Big Sue

Big Sue or Sue, the Turtle was the pseudonym of an African-American saloonkeeper and underworld figure whose Grand Street dive bar was destroyed during the New York Draft Riots in 1863. [Asbury, Herbert. "The Gangs of New York". New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. ISBN 1-56025-275-8] After she had been attacked and "frightfully beaten" by a group of women from the Five Points, her liquor was confiscated and distributed amongst the rioters around Thompson Street's Arch Block. [ Crapsey, Edward. "The Nether Side of New York, Or, the Vice, Crime and Poverty of the Great Metropolis". New York: Sheldon & Company, 1872.]

Although considered an honest dive keeper, as thievery among many of the city's taverns and saloons were rampant, she is suspected to have been involved in prostitution as a procuress and brothel owner. [ cite web |url=http://history.tomrue.net/feldman/disaster.htm |title=A disaster in New York |accessdate= |author=Feldman, Bert S. |authorlink= |coauthors= |date=1998-07-28 |year= |month= |format= |work= |publisher=The River Reporter |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

References

External links

* [http://www.springerlink.com/content/n2v190241l0v4h25/ “The Spectacle of Fearsome Acts”: Crime in the Melting P(l)ot in Gangs of New York]