Welcome to the weekend BAYBAY!! Our last film-worthy hustler of the week is a story we've heard before but is truly the best. The Prince Of Darkness: Wall Street's First Black Millionaire He made white clients do his bidding. He bought insurance polices on ships he purposefully destroyed. And in 1875, died the richest black American. Don't you just love him … [Read more...] about Saturday Open Thread: 19th Century Hustlers Week
19th Century Hustlers
Friday Open Thread: 19th Century Hustlers Week
TGIF POU! Black Cowboy, Cattle Thief, Partner with a Mexican Bandit, Affair with a Shosone Indian woman, Play Dead to Escape Sure Death, Improbable Rescue........................what a life! Ned Huddleston (aka Isom Dart) was born into slavery in Arkansas in 1849. His reputation as a rider, roper and bronco-buster earned him the nicknames of the “Black Fox” and the … [Read more...] about Friday Open Thread: 19th Century Hustlers Week
Thursday Open Thread: 19th Century Hustlers Week
Good Morning POU! How did a former slave who came to be known as the California Mother of Civil Rights amass millions in the mid 1800s?? Mary Ellen Pleasant Described as “a Rosa Parks, a Martin Luther King and a Malcolm X all rolled into one,” Mary Ellen Pleasant reportedly amassed some $30 million in real estate and investments with her *ahummm* partner Thomas Bell … [Read more...] about Thursday Open Thread: 19th Century Hustlers Week
Wednesday Open Thread: 19th Century Hustlers Week
Happy Hump Day POU! We certainly couldn't let men have all the fun and sinning now could we? There were black women who made fortunes through various "non respectable" methods in the 19th century as well. Perhaps the most well known and one of the wealthiest was famed New Orleans Madam Lulu White. Lulu White was one of the most notorious madams who found their fortune … [Read more...] about Wednesday Open Thread: 19th Century Hustlers Week
Tuesday Open Thread: 19th Century Hustlers Week
Good Morning POU! Its common knowledge that the wealthiest members of the black community during the Jim Crow era were usually the undertakers and taking unders. Afterall - there's no funeral without fun. Running gambling outfits from the funeral parlor, in a weird way, makes perfect sense doesn't it? Daniel M. Jackson (1870 - 1929) Daniel M. Jackson was … [Read more...] about Tuesday Open Thread: 19th Century Hustlers Week