Photographs related to the New China Club Casino in Reno, Nevada and the Bay Area Golf Club of Oakland, California, circa 1955-1960

Collection context

Summary

Title:
Photographs related to the New China Club Casino in Reno, Nevada and the Bay Area Golf Club of Oakland, California
Dates:
circa 1955-1960
Creators:
Nat Desmarais Rare Books
Extent:
0.25 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[identification of item], Photographs related to the New China Club of Reno, Nevada, and the Bay Area Golf Club of Oakland, California (M2288). Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California.

Background

Scope and content:

Materials consist primarily of black-and-white photographs related to the New China Club of Reno, Nevada, and the Bay Area Golf Club of Oakland, California. The New China Club photos include images of Bill Fong, the Fong Open, African American contestants participating in Fong's Keno Queen beauty contest, and African American golfing contestants and winners. The Bay Area Golf club photos includes images of black golfers, both male and female. Also includes newspaper clippings and photos on scrapbook pages.

Biographical / historical:

The New China Club was opened in 1952 by Bill Fong, a Chinese immigrant to the United States who had learned the gambling trade in Macao and soon after emigrated to the US and served in the army during the Second World War. The casino operated until the end of 1971. When Fong opened his club, African-Americans and Asian-Americans were not allowed into the big casinos of Nevada. Fong catered to this market and was one of the first, if not the very first, to do so in Reno. Fong operated the first legal fan-tan and pai-gow games in the state. Fong also began the Fong Open golfing tournament to give Asian and African Americans gamblers a chance to play golf in Reno for a real casino event. The second part of this archive concerns the African American Bay Area Golf Club in Oakland, California. The Bay Area Golf Club was part of the Western Sates Golf Association and their course was in Oakland. The Western Sates Golf Association was one of the oldest predominately African American golfing organizations in the country, founded in 1953 to promote and advance the interest of African Americans in the world of golf.

Acquisition information:
Purchase; 2017. Accession MSS 2017-374.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Golf -- History
Names:
Nat Desmarais Rare Books

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Malgorzata Schaefer
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2021-04-14 15:21:17 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.

Terms of access:

While Special Collections is the owner of the physical items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish.

Preferred citation:

[identification of item], Photographs related to the New China Club of Reno, Nevada, and the Bay Area Golf Club of Oakland, California (M2288). Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California.

Location of this collection:
Department of Special Collections, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6004, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022