CHALLENGE 005 IMAGE AS TYPE
PART A Design
Part B: Documentation
Photo Objective?
Reno in 1958: African-Americans were barred from downtown casinos excluding those on East Commercial Row such as the New China Club, Henry's Corner Bar and others along Lake Street. In 1958, African-American Ruby Lee Roberts was crowned "Keno Queen" in front of the New China Club. (Photo from Reno Gazette Journal, Sept 18, 2016)
The first photo from the Reno Gazette Journal on Oct 04, 1958 shows Miss Roberts with New China Club owner Bill Fong on her left and gold medal winner Jesse Owens, who participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympics in Hitler's Nazi Germany, on her right. The second photo is sepia toned, image opacity 44%. Clipping mask letters for "New China" were individually set. The glyph is TW Cen MT Condensed Extra Bold, [R,G,B = 30, 175, 157]; size=1000 pt, opacity 50%.
Does this project achieve results?
"If Arizona is the Alabama, Nevada is the Mississippi of the West and Utah is the Georgia," Dorea Pittman (NAACP) 1964
Ethnic minorities had a place in Nevada history and it wasn't just on Commercial Row. Long gone are those casinos, with them went segregation as it existed in the Biggest Little City. Bill Fong, New China Club owner, was constantly criticized for alleged racial inequality, all of which were unfounded. He employed minorities in his casino when they weren't allowed to work in the white casinos around the corner on Virginia Street. This small part of northern Nevada history has many inequality chapters, this is just one of them.