Another pioneer passes

The gaming industry lost another pioneer this week, Jeanne Hood, who led downtown Las Vegas’ Four Queens for many years. From the LVRJ:

Hood took over as president and chief executive officer of the Four Queens upon the death of her husband, David Hood, in 1977. In 1985, she became president and chief executive officer at Elsinore, a publicly traded gaming subsidiary of the Hyatt hotel chain that owned the Four Queens.

She remained president of the Four Queens until 1993.

The unassuming Hood rarely gave interviews and tried to downplay her role as a woman in the casino industry.

Hood told the Review-Journal in 1985, when she and Claudine Williams were the only women running Las Vegas resorts, that she was not a “womans libber” and steered away from questions that went that direction.

“I just feel that people have to be qualified,” she told the newspaper. “I don’t care whether they’re a woman or a man, or what color or race they belong to. I think they need to know what they are doing in order to have the job. Because I’m qualified, I’m here.”

While she didn’t talk about her place in casino history often, her influence is undeniable.

“She is part of too small a group that proved a woman could do a job that is most associated with men,” said Michael Green, a history professor at College of Southern Nevada.

Hoods death comes less than three months after the death of Williams. The first woman to run a Strip property at the Holiday Inn-Holiday Casino, Williams died May 13 at the age of 88.

“It is ironic Claudine Williams died not too long ago,” Green said. “Here are really two women who set a standard in their industry.”

While at the Four Queens and afterward, Hood was active in efforts to redevelop downtown Las Vegas with other big-name casino executives.

via Gaming pioneer Jeanne Hood dies – News – ReviewJournal.com.

Dr. Green really said it all right there.

Hood was born on May 21, 1926 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The University of Nevada Oral History Program published a 340-page oral history of Jeanne titled Whatever Will Help! A Woman’s Rise to the Top in the Gaming Industry. I’ve been reading it and it’s very interesting During the course of the interviews, Hood relates much of the history of Hyatt hotels, the Four Queens, the Hyatt Lake Tahoe/Kings Castle, and the Atlantis in Atlantic City.

You can order a copy of Hood’s oral history here, if you wish.

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