The Desert Inn "Black Book" Photograph Collection (1955-1969) consists of 36 black-and-white photographs of individuals arrestest for gambling-related crimes in Reno, Sparks, and Las Vegas, Nevada and Oakland, California. The photographs contain information on the verso with name, date of birth, crime(s) committeed, and known aliases and associates and where gathered by Desert Inn security. These types of photographs were widely circulated amongst casinos, particularly after the formation of the Gaming Control Board in 1955 and the Gaming Control Act in 1959. Crimes listed include slot spooner, slot slugger, dice switcher, and hand mucker.
The Desert Inn "Black Book" Photograph Collection (1955-1969) consists of 36 black-and-white photographs of individuals arrestest for gambling-related crimes in Reno, Sparks, and Las Vegas, Nevada and Oakland, California. The photographs contain information on the verso with name, date of birth, crime(s) committeed, and known aliases and associates and where gathered by Desert Inn security. These types of photographs were widely circulated amongst casinos, particularly after the formation of the Gaming Control Board in 1955 and the Gaming Control Act in 1959. Crimes listed include slot spooner, slot slugger, dice switcher, and hand mucker.
Collection is open for research.
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Materials remain in original order.
Desert Inn "Black Book" Photograph Collection, 1955-1969. PH-00191. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada. http://n2t.net/ark:/62930/f1cj5x
Sarah Jones removed these photographs from cataloged Desert Inn promotion and publicity material and created a separate collection based on conversations with curators Su Kim Chung and Aaron Mayes; accession number 2022-115.
In 2022, Sarah Jones rehoused the material and created the finding aid.