Big Sue

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Big Sue or Sue, the Turtle was the psudonym of an African-American saloonkeeper and underworld figure whose Grand Street dive bar was destroyed during the New York Draft Riots in 1863. After she had been attacked and "frightfully beaten" by a group of women from the Five Points, her liqour was conficated and distributed amongst the rioters around Thompson Street's Arch Block.

Although considered an honest dive keeper, as thievery among many of the city's taverns and saloons were rampant, she is suspexcted to have been involved in prostitution as a procuress and brothel owner [1].

[edit] References

Asbury, Herbert. The Gangs of New York. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928. ISBN 1-56025-275-8
Crapsey, Edward. The Nether Side of New York, Or, the Vice, Crime and Poverty of the Great Metropolis. New York: Sheldon & Company, 1872.