“Fighting and Cutting and Shooting, and Carrying On”: Saloons, Dives, and the Black “Tough” in Manhattan’s Tenderloin, 1890-1917

Abstract

Most historical studies of early twentieth-century American saloons focus on white ethnic immigrants and largely neglect black drinking dives. To understand the significance of saloons to African Americans it is necessary to differentiate the black experience from the dominant historical narrative. Scrutinizing the media depiction of black male Tenderloin residents as “toughs” I question whether some black men refashioned masculinity with public acts of mayhem, a purposefully heedless perspective, and a willingness to disregard the law. Employing countless media accounts, prison case files, trial transcripts, and correspondence between saloon owners and progressive organizations I argue that black saloons became centers of licit and illicit economies and physical spaces where black men reimagined their masculine identities.