In the 1950’s and 60s, an African-American woman from Texas named Genevieve Harrison ran a little guest house on the Westside of Las Vegas.
Her guests included many prominent entertainers of the day: Nat King Cole, Pearl Bailey, Sammy Davis, Jr. among them.
These were times when black entertainers were barred from staying overnight at the Strip hotels even though they were headliners in the showrooms.
But they found some degree of refuge – and sleep - at Genevieve Harrison’s Guest House, 1001 F Street, which has landed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Claytee White, director, Oral History Research Center at UNLV.
