). He expected that the new railroad town would be located there and that he would eventually profit from it. The township was not originally planned to be a black community. If anything no thought was given to the presence of a black population at all. After all, in the entire state at that time, there were less than three hundred blacks and the majority of them lived in the northern portion of the state (Sixteenth Census, 1940: 722). Among the construction workers who brought the railroad to what became Las Vegas could be found a few black men. They lived in railroad work
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