Moulin Rouge Hotel's 1955 opening and desegregation impact

The Moulin Rouge Hotel opened in May 1955 as the first integrated hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip, booking Black and white performers and serving an integrated clientele. Its short-lived operation and the controversy around it prompted other Strip casinos to begin integrating their showrooms and hiring African American entertainers. The Moulin Rouge is cited in accounts of Las Vegas music and entertainment history for its role in pressuring desegregation of performance venues.