used secret hand signs (p. 53): Ibid.
the people huddled (p. 53): Information on the early days of the New York City subway from The City Beneath Us, edited by Vivian Heller, New York: Norton, 2004.
“to go home” (p. 54): “Find Clue,” Washington Times, February 19, 1917, 2.
Heatherbloom Girl (p. 54): “Moving Signs Along Broadway,” Edison Monthly, December 1911, 226; Gregory Gilmartin, Shaping the City, New York: Clarkson Potter, 1995, 443; James Traub, The Devil’s Playground, New York: Random House, 2004.
“(Signed), Ruth Cruger” (p. 55): “Girls’ ‘Prison Note,’” Washington Herald, February 22, 1917, 1.
false leads (p. 55): “Cruger Girl May,” Asbury Park Press, February 19, 1917, 2. A girl named Mildred Van Loan saw a blotter note on the ground while playing near the Hudson River. It was an “S.O.S.” message from “Ruth Cruger.” Another fragment of the blotter seemed to say “Metropolitan Motorcycles” on it. Mildred showed her father, who took it to police. They dismissed it as having no value. The handwriting was later determined to be different from Ruth’s.
tidal wave of clues (p. 55): “Fear Cruger Case,” New York Evening World, February 22, 1917, 2.
Woods at Scotland Yard (p. 56): “An American Sherlock Holmes,” Deseret Evening News, September 14, 1907, 14.
“out of the experience” (p. 56): “N.Y. City Sleuths,” Washington Times, September 11, 1914, 7.
“few such mysteries” (p. 57): “Where Is Ruth Cruger?” New York Times, February 28, 1917, 10.
fifty detectives (p. 57): “Fifty Detectives Fail,” New-York Tribune, February 28, 1917, 5.
“to the bottom” (p. 57): “Fifty More Submarines,” Scranton Republican, February 22, 1917, 8.
“can be a detective (p. 58):” “Police Trace Two,” New York Evening World, February 21, 1917, 1.
ice-skating—alone (p. 58): “Ruth Cruger Hunt,” New-York Tribune, March 6, 1917, 15.
“in my motorcar?” (p. 58): “School Chum,” New York Sun, March 1, 1917, 8; “Woods Aids Hunt,” New-York Tribune, February 15, 1917, 3.
“an invitation to dinner” (p. 59): “Seek New Man,” New York Times, February 25, 1917, 10.
Henry’s reward (p. 59): “Reward of $1,000,” New York Evening World, March 7, 1918, 1. Swann then asked the Board of Aldermen to double it; “$1,000 Reward,” New York Times, March 8, 1917, 11.
“be a lost girl” (p. 60): “Ruth Cruger Gone,” New York Evening World, February 23, 3.
5: THESE LITTLE CASES
The physical description of the People’s Law Firm is from Katherine Glover, “Justice and Legal Aid,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 5, 1906, 16.
“to help you” (p. 62): “New Field of Legal Work,” New York Times, June 11, 1905, 47.
“Portia of the East Side” (p. 63): “Lawyers Vs. Shysters,” Boston Evening Transcript, December 13, 1905, 18.
“di Modeste Condizioni” (p. 63): “Women Lawyers in America,” Evening Star, February 16, 8.
“mother” (p. 63): “New Field of Legal Work,” New York Times, June 11, 1905, 47.
156 Leonard Street in Little Italy (p. 63): New York Charities Directory, New York: Charity Organization Society, 1907, 87.
“dominate their hearts” (p. 65): New Field of Legal Work,” New York Times, June 11, 1905, 47.
Rosie Pasternack (p. 65): Ibid.
“lady pay me” (p. 67): Ibid.
“$5 as for $500” (p. 68): Katherine Glover, “Justice and Legal Aid,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 5, 1906, 16.
“get my wife!” (p. 68): Ibid.
“have on now” (p. 68): Ibid.
trust-buster cases (p. 68): “Woman Will Help in War Against Trusts,” New York Times, September 15, 1907, 6. After a long three years in court, Grace won $17,000 to return to twenty-three people in Bath Beach, which was half of what the city assessed on their property, along with the taxes.
“police wouldn’t help” (p. 70): “Woman Gets Thieves,” New York Times, October 3, 1905, 6.
“little cases” (p. 71): “Justice and Legal Aid,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 5, 1906, 16.
“hurts nobody yet” (p. 71): “Deportation of an American Citizen,” Daily News-Democrat, October 7, 1905, 10. All of the dialogue in this section is from this article, which was picked up nationally.
Ward’s Island (p. 72): Situated off Manhattan between the Harlem and East Rivers, it had over four thousand beds for psychiatric cases in 1905, making it the largest mental institution in the world.
“year after arrival” (p. 72): “Regulation of Immigration,” Report on the Committee on Immigration, section 11, Act of March 3, 1891, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1902, 428.
“of moderate means” (p. 72): “Deportation of an American Citizen,” Daily News-Democrat, October 7, 1905, 10.
“the devil coming” (p. 73): Nellie Bly, “Ten Days in a Mad-House,” Around the World in Seventy-Two Days and Other Writing, New York: Penguin, 79; Deborah Noyes, Ten Days a Madwoman, New York, 2016; Brooke Kroeger, Daredevil, Reporter, Feminist, New York: Three Rivers Press, 1995.
Antonio Vigiani case (p. 76): “Lawyer Causes Man’s Disbarment,” New York Times, October 4, 1905, 16.
Mt. Carmel festival (p. 76): Robert A. Orsi, The Madonna of 115th Street, New Haven: Yale UP, 2010.
Michael Cica (p. 78): “Tin Can Blown,” New York Times, July 20, 1905, 3.
The Black Hand (p. 79): “Police Guard Woman Lawyer,” New York Evening World, July 20, 1905, 10.
“we have you” (p. 80): “Pay or Beware,” Minneapolis Journal, September 30, 1905, 3.
“about to die” (p. 81): “Priest and His Church Guarded by Detectives,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 15, 1907, 14. The church was at 22 Powell Street.
Black Hand in Westchester (p. 82): “Black Hand Terrorizes Westchester,” New York Evening World, July 7, 1905, 4; “Alleged Queen of Black Handers,” Pittsburgh Press, March 10, 1918, 42; “Murder Taught by Black Hand,” Richmond Planet, February 1, 1908, 6.
barrel murders (p. 81): Mike Dash, The First Family, London: Pocket, 2009; John Dickie, Cosa Nostra, New York: St. Martin’s, 2004; “Barrel Murder Mystery,” New York Times, April 20, 1903, 1; Michael Zarocostas, The Barrel Murder, CreateSpace, 2013, fiction.
diaper (p. 81): William J. Flynn, “The Black-Hand Testament,” Lima News, April 2, 1920, 24.
“keep your mouth shut” (p. 82): William J. Flynn, “Methods of Blackmailing,” Lincoln Evening Journal, March 30, 1920, 2.
Bennie Wilenski interview (p. 83): Dialogue from “White Slaves in Labor Camp,” New York Sun, July 28, 1906, 1; “Slaves in Florida,” Minneapolis Journal, July 16, 1906, 4.
Schwartz arrested (p. 84): “Grand Jury Indicts,” New York Times, October 21, 1906, 6. The S. S. Schwartz Employment Agency was at 113–115 First Street and 283 Bowery.
Southern Agricultural Colonization Society (p. 85): “White Slaves in Labor Camp,” New York Sun, July 28, 1906, 1.