Sammy Davis Jr.
Singer, dancer and civil-rights advocate
His Las Vegas story joins extraordinary stagecraft with the city’s struggle over segregation and equal treatment.
A performer in a segregated city
UNLV historian Claytee White traces Davis’s early appearances with the Will Mastin Trio. Black stars could entertain casino audiences while being excluded from the same properties’ rooms and restaurants. [1]
Beyond the stage
The UNLV account documents Davis’s involvement in welfare-rights activism and places famous performers within a broader movement led by local activists. Celebrity history should not erase that community work. [1]
Key dates
- 1971
UNLV’s feature includes Davis in the welfare-rights movement. [1]
People in the same story
The Rat Pack
Read about the Sands performances and the ensemble. [2]
Read the profileLena Horne
Explore another Black headliner’s surviving Sands records. [3]
Read the profileIn the archive
66 matching entries in the saved collection.
Sammy Davis Buys Share of Tropicana in Las Vegas
Indexed press reference · View the bibliography. The original report has not been independently read for this entry.
Publisher-page access is unconfirmed. Access check: Oct 4, 2026. Search for this source (search results)
Photograph of Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Frank Sinatra performing together at the Copa Room, Las Vegas, circa 1950s to 1960s
Photograph from Sands Hotel Photograph Collection. Catalog date: Circa 1950–1969.
Film negative of Sammy Davis, Jr.
Photograph from Sands Hotel Public Relations Records. Catalog date: Circa 1953.
Photograph of Sammy Davis, Jr. talking on the telephone
Photograph from Sands Hotel Public Relations Records. Catalog date: Circa 1953.
Photograph of Sammy Davis, Jr. swinging a golf club
Photograph from Sands Hotel Public Relations Records. Catalog date: Circa 1953.
Photograph of Jack Entratter and Sammy Davis, Jr.
Photograph from Sands Hotel Public Relations Records. Catalog date: Circa 1953.
Go deeper into the record.
Sources for this profile and starting points for further research. Access notes mark links we could not open directly during the October 3–4, 2026 checks. Historical accounts describe their own period; they do not necessarily describe current operations.
- 1
Integrating Las Vegas, and the Entertainers Who Helped It Happen
February 16, 2024 interview with historian Claytee White. Distinguishes entertainers’ influence from local civil-rights organizing.
- 2
The Rat Pack
Public source reviewed October 4, 2026.
- 3
Transparencies of the marquee at the Sands Hotel announcing performance by Lena Horne, November 1961
Dated photographic record. The catalog supplies a month, not an exact performance day.