St. Clair’s rise came at a time when Black people had extremely limited ways to invest. Banks at the time often didn't accept Black customers. This made gambling a dependable way to save money and invest back into our families and community.
St. Clair, an immigrant from the Caribbean, moved to New York at the height of the Great Migration. She joined over six million other Black people seeking to escape Jim Crow segregation and build a better life.
Clair refused to conform to the status quo. Racial tensions and segregation existed in the north and Clair saw this expressed in the low wages Black women were paid making up to just $10 a week.
Inspired, Clair invested $10,000 of her money in an underground lottery game. She hit it big. Not only did she finance the Harlem numbers operation, but she also created jobs for Black Harlemites.
Challenging the corrupt system around her, Clair fought actively against the mob and police. She published ads in local papers to educate Harlem residents about their civil liberties. This would shape her later life as she retired from numbers in the 1930s to advocate for her people full time.