10 Most Dreaded Female Gangsters in American History

6. Stephanie St. Clair

You may have heard of Ellsworth ‘Bumpy’ Johnson, one of the most famous African-American gangsters of the 1930s. However, did you know that before he was in charge, he was the enforcer of Stephanie St. Clair? Stephanie was the one initially ruling Harlem, by being in charge of the numbers games in the 1930s and running the illegal gambling scheme for both the rich and the poor.

Earning herself the nickname Madame(as she was a French immigrant), she made a fortune by managing illegal betting. Besides that, she became very protective of her neighborhood, testifying against corrupt policemen to get them sacked, and protected it at the end of the Prohibition as downtown mobsters tried to make new revenue on her turf.