Vegas Myths Debunked: A Casino Drained its Pool After Black Singer Dorothy Dandridge Swam in It
The disgraceful impact of racism on the history of Las Vegas is itself depressing enough, with no need for embellishment.
According to numerous memes and posts circulating on social media and the internet, an event allegedly took place at the Last Frontier Hotel in 1953, where the pool was supposedly drained and cleaned due to African-American entertainer Dorothy Dandridge dipping her toe in it. This may seem like something that could have occurred during such a discriminatory time in Las Vegas, but it never happened.
The incident is said to have occurred during a period when people of color were prohibited from staying, gambling, or dining in any casino hotels. This included notable black performers like Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sammy Davis Jr., who were forced to enter and leave through stage and kitchen doors.
At that time, Dandridge, who was about to become the first African-American actress nominated for the best actress Oscar for the 1954 film "Carmen Jones," was set to perform in her own lounge act at the Last Frontier. Her manager, Earl Mills, insisted that she stay at the hotel as well, making it the first time a black guest was hosted there.
The hotel surprisingly agreed, but instructed Dandridge to avoid the pool. As depicted in the 1999 HBO biopic, "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge," with Halle Berry portraying Dandridge in a Golden Globe-winning performance, the actress resented the restriction and dipped her toe in the pool as a form of protest. The hotel officials, believing that a Black person's toe somehow contaminated the water, drained it.
Absence of First-Hand Accounts
Dandridge, who passed away from an antidepressant overdose in September 1965 at age 42, never mentioned this pool-draining incident when she was alive. Despite this, her autobiography, "Everything and Nothing: The Dorothy Dandridge Tragedy," compiled from taped interviews by author Earl Conrad and published in 1970, fails to acknowledge it.
In fact, there are several conflicting versions of the story that have been circulating for years, with each naming a different Black Las Vegas entertainer of the day as the alleged user of the pool. The second-most popular version claims that Sammy Davis Jr. swam at the Sands in 1952, resulting in its pool being drained. This version is mentioned in Charles Fleming's 1999 article for Los Angeles Magazine, "Viva Black Vegas," and A&E's 1999 documentary, "The Rat Pack."
It's possible that these types of demoralizing actions were inflicted upon two different African-American singers in Las Vegas. However, the fact that these stories alter the details and the individual involved, leading them to resemble myths fueled by anecdotes, casts serious doubt on their validity.
Draining a Pool in the 1950s
The Last Frontier pool contained approximately 70,000 gallons of water, according to Todd Olcott, owner of Las Vegas' Four Aces Pool and Spa. In 1953, Olcott reveals, it would have taken 24 hours to drain and an additional 50 hours to refill using a 5/8-inch-diameter hose providing 17 gallons per minute.
With the outdated pool technology of the 1950s, draining a pool was a time-consuming and invasive task, likely to upset the other guests. Elexus Jionde, author of the 2017 book "The A-Z Guide to Black Oppression," wrote in a 2018 blog titled "How to Investigate History: The Dorothy Dandridge Pool Incident," stating,
"Maybe hotel staff threatened to drain the pool if Dorothy tried to swim. But given the lack of evidence, it's highly unlikely the pool was drained due to a toe or even a swim. Instead, it's much more likely that the staff made a grand gesture."
The tale of the pool being drained as a response to Dandridge's threats doesn't appear in any book, newspaper, or magazine until the 1997 biography "Dorothy Dandridge" by Donald Bogle.
Bogue writes that it was alleged, perhaps to unsettle management, that Dorothy Dandridge sometimes "mentioned she was going for a swim." Based on an interview with talent agent Harold Jovien, management supposedly said they'd drain the pool if she ventured near it.
As Dandridge persisted in her threats, according to Jovien's narrative, the hotel allegedly closed the pool, claiming repairs were needed, without specifying a time frame.
Although this was an appalling act, it doesn't reflect the worst reputations the Last Frontier has yet to shake off.
Las Vegas Starts Overcoming Racism
It wasn't until the Moulin Rouge, Las Vegas' first fully integrated casino hotel, opened on the Westside on May 24, 1955, that the town's racist mindset began to evolve. The Moulin Rouge immediately became the talk of the town as the most popular nightclub around – a cultural Valhalla where you could mingle with Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, and Rosemary Clooney and witness impromptu late-night jam sessions featuring singers such as Harry Belafonte, Judy Garland, and Billie Holiday.
A glimpse of how much our society has progressed is given by this sentence about the Moulin Rouge, shared in a 1955 edition of Variety: "This unusual spot continues to draw in gamblers, undisturbed by the fact that they're mingling and betting with people of different races."
Casino integration didn't officially occur until March 1960, when casino owners agreed to allow African-Americans to visit their establishments during a meeting with the NAACP and city and state leaders at the closed Moulin Rouge. Motivated by the rising civil rights movement, the NAACP had been planning a march on the Strip that would've embarrassed Las Vegas.
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Source: www.casino.org
