by Erin Bledsoe
In Mob Queen, we follow Virginia’s rise from the slums of Chicago to the highest tiers of organized crime, a rare feat for a woman, but not a unique one. History is filled with fierce, clever, and bold women who shattered expectations and carved their names into the criminal underworld. Here are a few of my favorite real-life outlaws, a collection of women I’d love to write about someday.
1. Gertrude Lythgoe – The Bahama Queen
One of the only women to legally sell imported alcohol to bootleggers during Prohibition, Gertrude held a wholesale liquor license in Nassau, Bahamas in the 1920s, a daring feat in a male-dominated racket. She earned her crown as “The Bahama Queen,” and built a legacy that made her untouchable. When she was caught and avoided charges, she left the business behind completely and retired to Detroit, Michigan.
Read more:
- The Bahama Queen: The Autobiography of Gertrude ‘Cleo’ Lythgoe
2. Alice Diamond & the Forty Elephants – London’s All-Female Gang
At just nineteen, Alice took control of the Forty Elephants, an all-women gang operating in 1920s London. Armed with thick furs and clever hands, they plundered department stores and lived lavishly. Their operation was massive, organized, and terrifying to shopkeepers across the city. They also matched the violence of their male counterparts, unafraid to fight for what they’d built.
Watch them in:
- A Thousand Blows on Hulu
Read more:
- The Forty Elephants by Erin Bledsoe
- Queen of Thieves by Beezy Marsh
- Queens of London by Heather Webb
3. The New Female Coterie – Society’s Scandalous Outcasts
Not a gang, but a defiant social club of 18th-century London women cast out of high society for adultery, promiscuity, or scandal. Among them: Henrietta Grosvenor, Lady Worsley, and Penelope Ligonier. Lady Worsley in particular shocked England with her “criminal conversation” trial, challenging her husband’s legal ownership over her body. While these women didn’t participate in any major crimes, they’re intriguing to read about due to their ability to thrive after divorce and scandal, even going so far as to make a name for themselves using it.
Recommended read:
- The Scandalous Lady W by Hallie Rubenhold
4. Anne Bonny – The Pirate Queen
Anne Bonny escaped a dull marriage by falling in with pirate Calico Jack Rackham, and the two terrorized the Caribbean. At a time when women were banned from ships, Anne was feared and respected for her blade and her courage, sailing into legend alongside fellow pirate Mary Read.
Books featuring Anne:
- The Ballad of the Pirate Queens by Jane Yolen
- Pirate Queens: The Lives of Anne Bonny & Mary Read by Rebecca Alexandra Simon
5. Charlotte Corday – Assassin of the Revolution
It’s said Charlotte became an assassin in her middle twenties. She was the daughter of French nobles and during the French Revolution, she tricked her way in to meet Jean-Paul Marat, a prominent revolutionary leader, and stabbed him to death while he was in his bathtub. She believed she was saving France from tyranny.
Read more:
- Charlotte Corday by Thomas Theodoor H. Jorissen
6. Pearl Hart – The Lady Bandit
One of the few women to rob a stagecoach in the American West. Dressed as a man and armed with a revolver, Pearl pulled off her robbery in 1899, making national headlines and becoming a legend. Reports on Hart are often contradicting, but one of my favorite details is that her mother was gravely ill, and her efforts through crime were to raise money to help. The rumor is that after the robbery of $431.20, which is about $16,226.21 today, she returned one dollar to each passenger before fleeing.
Read more:
- Wildcat: The Untold Story of Pearl Hart, the Wild West’s Most Notorious Woman Bandit byJohn Boessenecker
7. Texas Guinan – The Nightclub Queen
During my research into the ‘Queen of the Bahamas’, I came across Texas and was fascinated. Texas was a Prohibition-era icon, a major silent film star, who turned nightlife into her empire. Her clubs were a hot spot for jazz but most importantly, outlawed booze. She didn’t own the clubs, but she was the star of the show, drawing in both the elite socialites and notable gangsters. She was arrested multiple times but always seemed to avoid charges. She consistently balanced the line between entertainer and underworld figure and was wildly clever in her tactics.
Read more:
- Texas Guinan: Queen of the Nightclubs by Louise Berliner
These are just a handful of women I’ve discovered during research, but there are so many more. Some defy actual laws or more importantly, the laws imposed by gender, class, age, race, or circumstance. While it’s easy to dismiss their actions as criminal, to say there was no merit or meaning in their rise, each one left behind proof that women, regardless of the era, can carve power from nothing.
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