harlem

11Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Mobsters in America – Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson – The Godfather of Harlem

Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson was known as a murderous policy numbers baron in Harlem during the 1930's, but he was, in fact, the conduit between the Italian Mob and the Harlem rackets for almost three decades. Ellsworth Johnson was born in Charleston, South Carolina on October 31, 1905. He got the nickname "Bumpy" because he had a huge dump on the back of his head. Johnson was said to be a brilliant child, and by the time he was eight years old, he had already skipped two grades. When Johnson was ten years old, his brother Willie was accused of killing a white man. Afraid of a lynch mob for Willie, Johnson's parents sent Willie to live up north. Bumpy Johnson was a proud black man, who was defiant of the segregation and violence perpetrated on the blacks in the deep south. Johnson's parents ...

Mobsters in America – Stephanie St Clair – The Queen of the Harlem Numbers Rackets

9Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Mobsters in America – Stephanie St Clair – The Queen of the Harlem Numbers Rackets

She was chased out of the Harlem numbers rackets by Dutch Schultz, but when Schultz lay dying from a bullet wound, Stephanie St. Clair had the last laugh. Stephanie St. Clair was born in 1886, in Marseilles, an island in the East Caribbean. At the age of 26 she immigrated to New York City and settled in Harlem. Almost immediately, she hooked up with the Forty Thieves, a white gang who were in existence since the 1850's. There is no record of what St. Clair did for the next ten years, but it's safe to say, considering her ties to the Forty Thieves, a notorious shake-down gang, what she did was anything but legal. In 1922, St. Clair used $10,000 of her own money and started Harlem's first numbers rackets. St. Clair was known for having a violent temper and often cursed her underlings out i...

28Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Can Harlem Stay Black?

Black residents arrived to Harlem after 1905, as part of the Great Migration that saw Blacks flood northern cities like Chicago and Detroit. By the 1930s the Harlem Renaissance took place, and was probably one of the greatest cornerstones of African-American art history. The iconic Apollo opened during that period, a venue for almost exclusively African-American artists. And although the Black population in Harlem peaked in the 1950s, Latino residents have joined African-Americans to continue the Afro/Carib culture in the community. If any place in New York City was Black, it was Harlem. And now some are asking how long before Harlem is Black no more? Since New York City's economic revival in the late 1980s, gentrification has become a more commonly heard phrase, growing into a hotly deb...

1May

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

The Cotton Club – A Harlem New York Institution

The Cotton Club has been a major tourist attraction and Harlem cultural resource since it was re-opened in 1978, at its present location on W 125th St, by the West Side Highway. The club started out as the Club De Lux, which closed in 1923, and then reopened as the Cotton Club. This was the in-place to be for downtown, all-white society. Many early black entertainers got their start at the Club including Duke Ellington, Ethel Waters, Cab Calloway, and Lena Horne. The club offered the opportunity to mingle with the gangsters, and the rich and famous, as well as, sample the best of décor, cuisine, and entertainment New York had to offer. It was resurrected in 1978 by the current owner, Mr. John Beatty. The Club is known for its Monday Night event, its Swing Time dance. The house band is a 1...