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The story of Stephanie St. Clair begins with her birth in the eastern caribbean on the island of Marseilles. According to passed-down stories, St. Clair reportedly told people that she was born in “European France” and was able to speak “flawless French,” as opposed to the less-refined French spoken by those in the Caribbean. She was known to speak in French when cursing people out.
Moving to Harlem in 1912, St. Clair was known for her deep involvement in the New York gangster underworld. Through her connections, St. Clair developed the first numbers bank, located in Harlem. There, she and her partners, including Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson, made the first significant criminal fortunes in black New York's early 1930s.
When the depression hit, white mobsters would turn to Harlem’s illegal gambling scene for a profit, meaning St. Clair and her gangster crew. They would run across resistance, mainly from Dutch Schultz, a gang leader who wanted to take the streets back. The result was a bloody war with St. Clair and her allies for control of organized crime in Harlem. Over 40 people were killed in street gang violence, mostly the numbers operators.
St. Clair's story was a likely one. She would later be harassed by police for going public by naming cops she paid kickbacks to. She would have to give control to the Italian mafia and Lucky Luciano, who eliminated Dutch Schultz. They, in turn, made Bumpy Johnson the head of the Harlem mobs, and St. Clair left the mob scene. She died in 1969.
Stephanie St. Clair
