Wayne State University Wayne State University Dissertations 1-1-2015 Numbers And Neighborhoods: Seeking And Selling The American Dream In Detroit One Bet At A Time Felicia Bridget George Wayne State University, Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations Part of the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation George, Felicia Bridget, "Numbers And Neighborhoods: Seeking And Selling The American Dream In Detroit One Bet At A Time" (2015). Wayne State University Dissertations. Paper 1311. This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wayne State University Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState. NUMBERS AND NEIGHBORHOODS: SEEKING AND SELLING THE AMERICAN DREAM IN DETROIT ONE BET AT A TIME by FELICIA GEORGE DISSERTATION Submitted to the Graduate School of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2015 MAJOR: ANTHROPOLOGY Approved By: Advisor Date ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project would not have been possible without the support and guidance of a very special group of people. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my committee chair and advisor, Dr. Todd “714” Myers. I cannot express how lucky I was the day you agreed to be my advisor. You planted the seed and it is because of you “Numbers and Neighborhoods” exists. Thank you for your guidance, support, patience, encouragement, and constructive criticism. I cannot thank my other committee members, Dr. Stephen “315” Chrisomalis, Dr. Andrew “240” Newman, and Professor Johnny “631” May enough. Each of you brought an important skill and perspective to this project. Thank you all for your pearls of wisdom, comments, and suggestions. You all greatly improved this project. In addition, I would like to thank my “562” (Barbara Dale) and my “741” (Jasmine George) for their love and support. They were the best free assistants EVER! Mom, thank you so much for all of the hours in the library and scanning pictures. You will never know how much I appreciated you. Last, but certainly not least, a heartfelt thank you to my husband, Anthony George. You are the best “328,” “456” and “519” a woman can have. Thank you for your constant love, support, and encouragement throughout this process. Thank you for the endless talks about Detroit and numbers, for being my sounding board, editor, and jack-of-all trades. I love you. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ii List of Figures iv Chapter 1 “Introduction” 1 Chapter 2 “First there was the Lottery” 21 Chapter 3 “Policy Playing Comes to Detroit” 31 Chapter 4 “Meet John Roxborough, Detroit’s Founding Father of Numbers” 46 Chapter 5 “Numbers Playing takes over Detroit in 1928” 63 Chapter 6 “Gustav G. Carlson’s Study of a Culture Complex” 104 Chapter 7 “Trials and Tribulations of the Numbers Men” 117 Chapter 8 “Detroit’s Dream Dealers Go On Trial” 148 Chapter 9 “John Roxborough: Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, and Race Man” 170 Chapter 10 “Fuller Hit’s Story” 189 Chapter 11 “The Numbers Game Evolves - The Destruction of Black Numbers and Neighborhoods” 202 Chapter 12 “What about Women? Francis Childress’ Story” 232 Chapter 13 “The Legal Numbers Man: The State of Michigan” 242 Chapter 14 “Numbers Gambling, the Automotive Industry, and Big Will” 269 Chapter 15 “312 Plays for Playing the Numbers” 286 Chapter 16 “Choosing Your Number: Science versus the Supernatural” 297 Chapter 17 “Conclusion” 320 References 334 Abstract 374 Autobiographical Statement 375 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Policy and Numbers Houses in Detroit circa 1935 127 iv 1 CHAPTER 1 “INTRODUCTION” Numbers gambling in Detroit provides insight into the idea and performance of community solidarity1 within the urban landscape of the United States. The following study offers a detailed account of how the informal economy of neighborhood-based gambling takes shape and thus forms a place within local communities. Currently, there is limited research on the topic of numbers gambling and the role it has played in community solidarity and development. The purpose of this dissertation is to expand the knowledge and understanding of numbers gambling in Detroit from 1919 to 2000, by determining how numbers gambling (as an informal economic activity) was formed and how it operated, not only as an illegal activity which served the community economically, but also as an institution that bound members of the community together socially. This dissertation looks at the legal issues surrounding numbers gambling in Detroit, as well as incorporates issues concerning community, kinship, history, economics, and politics. The underground economy, which is better called the informal economy to lessen its subterranean connotation, has been defined as “…the sum total of income-earning activities with the exclusion of those that involve contractual and legally regulated employment” (Portes & Sassen-Koob 1987:31). Informal economies can be collective and well-organized activities, which are able to operate due to the support of entire neighborhoods, communities, or industries (Weiss 1987:217). The purpose of my study will focus on how numbers gambling shaped and defined urban neighborhoods and on the communal relationships formed in these neighborhoods over time. Numbers gambling are games of chance usually operated within the informal economy. 1 Durkheim’s concept is that solidarity, “represent the totality of bonds that bind us to one another and to society, which shape the mass of individuals into a cohesive aggregate” (Durkheim 1984:331). 2 The term number gambling refers to the practice of wagering on the outcome of certain numbers. It embraces a variety of games which differ principally in the way the winning number is determined. The two basic types are ‘policy,’ in which the winning number is obtained by a drawing, and ‘numbers,’ in which the winning number is derived from various published statistics (Carlson 1949:189). This project will focus on these two basic numbers games, “policy” and “numbers.” Policy has been called the lottery’s “illegitimate offspring” because it originally derived from legal lotteries (Asbury 1938:88). Policy appears to have originated in the London Lottery shops in the first half of the eighteenth century, and was developed by the ticket dealers as a sideline to their regular businesses…its main purpose which it certainly fulfilled after being transplanted to America, was to bring gambling within the reach of those who couldn’t afford to buy even a share of a Lottery ticket. For a trifling sum – in many places as little as a farthing – a player could ‘insure a number:’ that is, he could bet that any number of his own selection would appear in the drawing of a designated Lottery (Asbury 1938:89). In policy, a player attempts to guess what numbers, ranging from one to 78, will be selected. Numbers from one to 78 are placed in a container and anywhere from 12 to 36 of them are pulled from the container. In order to win, a player simply has to correctly choose either a single or multiple numbers. Numbers is a variation of policy. “Numbers is simply Policy reduced to the simplified form in which it was played in England almost two hundred years ago. The only real difference, aside from changes in terminology, is the source of the figures upon which the play is based” (Asbury 1938:88). When playing the “numbers”, players select a three-digit number. If the three-digit number is correctly selected, the player wins. Unlike policy, which requires numbers to be drawn, the winning numbers for the Detroit numbers game came from one of several sources, which included the financial clearing house totals and, later, winners of horse races (Carter 1970:31). Anthropology offers tools for taking a broad look at numbers gambling that are not limited to legal, economic, and political contexts. Anthropology accounts not just for the etic, but for the 3 emic as well. “Emic and etic distinguish the understanding of cultural representations from the point of view of a native of the culture (emic) from the understanding of cultural representations from the point of view of an outside observer of the culture (etic)” (Barfield 1997:148). In other words, this study provides not just a researcher’s perspective on numbers gambling, but includes the perspectives of the people involved in this activity to include players, numbers writers/collectors and operators. My study examines how numbers gambling evolved within black communities from 1919 to 2000 in Detroit, using both historical and ethnographic methods. The communities and historical framework were chosen because they represent where and when the majority of southern blacks migrated when they came to Detroit. According to the United States Census, in 1920 the total population in Detroit was 993,678. Blacks accounted for 40,838 or approximately four percent of the total population (United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census 1920:496). At that time, blacks owned about 360 businesses, and Detroit was a beacon to southern blacks who dreamed of settling in a place that offered better educational, employment, and living conditions (Wylie 2008:97). By 1930, the black population had increased to 120,000, and Detroit’s Paradise Valley (located on the east side of Detroit) was known throughout the country for being a center for black businesses and entertainment. “Detroit gained a national reputation for being a haven for black businesses” and became known as “a land of milk and honey” (Wylie 2008:97). Numbers gambling was largely credited by many Detroit blacks for allowing a number of black businesses to exist. The men and women who ran numbers gambling establishments funded businesses and institutions when mainstream banks would not (Wilson and Cohassey 1998:65-66).