Stephanie St. Clair
Encyclopedia
Stephanie St. Clair was a bookmaker
in Manhattan
's Harlem
neighborhood.
and African descent on Martinique
. She immigrated to the United States
via Marseilles in 1912 and ten years later took $10,000 of her own money and set up a numbers bank in Harlem
. She became known throughout Manhattan
as Queenie, but Harlem residents respectfully referred to her as Madame St. Clair. She became affiliated with the 40 Thieves gang, but she eventually branched off on her own and ran one of the leading numbers game
s in the city.
She complained to local authorities about harassment by the NYPD, and when they paid no heed she ran advertisements in Harlem newspapers, accusing senior police officers of corruption
. The police responded by arresting her on a trumped up charge, and in response she testified to the Seabury Commission
about the kickbacks she had paid them. The Commission subsequently fired more than a dozen police officers.
, Jewish and Italian-American crime families
saw a decrease in profits and decided to move in on the Harlem gambling scene. Bronx-based mob boss Dutch Schultz
was the first to move in, beating and killing numbers operators who would not pay him protection
.
St. Clair and her chief enforcer Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson refused to pay protection to Schultz, but the wave of violence and intimidation began wearing them down. Eventually, however, Bumpy Johnson approached Lucky Luciano
. He negotiated himself into the position of enforcing the will of the Five Families
by supervising and shaking down Harlem's black lotteries and bookmakers. He also approached St. Clair and tried to persuade her to come with him. She at first refused, but Johnson continued doing his best to protect his former boss. However, both eventually realized that the struggle was hurting business, and collaborated to arrange a truce with Schultz. She was allowed to operate so long as she continued paying the "Family Tax" to the Italians.
In 1935, Schultz was assassinated on the orders of The Commission
. He lingered delirious for a few days. St. Clair had nothing to do with his murder, but sent a telegram to his hospital bed. It read, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap." This incident made headlines across the nation.
in the 1984 film The Cotton Club
, by Cicely Tyson
in the 1997 film Hoodlum and by Fulani Haynes in Katherine Butler Jones' 2007 play 409 Edgecombe Ave, The House on Sugar Hill
.
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
neighborhood.
Early life
Madam St. Clair was born of mixed FrenchFrench people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
and African descent on Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
. She immigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
via Marseilles in 1912 and ten years later took $10,000 of her own money and set up a numbers bank in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. She became known throughout Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
as Queenie, but Harlem residents respectfully referred to her as Madame St. Clair. She became affiliated with the 40 Thieves gang, but she eventually branched off on her own and ran one of the leading numbers game
Numbers game
Numbers game, also known as a numbers racket, policy racket or Italian lottery, is an illegal lottery played mostly in poor neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a bettor attempts to pick three digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day...
s in the city.
She complained to local authorities about harassment by the NYPD, and when they paid no heed she ran advertisements in Harlem newspapers, accusing senior police officers of corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
. The police responded by arresting her on a trumped up charge, and in response she testified to the Seabury Commission
Seabury Commission
The Seabury Commission investigations into the New York magistrate's courts and police department in the early 1930s led to wholesale changes in the method of arrest, bail and litigation of suspects in New York City....
about the kickbacks she had paid them. The Commission subsequently fired more than a dozen police officers.
The Numbers War
After the end of ProhibitionProhibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, Jewish and Italian-American crime families
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
saw a decrease in profits and decided to move in on the Harlem gambling scene. Bronx-based mob boss Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz
Dutch Schultz was a New York City-area Jewish American gangster of the 1920s and 1930s who made his fortune in organized crime-related activities such as bootlegging alcohol and the numbers racket...
was the first to move in, beating and killing numbers operators who would not pay him protection
Protection racket
A protection racket is an extortion scheme whereby a criminal group or individual coerces a victim to pay money, supposedly for protection services against violence or property damage. Racketeers coerce reticent potential victims into buying "protection" by demonstrating what will happen if they...
.
St. Clair and her chief enforcer Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson refused to pay protection to Schultz, but the wave of violence and intimidation began wearing them down. Eventually, however, Bumpy Johnson approached Lucky Luciano
Lucky Luciano
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian mobster born in Sicily. Luciano is considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States for splitting New York City into five different Mafia crime families and the establishment of the first commission...
. He negotiated himself into the position of enforcing the will of the Five Families
Five Families
The Five Families are the five original Italian-American Mafia crime families which have dominated organized crime in America since 1931. The Five Families in New York remain as the powerhouse of the Italian Mafia in the United States.-History:...
by supervising and shaking down Harlem's black lotteries and bookmakers. He also approached St. Clair and tried to persuade her to come with him. She at first refused, but Johnson continued doing his best to protect his former boss. However, both eventually realized that the struggle was hurting business, and collaborated to arrange a truce with Schultz. She was allowed to operate so long as she continued paying the "Family Tax" to the Italians.
In 1935, Schultz was assassinated on the orders of The Commission
The Commission (mafia)
The Commission is the governing body of the American Mafia. Formed in 1931, the Commission replaced the "Boss of all Bosses" title, with a ruling committee, consisting of the New York Five Families bosses and the boss of the Chicago Outfit...
. He lingered delirious for a few days. St. Clair had nothing to do with his murder, but sent a telegram to his hospital bed. It read, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap." This incident made headlines across the nation.
Popular culture
St. Clair was portrayed by Novella NelsonNovella Nelson
Novella Nelson is an American actress and singer.Nelson was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Evelyn Hines and James Nelson. Her career in films did not begin until she was approaching middle age, with a small part in 1978's An Unmarried Woman. Over the next thirty years, she continued...
in the 1984 film The Cotton Club
The Cotton Club (film)
The Cotton Club is a 1984 crime-drama, centered on a famed Harlem jazz club of the 1930s, the Cotton Club.The movie was co-written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, choreographed by Henry LeTang, and starred Richard Gere, Diane Lane, and Gregory Hines...
, by Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson is an American actress. A successful stage actress, Tyson is also known for her Oscar-nominated role in the film Sounder and the television movies The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots....
in the 1997 film Hoodlum and by Fulani Haynes in Katherine Butler Jones' 2007 play 409 Edgecombe Ave, The House on Sugar Hill
Sugar Hill, Manhattan
Sugar Hill is a neighborhood in the northern part of Hamilton Heights, which itself is a sub-neighborhood of Harlem, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is defined by 155th Street to the north, 145th Street to the south, Edgecombe Avenue to the east, and...
.