No matter what moniker you remember Stephanie St. Clair by — “Queenie,” “Madam Queen,” “Madam St. Clair,” “Queen of the Policy Rackets” — she was a fearsome 20th-century criminal. Throughout her criminal career, St. Clair was frequently in the company of New York’s elite, from prominent civil rights campaigners to the ruthless leaders of the mafia’s Five Families.
Stephanie St. Clair was a formidable figure in New York City’s underground gambling scene because she had the “Godfather of Harlem,” Bumpy Johnson, as her hired protection. Her commitment to bettering the lives of Black Harlem residents via activism and education, however, won her the admiration of her contemporaries.
One of the many things for which she became well-known in Harlem was the regular (and often humorous) newspaper ads she ran. St. Clair’s greatest legacy, however, is her dogged refusal to back down from battles with corrupt law enforcement and competing racketeers like Dutch Schultz.
Early Life
Most of Stephanie St. Clair’s adult life was spent in the spotlight; she frequently took up full-page newspaper advertising to motivate her contemporaries or rebuke her detractors. St. Clair has obscured some details of her early life on purpose.
She was born on December 24, 1897, in the French archipelago of Guadeloupe, according to the majority of biographies. According to this backstory, she grew up in the French Caribbean, where she learned to read and write in both French and English.
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St. Clair herself helped spread the notion that she was born in France and taught herself English on the ship to the United States. Both versions agree that she arrived in the United States via steamboat, though it is unclear whether this was in 1911 or 1921.
Stephanie St Clair Cause Of Death: What happened to St. Clair?
Like her arrival in the city, Stephanie St. Clair’s death is a mystery. There was no mention of her death in any of the local press, despite the fact that she had dominated the underground gaming scene and became a champion for civil rights.
St. Clair died calmly in Central Islip, New York, in 1969, in contrast to the dramatic and brutal deaths of her male mobster contemporaries.
What Stephanie St. Clair Has Left Behind?
Throughout almost all of her criminal career, she resided at 409 Edgecombe Avenue, an address associated with Harlem’s Black elite. Her neighbors included W.E.B. Du Bois and other civil rights leaders, as well as artists like Aaron Douglas and writers like Katherine Butler-Jones.
Stephanie St. Clair opted not to run from the law and instead use her fortune for the sake of her fellow Harlemites. St. Clair fought corruption from individuals in high and low places, all while looking magnificent, and she had no fear of the dangerous consequences her stoicism could have.
By standing her ground against “Public Enemy Number One” Dutch Schultz, she prevented the collapse of the rackets of both herself and the other Black racketeers who were being targeted by his violent campaign for dominance.
The money she made from maintaining her scam allowed her to invest in legitimate Black-owned businesses and give Black men and women stable employment. She, meantime, faced off against the NYPD and ultimately prevailed.
She not only testified against corrupt police officers but also ran frequent advertising in the Amsterdam News to inform her colleagues about their rights as citizens. St. Clair, unlike her male mafia contemporaries, spent her life working to improve the lives of her fellow Harlem residents and saw violence as a last resort.
