Wednesday, Dec. 29, 1999 | 11:05 a.m.
In the mid-1950s, Woodrow Wilson, then president of the Las Vegas chapter of the NAACP, was visited at his office by Josephine Baker, one of the era's most prominent black female entertainers.
In town performing at the Frontier Hotel, Baker, who during World War II insisted that segregated black and white American servicemen in her audience integrate themselves before she performed, had sought Wilson's help in taking steps toward integrating the Las Vegas Strip.
"She asked us to fill a table the resort had set aside for her every night at her shows, and Woody and I were more than happy to help," said David Hoggard, a longtime Las Vegas black community leader and former NAACP chief.
"Our table was integrated, and that really bothered (the hotel's executives), but there was little (they) could do about it. It was a small step, but it helped."
Less than five years later, on March 26, 1960, Las Vegas Strip hotels, under pressure from the NAACP and others, officially ended their longstanding policy of refusing to allow blacks as guests.
Wilson, the first black elected to the Nevada Legislature and the co-founder of the first federal credit union designed to help Las Vegas minorities get loans and establish credit, died Christmas Day, apparently of complications from diabetes. He was 84.
Services for the soft-spoken and articulate Las Vegas civic leader and resident of 57 years will be 11 a.m. Thursday at the Second Baptist Church, where Wilson was a longtime member and deacon. The Rev. Willie Davis, who on Sunday announced to the congregation from the pulpit that Wilson had died, will officiate the services.
Interment will be in Palm Memorial Park. Palm Mortuary-Downtown is handling the arrangements.
Elected to the Assembly in 1966, Republican Wilson is credited with passage of the state's first Fair Housing Act in 1971. In 1979 Wilson was appointed to the state's Equal Rights Commission and became its chairman.
Wilson also was the second black man to serve on the Clark County Commission and the first black to serve as a Las Vegas scoutmaster. In 1951 he co-founded the Westside Federal Credit Union, which still operates today.
Wilson's sterling public career was blemished in 1984 when he became one of four prominent political figures to be convicted of felonies in federal court as a result of the Operation Yobo sting named for former Nevada FBI chief Joseph Yablonsky.
Wilson pleaded guilty to accepting a $5,000 bribe from an FBI undercover agent posing as a slick land investor seeking Wilson's commission vote on a zoning change. Wilson was the only one of those convicted in the sting to not serve prison time. He was given a two-year suspended sentence and three years' probation.
Wilson overcame that public disgrace to maintain a position of trust in the Westside Federal Credit Union, serving on its board of directors until his death.
"Dean was a great man and an honorable man who never blamed anyone but himself for what happened -- that was the character of the man," said NAACP Director Gene Collins, a friend for 30 years who called Wilson "Dean," as in a college dean, out of respect for his intellect.
"Dean should be remembered for coming up with money to help youth activity programs that were not always properly funded, for the many jobs he got for young blacks and for the scholarship he set up at UNLV to help further the education of minorities. We have lost a true champion for West Las Vegas."
State Sen. Joe Neal, D-Las Vegas, said Wilson will be remembered for his civil rights work. "Woody meant a great deal to the community and was a pioneer in helping blacks get civil rights," Neal said. "He tried to change the status and perception of the black community and in the early 1960s worked hard to clear away discrimination laws against blacks."
Hoggard said his friend since 1946, "took great pride in having a hand in the Westside Federal Credit Union that now stands as a memorial to him."
Wilson was born Aug. 28, 1915, in Morton, Miss. He graduated from Piney Woods Junior College in Mississippi in 1934 after working his way through school by playing semi-professional baseball.
Wilson came to Las Vegas in 1942 and got a job at American Potash and Chemical Corp., today known as Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. Wilson worked for the company for 38 years, retiring as a foreman.
After serving as director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1955-56, Wilson was appointed in 1957 to serve as chairman of the State Advisory Committee for the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.
Despite being a Republican in a heavily Democratic district, Wilson served three terms in the Assembly. He served on the Assembly education, civil defense, veterans affairs and social welfare committees.
In addition to pushing through the Fair Housing Act that outlawed discriminatory practices in the sale of homes, Wilson also was credited with passing legislation that mandated fair employment practices, promoted vocational education and improved benefits for injured workers.
Wilson, who fought to expand industrial development in Nevada to widen its tax base, served as vice chairman of the Clark County Economic Opportunity Board. He was a past member of the Clark County Republican Central and Executive committees.
Wilson served on the executive board of the Boulder Dam Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, as a member of the Las Vegas Kiwanis Club and on the board of trustees of the United Way of Clark County.
Wilson received numerous honors for his community service. The city of Las Vegas proclaimed June 26, 1970, as Woodrow Wilson Day. In June 1971 Wilson was named a Distinguished Nevadan during UNLV commencement exercises. In 1982 Wilson received the Republican Party's Jack of Hearts Award for his service to the GOP.
Elected to the County Commission in 1980, Wilson stepped down from that post just prior to his sentencing in 1984.
The University of Nevada, Reno Oral History Program later produced "Woodrow Wilson: Race, Community and Politics in Las Vegas, 1940s-1980s."
In the 15 years since his conviction, Wilson has remained a respected figure in the black community. His supporters have long argued that Operation Yobo was little more than an entrapment scheme by the federal government to use large sums of money to entice honest politicians to go bad.
For many years past the standard retirement age of 65, Wilson continued to work daily at the credit union he helped found. He held the position of treasurer and manager for 42 years until his retirement in 1993.
On Saturday Wilson was preparing to go to a Christmas brunch at a relative's house when he suddenly took ill and was rushed to Sunrise Hospital, where he died.
Wilson is survived by his wife Addie Wilson; a son, Carl Wilson; five daughters, JoAnn Conners, Rose Berry, Janice Murray, Casandra Berry and Stephanie Lowery, all of Las Vegas; a sister, Ollie Savage of Hawthorne, Calif.; and a brother, O'Dell Nicholes of Las Vegas. A count of Wilson's grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren was not provided by the family.
He was preceded in death by his longtime wife Nora Wilson in 1993.
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