Ubiquitous illegal lotteries known as
policy flourished in Chicagos Black community during the overlapping waves of the Great Migration. Policy queens owned stakes in lucrative operations while women writers and clerks canvased the neighborhood, passed out winnings, and kept the books.
Elizabeth Schroeder Schlabach examines the complexities of Black womens work in policy gambling. Policy provided Black women with a livelihood for themselves and their families. At the same time, navigating gender expectations, aggressive policing, and other hazards of the infromal economy led them to refashion ideas about Black womanhood and respectability. Policy earnings also funded above-board enterprises ranging from neighborhood businesses to philanthropic institutions, and Schlabach delves into the various ways Black women straddled the illegal policy business and reputable community involvement.
Vivid and revealing, Dream Books and Gamblers
tells the stories of Black women in the underground economy and how they used their work to balance the demands of living and laboring in Black Chicago.
Recenzijas
"Dream Books and Gamblers is a must read! Schlabach impressively weaves together a fascinating narrative about Chicago's policy racket between 1890 and 1968. A major contribution to the fields of business and Black women's histories, Schlabach illuminates Black women's important and multifaceted role in the urban gambling enterprises. Dream Books and Gamblers is certain to transform our understanding of African American history, leaving scholars with new ways of researching and discussing Black life and culture."--LaShawn Harris, author of Sex Workers, Psychics, and Numbers Runners
Acknowledgments Introduction
The Best Job I Ever Had
Chicagos First Policy Queens
Chicagos Most Famous Policy Queen
Dream Books, Fortune-Tellers, and Mediumship
What Arrest Records Reveal
Legal Strategies for Policy Women
Conclusion Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
Elizabeth Schroeder Schlabach is an associate professor of History at Lawrence University. She is the author of Along the Streets of Bronzeville: Black Chicago's Literary Landscape.
