ODWODL - Samantha Smith 4/21/2025

We Are Already Organized: The Dunes Hotel, the Showgirls of Casino de Paris and the Struggle for Unionization in Las Vegas, 1970–1980

Samantha Smith, MSU Dept. of History

 For many years, dancers and showgirls had union contracts with the American Guild of Variety of Artists (AGVA). Then, in 1980, a full cast of dancers and performers with the Casino de Paris fought for unionized representation at the Dunes Hotel and Casino. What happened to the AGVA in Vegas, and what does the organization of dancers and showgirls tell us about labor issues in the postwar period.

Co-sponsored by the MSU Center for Gender in Global Context