Black History
BLACK HISTORY IN LAS VEGAS: THE HARRISON GUEST HOUSE
Content of the Black History Museum in a Box
What was it like to visit Las Vegas as an African American in 1952?
Click here for the video about Black History in Las Vegas – this follows the fictional character Ernest Abraham Lincoln as he travels with his family to Las Vegas in 1952, and what he experiences when he gets there.
Click here for the Black History Trunk study guide – this provides an overview of the artifacts in the box and how to explore this history.
The trunk also contains books (Ruth and the Green Book and Opening the road) and related activities which look to help students better understand what life might have been like during segregation.
Books included are Ruth and the Green Book, the story of a young girl traveling across America to visit her Grandma describing the discrimination she experiences and how that makes her and her parents feel, and how the Green Book made that journey easier. There is also the book Opening the Road, which tells how Victor Hugo Green decided a book that detailed where black Americans could find a meal or a place to stay while traveling was much needed.
To book your Museum in a Box, click here.
Las Vegas was a segregated city, so after Nat King Cole had performed on the Las Vegas Strip he was not allowed to stay at the casino. He would stay at the Harrison House in Westside, Las Vegas.
The Green Book, a travel guide used by African Americans to locate hotels and boarding houses in each state that allowed them to stay overnight.