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Casper Holstein

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Casper Holstein
Casper Holstein, in Opportunity magazine
Born(1877-12-06)December 6, 1877
Christiansted, St. Croix, Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands)
DiedApril 5, 1944(1944-04-05) (aged 66)
New York, NY, USA

Casper Alexander Holstein (December 6, 1877 – April 5, 1944) was a prominent New York mobster involved in the Harlem "numbers rackets" during the 1920s. He was also a philanthropist and small banker. His giving funded literary prizes during the Harlem Renaissance. Born in the Virgin Islands, he continued to support and aid his community from New York through lobbying for civil rights and providing direct economic aid.

Early life

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Caspar Alexander Holstein was born on December 6, 1875 in Christiansted when the islands were under Dutch rule.[1][2] He attended schools in the Danish school system on Saint Croix.[1] In 1888, Holstein moved to New York City with his mother, Emily.[1] He graduated from Boys High School.[1] After his mother's death, he began working as a bellhop in a hotel, where he first learned to gamble.[1]

During World War I, he was able to revisit his birthplace while stationed in what had become the United States Virgin Islands.[3] He served in the United States Navy for more than four years.[1] He learned embalming in Chicago, but didn't complete his courses.[4]

After the war, Holstein worked as janitor and doorman in Manhattan eventually becoming a messenger, and then head messenger.

He learned about playing the stock market and investing from the Christie family in Brooklyn who became his benefactors.[5][2] He worked for the family and even provided financial support during the financial crises in the 1920s.[2][4] Learning about the stock market on Wall Street from the Christies influenced his love for games of chance and numbers.[6] Because of segregation, he used his numbers skills in Harlem, starting in the 1920s.[5]

Rebirth of the Harlem numbers racket

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Holstein created a numbers game that was based on betting on the closing figures for stock prices at the end of the day.[7] As the Prohibition began, Holstein's lottery system, influenced by bolita, proved popular.[8] Soon Holstein became known as the "Bolita King," going on to earn an estimated $2 million from his lotteries.[9]

By the end of the 1920s, Holstein had become a dominant figure among Harlem's numerous policy operators.[10] Although both he and rival, Stephanie St. Clair, claimed to have invented the way that "numbers games" chose the winning number, both claims have long been in dispute.[11] Because the games were played by Black people, the authorities largely ignored Holstein's numbers racket which made him almost $5000 a day.[12]

Holstein controlled a large scale numbers-running operation, as well as nightclubs, like the Turf Club.[2] In 1907, he founded a group affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and ran the local Monarch Lodge No. 45 for several decades.[8] According to The New York Times, he was "Harlem's favorite hero", because of his wealth, his sporting proclivities and his philanthropies among his community.[13]

Political activism

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Holstein was a major donor towards charitable purposes such as building dormitories at black colleges, as well as financing many of the neighborhood's artists, writers, and poets during the Harlem Renaissance.[14] Holstein helped put several Harlem residents through college, with one of his beneficiaries graduating from Harvard University.[15] He also provided direct aid to his community, giving food baskets to those in need.[8]

He bought the mortgage on the New York hall of the Universal Negro Improvement Association.[9] He was a supporter of Marcus Garvey.[16] He also helped establish a Baptist school in Liberia and supported an orphanage in Gary, Indiana.[17]

He supported the literary arts. He was a financial contributor to the literary banquets hosted by Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life.[2] He also wrote for Opportunity, especially on topics relating to the Virgin Islands.[18]

Virgin Islands

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Holstein felt connected to the Virgin Islands and provided economic aid to the islands, spending more than $250,000 in Saint Croix.[8] He and P. H. Savory worked to provide financial support and even unofficial banking services to Virgin Islanders in New York.[19]

Holstein was against martial rule in the Virgin Islands, going to the Federal government of the United States to lobby against "naval rule" of the islands.[5] He believed that citizens of the Virgin Islands were being mistreated and their freedom of speech was not respected.[19] Holstein lobbied the government through the Virgin Islands Congressional Council of New York.[19] He also worked with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Roger Nash Baldwin to fight on behalf of the Virgin Islands' people.[19] He even purchased a $3,000 full page ad in The Washington Post to promote his activism.[20] One of Opportunity magazine's editors, Eric D. Walrond, called him "the liberator of the Virgin Islands."[19] When the people of the Virgin Islands were finally considered American citizens, Holstein's work had reached fruition.[19]

Holstein provided hurricane relief for his native Virgin Islands in 1924 and 1928 providing large sums of money and building materials.[8][15][19]

Kidnapping and loss of fortune

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On September 21, 1928, Holstein was kidnapped and held for a ransom of $50,000.[21] It was reported to the police that he was kidnapped by seven men and woman.[22] Four white men with revolvers allegedly took him after midnight after a visit to a wealthy woman's home. He was placed in a car and taken east down Seventh Avenue.[22]

He was released three days later, insisting that no ransom was paid. The incident was never explained by Holstein, though it was suspected that Dutch Schultz may have been behind the kidnapping.[13][23] Schulz was interested in Holstein's numbers game and wanted to take over.[24] Holstein may have also owed him payment on a $10,000 loan.[25]

After the kidnapping his fortune began to decline.[15] By 1931, Holstein was considered "broke" as gambling began to prove less lucrative and white gangsters pushed Black competition away.[26][27] On December 23, 1935, Holstein was arrested on charges related to gambling, but claimed he was already out of the gambling business and only worked in real estate.[24][28] He later served three years in prison after a 1936 conviction.[8]

Death and legacy

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Holstein died in New York on April 5, 1944 in the home of Alverstone Smothergill, a beneficiary of his philanthropic work.[29] He had a stroke two years prior.[30] His funeral was held at Memorial Baptist Church in Harlem where more than 2,000 people attended.[8] Holstein was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery.[29] Route 65 on Saint Croix was named "Caspar Holstein Drive" in 2006 in his honor.[31]

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Casper Holstein appears by name portrayed by actor Rony Clanton as the largest operator in the New York City numbers game in the 1984 movie, The Cotton Club.[32] Valentin Narcisse, played by Jeffrey Wright, on season 4 and 5 of the HBO period crime-drama Boardwalk Empire was inspired by Holstein.[33]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Chepesiuk 2007, p. 23.
  2. ^ a b c d e Charles 1999, p. 563.
  3. ^ Fabre, Geneviève Fabre and Michel Feith. Temples for Tomorrow: Looking Back at the Harlem Renaissance. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-253-21425-4
  4. ^ a b Hall 1939, p. 2.
  5. ^ a b c Frank, Bill (1970-02-25). "College of Virgin Islands Offers No Black Studies". The Morning News. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-11-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Chepesiuk 2007, p. 24.
  7. ^ Chepesiuk 2007, p. 24-25.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "Black History Spotlight: Casper Holstein". St. John Source. 2008-02-07. Retrieved 2025-11-08.
  9. ^ a b Chepesiuk 2007, p. 27.
  10. ^ Hall 1939, p. 3.
  11. ^ Crime Library, Black Gangs of Harlem : 1920-1939, "Harlem gangs from the 1920s and 1930s - the Crime library". Archived from the original on 2006-03-07. Retrieved 2006-03-31.
  12. ^ Hall 1939, p. 4.
  13. ^ a b "Holstein Set Free By Abductors," The New York Times, September 24, 1928
  14. ^ Lewis, David Levering (1994). "Harlem My Home". In Miers, Charles (ed.). Harlem Renaissance: Art of Black America. p. 61 – via Internet Archive.
  15. ^ a b c "Caspar Holstein, Harlem Magnate, Is in Island Row". The Buffalo News. 1935-04-12. p. 24. Retrieved 2025-11-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Hall 1939, p. 7.
  17. ^ Hall 1939, p. 6.
  18. ^ Charles 1999, p. 565.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g Chepesiuk 2007, p. 28.
  20. ^ Chepesiuk 2007, p. 29.
  21. ^ De Jongh 1990, p. 75-76.
  22. ^ a b "Negro Is Held For Ransom". Nevada State Journal. 24 September 1928. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-11-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ De Jongh 1990, p. 76.
  24. ^ a b Charles 1999, p. 564.
  25. ^ Monaco, Richard; Bascom, Lionel (1991). Rubouts: Mob Murders in America. Avon Books. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-380-75938-5 – via Internet Archive.
  26. ^ "Caspar Holstein, New York Policy King, Reported 'Broke'; Friends Refuse Aid". The Northwest Enterprise. 1931-04-09. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-11-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ Kahn 1987, p. 262.
  28. ^ Hall 1939, p. 5.
  29. ^ a b "Caspar Holstein, One-time Numbers King, Dies Broke". Washington Afro American. 1944-04-15. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-11-07 – via Newspapers.com."Numbers King, Dies Broke". Washington Afro American. 1944-04-15. p. 12. Retrieved 2025-11-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ "Numbers King Dies Pauper". The Kansas City Star. 1944-04-09. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-11-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Governor Signs Bills to Honor Outstanding Residents". St. Thomas Source. 2006-09-16. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
  32. ^ Berry, Faith (1985-03-10). "'Cotton Club' Doesn't Tell It Like it Was". Oakland Tribune. p. 25. Retrieved 2025-11-08 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ Moaba, Alex (2013-09-05). "'Boardwalk Empire': Jeffrey Wright On The Real-Life Racketeer Who Inspired His Season 4 Character (VIDEO)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2013-09-17.

Sources

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Preceded by Policy racket in New York City
c. 1923–1932 		Succeeded by
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