This year's Mixed Experience History Month is admittedly a little heavy on Afro-Vikings, but here's just one more.
Casper Holstein who was born in 1876 in the Danish West Indies on St. Croix would grow up to become one of Harlem's most notorious gangsters involved in the numbers racket.
Holstein was of African and Danish descent. His father was a landed person of color who was racially mixed. In 1894, Holstein moved to New York with his mother. After attending high school in Brooklyn, he enlisted in the Navy. After the war he held a variety of jobs, and eventually became the head messenger at a Wall Street brokerage firm.
Holstein learned about the market and started studying the numbers racket, the illegal lottery that many people engaged in. He developed his own lottery called Bolito, and by the 1920s he was said to be a millionaire twice over.
Holstein used much of his riches for philanthropy and became one of the city's great powerbrokers. Holstein donated money to many causes including impoverished children, black colleges, and hurricane relief for his native Virgin Islands. He also financed many of the Harlem Renaissance artists.
The New York Times declared that he was "Harlem's favorite hero, because of his wealth, his sporting proclivities and his philanthropies among the people of his race.”
Holstein was kidnapped by a group of white men and held for ransom. After several days, he was released and no ransom was paid.
Holstein eventually spent a year in prison for illegal gambling. Upon his release, he quit the numbers racket and became a full-time philanthropist. He died in 1944.
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Mixed Experience History Month is the annual blog post series created by writer Heidi Durrow celebrating the history of the Mixed experience. Established in 2007, Mixed Experience History Month is an effort to show that there is a long history of achievements of those involved in the Mixed experience. Please look for more profiles of people, places and events of the Mixed experience every weekday of May at Lightskinned-ed Girl, the blog! Thanks for reading. And check out some of the previous year's profiles: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010.
