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Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster
The bestselling author delves into his past and discovers the inspiring story of his grandmother’s extraordinary life.
She was black and a woman and a prosecutor, a graduate of Smith College and the granddaughter of slaves, as dazzlingly unlikely a combination as one could imagine in New York of the 1930s � and without the strategy she devised, Lucky Luciano, the most powerful Mafia boss in history, would never have been convicted. When special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey selected twenty lawyers to help him clean up the city’s underworld, she was the only member of his team who was not a white male.
Eunice Hunton Carter, Stephen Carter’s grandmother, was raised in a world of stultifying expectations about race and gender, yet by the 1940s, her professional and political successes had made her one of the most famous black women in America. But her triumphs were shadowed by prejudice and tragedy. Greatly complicating her rise was her difficult relationship with her younger brother, Alphaeus, an avowed Communist who � together with his friend Dashiell Hammett � would go to prison during the McCarthy era. Yet she remained unbowed.
Moving, haunting, and as fast-paced as a novel, Invisible tells the true story of a woman who often found her path blocked by the social and political expectations of her time. But Eunice Carter never accepted defeat, and thanks to her grandson’s remarkable book, her long forgotten story is once again visible.
She was black and a woman and a prosecutor, a graduate of Smith College and the granddaughter of slaves, as dazzlingly unlikely a combination as one could imagine in New York of the 1930s � and without the strategy she devised, Lucky Luciano, the most powerful Mafia boss in history, would never have been convicted. When special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey selected twenty lawyers to help him clean up the city’s underworld, she was the only member of his team who was not a white male.
Eunice Hunton Carter, Stephen Carter’s grandmother, was raised in a world of stultifying expectations about race and gender, yet by the 1940s, her professional and political successes had made her one of the most famous black women in America. But her triumphs were shadowed by prejudice and tragedy. Greatly complicating her rise was her difficult relationship with her younger brother, Alphaeus, an avowed Communist who � together with his friend Dashiell Hammett � would go to prison during the McCarthy era. Yet she remained unbowed.
Moving, haunting, and as fast-paced as a novel, Invisible tells the true story of a woman who often found her path blocked by the social and political expectations of her time. But Eunice Carter never accepted defeat, and thanks to her grandson’s remarkable book, her long forgotten story is once again visible.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published October 9, 2017
520 people are currently reading
7,037 people want to read
About the author
Stephen L. Carter
28Ìýbooks444ÌýfollowersStephen L. Carter is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale where he has taught since 1982. He has published seven critically acclaimed nonfiction books on topics ranging from affirmative action to religion and politics. His first novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park (2002), was an immediate national best seller. His latest novel is New England White (Knopf, 2007). A recipient of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literature-Fiction, he lives near New Haven, Connecticut."
Also writes under the pen name A.L Shields.
Also writes under the pen name A.L Shields.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 313 reviews
October 31, 2018
Stephen L. Carter normally writes suspense novels about black lawyers. This book is his first into the realm of non-fiction. He is writing about his maternal grandmother.
I found this book about Eunice Roberta Hunton Carter (1899-1970) fascinating. Stephen tells what it was like to be an intelligent ambitious black female in the 1920s and 30s. The book opens with the story of the 1906 race riots in Atlanta, GA. Eunice and her family huddled in their house listening to the white mob coming closer and smelling the smoke from the fires as homes were burning. The family moved to New York after the riots. Eunice’s parents were highly educated and worked for the YMCA/YWCA and the NAACP.
I was amazed to learn that Eunice graduated from Smith University with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in just four years. She married a black dentist and had a son. She then went to Fordham Law School. Eunice was the first black woman lawyer in New York and also the first black woman federal prosecutor in the country. She worked with Thomas Dewey (1902-1971) on his Organized Crime Task Force. She was key in bringing down Lucky Luciano. I found what she accomplished and the obstacles she had to overcome almost overwhelming. This is a book everyone one should read.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is twelve and a half hours. Karen Chilton does a good job narrating the book. She has the perfect voice for Eunice. Chilton is an actress and audiobook narrator.
I found this book about Eunice Roberta Hunton Carter (1899-1970) fascinating. Stephen tells what it was like to be an intelligent ambitious black female in the 1920s and 30s. The book opens with the story of the 1906 race riots in Atlanta, GA. Eunice and her family huddled in their house listening to the white mob coming closer and smelling the smoke from the fires as homes were burning. The family moved to New York after the riots. Eunice’s parents were highly educated and worked for the YMCA/YWCA and the NAACP.
I was amazed to learn that Eunice graduated from Smith University with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in just four years. She married a black dentist and had a son. She then went to Fordham Law School. Eunice was the first black woman lawyer in New York and also the first black woman federal prosecutor in the country. She worked with Thomas Dewey (1902-1971) on his Organized Crime Task Force. She was key in bringing down Lucky Luciano. I found what she accomplished and the obstacles she had to overcome almost overwhelming. This is a book everyone one should read.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is twelve and a half hours. Karen Chilton does a good job narrating the book. She has the perfect voice for Eunice. Chilton is an actress and audiobook narrator.
February 16, 2021
This book was a bit of a mixed bag. It was a fascinating journey in the lives of the "talented tenth" in the 1930s Jim Crow era. Eunice Carter was a very prominent figure in the legal profession, in politics and in African American high society. She worked very hard for really very little acknowledgement both in public eye and in terms of value to her mentor Thomas Dewey. She hob knobbed with the likes of W. E. B. Dubois, Mary McCloud Bethune, James Weldon Johnson, Walter Francis White, etc. She was a player surrounding the creation of the United Nations. The author weaves a fascinating tale of a driven woman in a world where women aren't valued, much less a black woman; no matter how brilliant. Carter married well and maintained prominence in the black community but she did have a ceiling (as did all women in that era). I think the author does an admirable job of describing the world that she lived in and how limiting and how rewarding/disappointing it was for his grandmother. But here's the thing. It is only intermittently, compellingly written. It's frequently plodding and tedious. It gets mired in the minutia particularly with regards to family history especially the history in which Eunice is not the focus. I understand the importance of establishing the family history and moreover the attitudes that inhibit the family (their sense of importance and the expectations that had be "lived up" to ect); however for me as written, it detracted from the book. Also, I don't get the impression that the author was very fond of his grandmother. Sure he respects her and is proud of his lineage, but the subject he seems to have a slight dislike for. In the book Eunice Carter's treatment when it comes to her son (the author's father) is written in a way that implies that the author has no idea on a personal level, who his grandmother was. The book also implied that the author's father was somewhat bitter about the way he was raised. Finally, the event touted in the subtitle of the book was a very minor part of story. More like a catalyst that propelled her career rather than an actual focus of the book. There is much to admire about Eunice Carter and the book certainly does provide a sense of atmosphere with regards to the world that Eunice lived in. Frankly speaking, it could have been written/edited in a much more engaging and illuminating way. I think Eunice Carter and the Carter family are worth knowing about so the book is recommended.
3.5 Stars rounded down because I was disappointed in the overall presentation
Listened to the audiobook. Karen Chilton did a respectable job with the material.
3.5 Stars rounded down because I was disappointed in the overall presentation
Listened to the audiobook. Karen Chilton did a respectable job with the material.
November 18, 2018
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hearing at a local bookstore the author Stephen L. Carter speak about his paternal grandmother Eunice Huston Carter (1899-1970). Sometime later, after the Q&A session, I had the opportunity to speak with Professor Carter as he autographed my copy of this book.
"INVISIBLE: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster" puts the reader into an era in U.S. history barely half a century behind us, when African Americans were restricted by law and what was accepted custom from realizing their full potential in what was an overtly racist America (Jim Crow segregation). Notwithstanding all that, what I found to be deeply inspirational from reading this book is learning about the life of this most remarkable woman - as well as the lives of her parents (who were both fully engaged social activists; Eunice's father with the YMCA (its 'colored' section) for whom he worked tirelessly both in the U.S. and abroad til his death in 1916 and her mother Addie was a graduate of Boston Latin School, and a college graduate who later served as a teacher and worked with a variety of organizations promoting racial and gender equality til her death in 1943) and younger brother, from whom she became estranged.
This is a book that would be instructive (as well as inspirational) to any reader who wants to learn about the value of living -- in spite of the obstacles and challenges arrayed against someone because of their color and/or gender -- a purposeful, committed life wholly dedicated to advancing socio-economic justice, as well as racial and gender equality.
"INVISIBLE: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster" puts the reader into an era in U.S. history barely half a century behind us, when African Americans were restricted by law and what was accepted custom from realizing their full potential in what was an overtly racist America (Jim Crow segregation). Notwithstanding all that, what I found to be deeply inspirational from reading this book is learning about the life of this most remarkable woman - as well as the lives of her parents (who were both fully engaged social activists; Eunice's father with the YMCA (its 'colored' section) for whom he worked tirelessly both in the U.S. and abroad til his death in 1916 and her mother Addie was a graduate of Boston Latin School, and a college graduate who later served as a teacher and worked with a variety of organizations promoting racial and gender equality til her death in 1943) and younger brother, from whom she became estranged.
This is a book that would be instructive (as well as inspirational) to any reader who wants to learn about the value of living -- in spite of the obstacles and challenges arrayed against someone because of their color and/or gender -- a purposeful, committed life wholly dedicated to advancing socio-economic justice, as well as racial and gender equality.
April 3, 2024
I read this book as part of a theme for my reading year of works by black authors on systemic racism and the black experience in the U.S. and around the world. Carter's book and his grandmother's story reminds me that sexism also has been and continues to be a scourge that oppresses. Eunice Carter, educated and ambitious, both pushed boundaries and hit limits set by her identity as black and female. Appointed as the sole female and Negro to a commission to investigate the NYC rackets, her assignment to cover "vice crimes" was considered low value and and menial work of the task force, but through it she uncovered the mob control of city prostitution. When the commission realized the value of her work, they took it over and did not give her a chair in the courtroom during the prosecution and sentencing of Lucky Luciano and the other felons. Passed over for many opportunities due most likely to both racism and sexism throughout her professional career, she persevered in trying to put her talents to good use, finding success internationally when her own nation kept her chances very proscribed.
I like how the author recreated his grandmother's life, and he gives a lot of credit to his daughter and many others who gave key assists to get the story told. We get insight into some forgotten black history of the early to mid-20th century. A little dry, it's still a good read.
I like how the author recreated his grandmother's life, and he gives a lot of credit to his daughter and many others who gave key assists to get the story told. We get insight into some forgotten black history of the early to mid-20th century. A little dry, it's still a good read.
February 26, 2023
It's a travesty that the world doesn't know about Eunice Cater. Hell the whole Carter family as described in this book should have a limited series run on some prestige platform to give some Black talent some truly meaty roles in a time where they so often feel dismissed.
I think that Eunice's life puts in context so many aspects of history that it's so easy to feel so far removed from in 2023, but when you look at the grand scheme of the history of the United States things like the events chronicled here really are only a blink away. If you aren't going to pick up one of Carter's novels, fine, but this book should be at the top of everyone's non-fiction TBR because Eunice Hunton Carter? She is an icon, she is a legend, and she IS the moment.
April 1, 2020
I hate to say this, but this read was so disappointing. This was more of a biography for Eunice Carter (the author’s grandmother) which is great, but that’s not what I signed up for. The title is so misleading! You read the title thinking, “Wow! Why haven’t I heard of this lady? I love mob stories and true crime!� (Don’t pretend you don’t!!)
Carter starts this all off my mentioning the portrayal of Eunice Carter in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and how the role was small but garnered so much skepticism and feedback from viewers. I honestly felt as though this book would have been the vehicle to get the entire story out there. We dig into the book and there are only about 20 pages that deal with Lucky Luciano.
In general, I’d give this 3.5 stars based on Black History, but because I went in looking for something specific that I didn’t find I’m giving it 2 stars.
Carter starts this all off my mentioning the portrayal of Eunice Carter in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and how the role was small but garnered so much skepticism and feedback from viewers. I honestly felt as though this book would have been the vehicle to get the entire story out there. We dig into the book and there are only about 20 pages that deal with Lucky Luciano.
In general, I’d give this 3.5 stars based on Black History, but because I went in looking for something specific that I didn’t find I’m giving it 2 stars.
December 1, 2018
OMG my fifth five star in a row. I have to stop reading books I like.
The story of Eunice Hunton-Carter, a woman relatively unknown to history, but who is so important to how we live, work and think today. Born in 1899, becoming one of the first female black lawyers in the US, she was utterly amazing. Driven, dignified, poised, intellectually-gifted, ambitious, she was also - as the title says - the one who helped take down Lucky Luciano, one of the wealthiest, most corrupt and most powerful mobsters in the US. Appointed to a group of twenty lawyers assembled under NY District Attorney Thomas Dewey, (in order to investigate and take down mob leaders), she was the only female, the only African-American, and this in the year 1935. Wow, just knowing all that...
I went into this book thinking, what else do I NOT know? I chose the book because I'd read Stephen L. Carter's novel, The Back Channel, and absolutely loved it. (Carter is Eunice Hunton Carter's grandson.) As he explored, documented and wrote about his grandmother's past, through letters, newspaper accounts, magazine articles, legal documents, and just about any scrap of paper or information he could find (and of course, by talking to family members and the children of Eunice's colleagues and associates), I came away with a series of 'wows,' 'didn't know that,' plus a whole lot of, 'why don't I know that?'
Of course, she was more than a lawyer, a prosecutor. She was also wife and mother, traveler and celebrated speaker, and involved in more social, political, national and international clubs and associations than I realized existed. She was a socialite, a celebrity, a sports-lover, mingling with and influencing the powerful of the 1920's up and to her death in 1970. She never let others' expectations of her stop her from doing anything she wanted, and though she was crushed in one of her ambitions - a judgeship - she did so much. I am a fan.
An insightful and thoughtful read.
Five stars.
The story of Eunice Hunton-Carter, a woman relatively unknown to history, but who is so important to how we live, work and think today. Born in 1899, becoming one of the first female black lawyers in the US, she was utterly amazing. Driven, dignified, poised, intellectually-gifted, ambitious, she was also - as the title says - the one who helped take down Lucky Luciano, one of the wealthiest, most corrupt and most powerful mobsters in the US. Appointed to a group of twenty lawyers assembled under NY District Attorney Thomas Dewey, (in order to investigate and take down mob leaders), she was the only female, the only African-American, and this in the year 1935. Wow, just knowing all that...
I went into this book thinking, what else do I NOT know? I chose the book because I'd read Stephen L. Carter's novel, The Back Channel, and absolutely loved it. (Carter is Eunice Hunton Carter's grandson.) As he explored, documented and wrote about his grandmother's past, through letters, newspaper accounts, magazine articles, legal documents, and just about any scrap of paper or information he could find (and of course, by talking to family members and the children of Eunice's colleagues and associates), I came away with a series of 'wows,' 'didn't know that,' plus a whole lot of, 'why don't I know that?'
Of course, she was more than a lawyer, a prosecutor. She was also wife and mother, traveler and celebrated speaker, and involved in more social, political, national and international clubs and associations than I realized existed. She was a socialite, a celebrity, a sports-lover, mingling with and influencing the powerful of the 1920's up and to her death in 1970. She never let others' expectations of her stop her from doing anything she wanted, and though she was crushed in one of her ambitions - a judgeship - she did so much. I am a fan.
An insightful and thoughtful read.
Five stars.
November 27, 2018
I received a review copy of this affectionate, well-documented biography free and early thanks to Net Galley and Henry Holt. This book is for sale now.
Eunice Hunton Carter was the author’s grandmother, and though her name is little known today, she was an exceptional woman, a scholar, political activist, and social diva that did extraordinary things during a time period when it was nearly impossible for women of color to rise professionally. Carter tells of her impact on what he calls “the darker nation� and in particular, of her role in taking down notorious gangster Lucky Luciano. She was largely invisible to the mainstream press; this was a time when Black people virtually never won acclaim, and women didn’t either, but it was she that devised the strategy that was needed to try and convict him.
The author is a Yale professor and has a number of successful books to his credit already. This biography is written with the professionalism one would expect; the tone is conversational and keeps the pages turning; transitions are buttery smooth; and the documentation is flawless and meticulous. Those interested in African-American history, or particularly in that of African-American women should read this book.
Carter was born into a well-to-do Atlanta family, leaders among the Negro petite-bourgeoisie. (The author uses the term “Negro� because it was the accepted, polite term during the period in which his grandmother lived.) However, the rise of terrorist groups like the Klan forced successful families of color out of the South, so most of Eunice’s story takes place in New York City, and it is there that she became a famous woman.
Eunice was a die-hard Republican, and the author reminds us that in the early 1900s, it was still known as the party of Lincoln. Though she did not initially aspire to be politically active—a hat that her mother, Addie, already wore—she became involved in Dewey��s various campaigns after working with him in the prosecutor’s office.
The story is well documented and the voice is distinctive. Two things got in the way of my enjoyment of this biography. The first and technically most significant is focus. The author seems at times torn between his desire to write his grandmother’s biography and perhaps a desire to write about his entire family. I’ll be absorbed in the events that shape Eunice, but then her mother is mentioned—as is appropriate, since her mother is so influential in Eunice’s development—but then we’ll see more about her mother. More, more, more. Pages of Addie. When the author smoothly returns us to Eunice I sigh with relief, snuggle into my chair, and then a few pages later, there we are again. Numerous times I have typed into my reader’s notes, “Whose story is this, anyway?� Eventually I become so frustrated by Addie’s success in hijacking her daughter’s story that I stop making notes and highlight every transition, from Eunice to Addie, Addie, Addie, and ah, back to Eunice (and then to Addie again).
This irritating diversion, one that makes me feel as I am sitting in the parlor of some elderly, garrulous, lonely individual that has just poured me more lukewarm tea and picked up yet another photo album—Did I tell you about my cousin Rudy? Now there was a character, they say—mercifully abates about halfway into the story, as we move into the Luciano case. Here we are focused, and it’s a fascinating read. But during the last portion of the book, it is brother Alphaeus that needs editing down. Again, this brother has good reason to be here, since Eunice is convinced that her career suffers from his membership in the Communist Party USA; yet I feel as if a strong editor’s pen would be useful for this relative as well. Or better still: maybe let’s not read about Eunice. Maybe let’s have a biography of Alphaeus instead, since it is he that is driven to try to make the world a better place.
Because Eunice, it’s clear, is really out there for Eunice. The author makes no bones about this; yet his glee at her snobbery, social climbing, and vast ostentatious displays of wealth is not inspirational.
When all is said and done, however, Eunice Hunton Carter deserves a place in history. Had she been born Caucasian and male, who knows? She might have become president, or at least governor of the state of New York. Her drive, talent, and energy seem to have been limitless.
As a read for general audiences, I’d say this is a 3.5 star read, rounded upward, but for those with a special interest in African-American history, or that are doing research for a more specific topic such as African-American women in politics or law, this is a must read.
Eunice Hunton Carter was the author’s grandmother, and though her name is little known today, she was an exceptional woman, a scholar, political activist, and social diva that did extraordinary things during a time period when it was nearly impossible for women of color to rise professionally. Carter tells of her impact on what he calls “the darker nation� and in particular, of her role in taking down notorious gangster Lucky Luciano. She was largely invisible to the mainstream press; this was a time when Black people virtually never won acclaim, and women didn’t either, but it was she that devised the strategy that was needed to try and convict him.
The author is a Yale professor and has a number of successful books to his credit already. This biography is written with the professionalism one would expect; the tone is conversational and keeps the pages turning; transitions are buttery smooth; and the documentation is flawless and meticulous. Those interested in African-American history, or particularly in that of African-American women should read this book.
Carter was born into a well-to-do Atlanta family, leaders among the Negro petite-bourgeoisie. (The author uses the term “Negro� because it was the accepted, polite term during the period in which his grandmother lived.) However, the rise of terrorist groups like the Klan forced successful families of color out of the South, so most of Eunice’s story takes place in New York City, and it is there that she became a famous woman.
Eunice was a die-hard Republican, and the author reminds us that in the early 1900s, it was still known as the party of Lincoln. Though she did not initially aspire to be politically active—a hat that her mother, Addie, already wore—she became involved in Dewey��s various campaigns after working with him in the prosecutor’s office.
The story is well documented and the voice is distinctive. Two things got in the way of my enjoyment of this biography. The first and technically most significant is focus. The author seems at times torn between his desire to write his grandmother’s biography and perhaps a desire to write about his entire family. I’ll be absorbed in the events that shape Eunice, but then her mother is mentioned—as is appropriate, since her mother is so influential in Eunice’s development—but then we’ll see more about her mother. More, more, more. Pages of Addie. When the author smoothly returns us to Eunice I sigh with relief, snuggle into my chair, and then a few pages later, there we are again. Numerous times I have typed into my reader’s notes, “Whose story is this, anyway?� Eventually I become so frustrated by Addie’s success in hijacking her daughter’s story that I stop making notes and highlight every transition, from Eunice to Addie, Addie, Addie, and ah, back to Eunice (and then to Addie again).
This irritating diversion, one that makes me feel as I am sitting in the parlor of some elderly, garrulous, lonely individual that has just poured me more lukewarm tea and picked up yet another photo album—Did I tell you about my cousin Rudy? Now there was a character, they say—mercifully abates about halfway into the story, as we move into the Luciano case. Here we are focused, and it’s a fascinating read. But during the last portion of the book, it is brother Alphaeus that needs editing down. Again, this brother has good reason to be here, since Eunice is convinced that her career suffers from his membership in the Communist Party USA; yet I feel as if a strong editor’s pen would be useful for this relative as well. Or better still: maybe let’s not read about Eunice. Maybe let’s have a biography of Alphaeus instead, since it is he that is driven to try to make the world a better place.
Because Eunice, it’s clear, is really out there for Eunice. The author makes no bones about this; yet his glee at her snobbery, social climbing, and vast ostentatious displays of wealth is not inspirational.
When all is said and done, however, Eunice Hunton Carter deserves a place in history. Had she been born Caucasian and male, who knows? She might have become president, or at least governor of the state of New York. Her drive, talent, and energy seem to have been limitless.
As a read for general audiences, I’d say this is a 3.5 star read, rounded upward, but for those with a special interest in African-American history, or that are doing research for a more specific topic such as African-American women in politics or law, this is a must read.
August 14, 2018
The story within Invisible is an important one, but unfortunately it reads too much like a textbook.Ìý As author, Stephen L. Carter, weaves the tale of Eunice's childhood, contributions, scholarly pursuits and beyond, the reader becomes so lost in the details that the important contributions of Eunice Hunton Carter are buried.Ìý It was more than evident the author’s motivations for writing this book, as his grandmother it was crucial for him to put her story on paper.Ìý However, from a broader stroke this story is critical for the wider population.Ìý
Ìý
Eunice was a female, African American lawyer in a time when there were few.Ìý She played a key role in taking down one of the most powerful mafia bosses of her time and, like the ladies of “Hidden Figures,â€� Hunton Carter should be a household name, but isn’t.Ìý Unfortunately, the textbook-esque, dullness of this read does her story no favors.
Ìý
As a reader, I would have liked to see more if Lucky Luciano’s storyline throughout, given his take down was the highlight of Hunton Carter’s career.Ìý Additionally, her contributions to the NAACP and importance of her “volunteerâ€� work are downplayed or otherwise lost to the MANY mundane facts, details and names mentioned within.Ìý
Ìý
*Disclaimer: A review copy of this book was provided by LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review.
Ìý
Eunice was a female, African American lawyer in a time when there were few.Ìý She played a key role in taking down one of the most powerful mafia bosses of her time and, like the ladies of “Hidden Figures,â€� Hunton Carter should be a household name, but isn’t.Ìý Unfortunately, the textbook-esque, dullness of this read does her story no favors.
Ìý
As a reader, I would have liked to see more if Lucky Luciano’s storyline throughout, given his take down was the highlight of Hunton Carter’s career.Ìý Additionally, her contributions to the NAACP and importance of her “volunteerâ€� work are downplayed or otherwise lost to the MANY mundane facts, details and names mentioned within.Ìý
Ìý
*Disclaimer: A review copy of this book was provided by LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review.
February 3, 2019
I heard about this book on my favorite podcast, My Favorite Murder. I was so excited to read about a badass trailblazing black lady, which I think Eunice is, but this biography is all over the place. The case highlighted in the title is basically just that, a highlight in a nonlinear (confusing approach for a bio) tale of one woman grinding out a career. I either would have liked it to focus more on the particular case in the title or taken a more meaningful look at her life as a whole. It was just a little too disjointes for me, but Eunice deserves the recognition for sure.
May 2, 2020
The biography of an intelligent woman in the early part of the 20th century written by her grandson, Stephen Carter. I appreciate the labor of love and understanding he employed. His prose was good, but in trying to recount her entire story, it did get a bit repetitive and dull at times. Worth reading, especially for lawyers. 3.5 stars
Shelved as 'dnf'
February 15, 2019Quit at 30%/ chapter 5 where Eunice has finally gotten her law degree, I understand the need for background information but the author wanted to put everything in the book, seriously everything. Eunice and her mother Addie seem like some amazing women his book does them nothing for their legacy.
January 16, 2019
Review to come
August 13, 2019
The amount of research Stephen Carter did for this book about his grandmother is incredible.
March 21, 2024
PHOTO: Eunice Hunton Carter
N.B. Believe it or not, this is a 3rd-4th edit of the previous version!
Like all Black families, the Carters lived with the constant threat of violence in Atlanta. They'd arrived in 1899, coinciding "with the lynching of Sam Hose, a particularly brutal murder that made worldwide headlines, not least because for the next few days you could buy pieces of the mutilated Negro in the city’s shops." In 1906, when Eunice was 7 and her younger brother 3, a mob of white people attacked the epicenter of Black-owned stores and homes, just two blocks from their own home. Perhaps a hundred people were killed; only the victims were prosecuted.
As an established family with enormous influence, the Carters were devoted to the Republican cause. For Eunice, a strict traditionalist, that would never change, even as FDR's New Deal was changing the loyalties of "the darker nation." She went to Smith for her undergraduate degree, and at Fordham got her JD, afterwards putting up her shingle to practice law as a private individual. It did not go well.
But she had another way in--with her family's renown, together with having moved to Harlem and married a successful dentist, she was a budding "Czarina in sassiety," as the author termed the scions of the era. By 1934, the Mob owned New York. In 1935, she ran for district office in NYC and lost--by a landslide. Betting on FDR, her community had overwhelmingly voted Democratic.
A special prosecutor was hired in NY for one year to prosecute organized crime: his name was Thomas Dewey. Dewey hired 20 lawyers to help his prosecutions, and one of them was Eunice Carter. "...[T]he newspapers wrote about her hiring as a payoff to Harlem’s Negroes—as if Dewey had hired nineteen white men on merit and one black woman because he had to." Eunice was assigned to investigate the Women's Court, where careers went to die. But she noticed a trend: all the arrested prostitutes were well rehearsed to answer questions. She also saw that over months, the same lawyer was always there to defend them--and he never lost. This suggested a central overseer. All she needed was a couple of girls wiling to name Lucky Salvatore Luciano, in court, as that overseer. Eventually, Eunice found three mobster girlfriends who'd been present when Luciano carelessly spoke of his involvement. All three were provided ample protection for the duration. All three testified at trial.
"If the jury believed even one of the three women’s testimony, Dewey had his conspiracy." At trial, Dewey was the sole prosecutor. Later, when Eunice expected some reward for her labors, Dewey again assigned her to the Women's Court. Eventually she was head of misdemeanors, another backwater, but less so. There she initiated a juvenile justice system that allowed for release without bail and helped keep kids out of adult jails. Dewey won, and Luciano was sentenced to 30-50 years. (He would later be released early to inform on Communists--his "help" proved fictional.)
When Dewey did turn to the numbers rackets to prosecute the Black-owned so-called policy banks, the newspapers howled: "Harlem was rooting for the fugitive—and against those who were chasing him. As for Eunice, she was suddenly a betrayer." Dewey lost that trial by asking an inadmissible question, a rookie mistake. He was ambitious and impatient, and the loss didn't deter him. After just a year in office, Dewey ran for governor. He took Eunice with him whenever he ventured into a community of color--and always when he visited Harlem. She worked tirelessly on his campaign and spoke at every available venue. She hoped to garner a judgeship when he won. He lost. Again and again, she continued to campaign for Dewey, for governor and a brief time later, for president as well. First he ran against FDR and lost. Next he lost to Truman. Eunice, meanwhile, had been shut out completely. By 1936 she had tired of stumping for the GOP.
Her ambition, however, could not be thwarted. She traveled the world, speaking at every public engagement she could possibly find, all at her own expense. At home, she gave lavish parties to maintain her status as a senior Czarina. She simply swallowed the humiliation of her husband's open cheating and remained in the marriage--exactly as her mother would have demanded. She quietly found another man for herself and both spouses continued to live essentially separate lives under the same roof--although Eunice was traveling more often than not.
Her brother Alphaeus became a thorn in the family's side. He joined the Communist Party, even giving up his professorship at Howard to work for them. For Eunice, this had ramifications: Hoover, then head of the FBI, would have Alphaeus arrested and jailed for refusing to name other Communists. Although Eunice had always held her brother at arm's length and they never spoke again, there was enough of an association to kill her ambitions for good.
"She continued her nearly constant effort to reinvent herself. In March of 1951, she was replaced as the National Council of Negro Women’s official observer at the United Nations. But the change barely slowed her down. Instead, it accelerated her move from the black club world into the white."
Eunice had "...tangled notions of duty that on the one hand she believed in fervently and on the other she knew had always held her back. Gender roles. Racial expectation. Playing the dutiful wife when her husband philandered and she herself was in love with another man; playing the dutiful mother when she had no idea what to do with a child. For regimentation, like dictatorship, comes in many forms; and “the dictator from within� had whispered to Eunice her entire life...she was ambitious at a time and in fields where there were few possibilities for a colored woman to shine. And before we decide that she was too ambitious, we must ask ourselves whether if Eunice had been white and male
and had the same résumé, she would not have gone further in her career. If our answer is even a tentative yes, then to criticize her for ambition amounts to little more than demanding that she stay in her place."
Yet, he also writes,"[S]he kept the world at a distance and wound up with no one to talk to."
I give this non-fiction effort seven stars as an important and utterly neglected piece of history.
June 30, 2020
The writing is clear and intriguing, but I feel that the title is slightly misleading. Yes, Eunice did play a major role in taking down Luciano, but that takes up a small portion of this book, which is otherwise about her struggle to achieve her ambitions, the obstacles she faced in elite society - or, as the author continuously writes, “sassiety�, - as well as her familial relationships. Because the subject is the author’s own grandmother, it appears that he gets slightly carried away by his own family history: focusing on Eunice’s parents, her brother, and the tenuous relationship she had with her son. All of this is interesting and, of course, plays a factor in her character, but it’s not what the book’s title or description suggests the book will be about. Nevertheless, I enjoyed learning about a life that was filled with so much accomplishment and prestige, yet ‘forgotten� to due racial and gender prejudices.
January 8, 2019
Couldn’t afford an editor
This is a poorly written and documented book about Eunice Hunton Carter, which never saw an editor. But the great faults are the excessive surmise (she must have thought, probably, quite possibly) without support; treatment of great historical events (presidential elections, the conviction of Lucky Luciano, the birth of the UN, the communist witch hunts of the 1950s) as if they were bit players in Ms. Carter’s life; the unending sense of personal grievance, etc. she comes across as a disagreeable climber, a terrible mother, and faithless friend. And boring in her solipsism. There might be a good history buried somewhere herein, but it’s buried deep.
This is a poorly written and documented book about Eunice Hunton Carter, which never saw an editor. But the great faults are the excessive surmise (she must have thought, probably, quite possibly) without support; treatment of great historical events (presidential elections, the conviction of Lucky Luciano, the birth of the UN, the communist witch hunts of the 1950s) as if they were bit players in Ms. Carter’s life; the unending sense of personal grievance, etc. she comes across as a disagreeable climber, a terrible mother, and faithless friend. And boring in her solipsism. There might be a good history buried somewhere herein, but it’s buried deep.
May 20, 2019
I picked this up because I was interested in an African American woman having brought down Lucky Luciano. I enjoyed that part of the story. I don't particularly care for politics in anyway so the rest the book was quite dull for me.
June 22, 2019
Eunice Hunton Carter was a formidable prosecutor who helped imprison one of New York's most infamous gangsters, yet, her name is almost completely wiped from the history of our country. Why? Probably because of her race and her gender. She did not believe that a woman's place was in the home, and she took ever opportunity to make a name for herself. Not only was she a prosecutor, but she was a prolific writer, and an active member in the forming of the United Nations and the National Council of Negro Women. Her goal was to bring voice and visibility to the plight of the African American Woman.
She was driven, focused, and was constantly afraid of slipping into mediocrity. Her story seems so unique, but as I kept reading, I thought Eunice Hunton Carter is only one woman-a remarkable one, no question; but there are probably hundreds of women who have similar stories. We just don't know about them because they are part of a race, or class, or gender that has been silenced.
A truly great story about a remarkable woman.
She was driven, focused, and was constantly afraid of slipping into mediocrity. Her story seems so unique, but as I kept reading, I thought Eunice Hunton Carter is only one woman-a remarkable one, no question; but there are probably hundreds of women who have similar stories. We just don't know about them because they are part of a race, or class, or gender that has been silenced.
A truly great story about a remarkable woman.
March 17, 2019
A biography of the author’s notable grandmother, Eunice Hunton Carter, it is also a vibrant history of the “darker nation� in the first half of the 20th Century and the political climate during that time. As one of the first black female attorneys, her story is one very worth reading.
December 26, 2018
In the 1930s, Thomas E. Dewey was appointed as a special prosecutor to combat organized crime in New York. He put together a team of prosecuting attorneys - 19 men and one woman, a black woman, Eunice Hunton Carter. The men were tasked with investigating illegal gambling, murders and other expected specialties of organized crime except prostitution. That was assigned to the lone woman and Eunice did what no one else could - she brought Lucky Luciano to justice. The author, Stephen Carter, is the grandson of Eunice. He has researched the history of his amazing family with the highlight being the story of his grandmother. She tied her fortunes to that of Thomas Dewey who would become governor of NY and run for US president twice against FDR. More than anything she was hoping to be appointed as a judge. Eunice gained much renown, but never achieved her greatest goal. Her grandson has brought her forgotten story to light and he has honored her name and legacy.
June 6, 2020
Eunice Hunton Carter's story should be one that is more well-known. In 1935 as the first black woman to be an asst. district attorney in New York, she came up with the strategy and built the case to be able to arrest and convict Mafia boss Lucky Luciano. This is a biography of Eunice, and the Lucky Luciano story only gets a few chapters--contrary to what it being in the book's subtitle might imply. She led a very prominent life in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance, politically in New York and nationally, and on the international stage as an advocate for women in the United Nations and the International Council of Women. The book can caught up in minutiae and speculation, but as it's written by her grandson, her story is told with love and admiration.
January 9, 2019
This was a fine read but I wish it would have focused more on the actual trial of Luciano. All the contextual information about the family was helpful, but the actual trial portion is quite small in this book.
June 10, 2020
Stellar storytelling, stellar research, stellar writing.
A couple of notes:
-I really appreciated how Carter embraces the unknown. He makes assumptions but is careful to examine ALL the possibilities. And when there are gaps in his knowledge, due to lack of sources, etc., he is quick to admit that they are there. This creates trust between him and the reader.
-Similarly, he is quick to point out perceived disconnects between beliefs and behavior. Again, creating trust in him as a reliable researcher and narrator.
-Why wasn't Addie Hunton in my MA reading list? Unfortunately, I know why. A terrible byproduct of racism is the elimination of important and valuable voices. Her lectures would have been incredibly useful for my thesis. These are writers and speakers that need to be brought back into the "canon." *
- This opens up the reader's eyes to historical, turn-of-the-prior-century racism. Even in the North. The "Harlem Rennaisance" needs to be taught differently. Unfortunately, in many classes and books, it's often the token nod to a hugely influential part of our history.
- It also illustrates how things have changed with technology. It really used to be all about people. Real people who traveled and spoke and worked together. Now... technology has almost erased the need for crusaders like Addie. And that is a huge tragedy.
-I'm not sure if he meant to do this, but I found tracking political parties and their values invariably fascinating. Values in those parties seem to fluctuate and change through time, as much as party fanatics might claim otherwise.
Finally, Carter's summation is a wonderful tribute to his grandmother and those of her generation and the following generations that fought and still fight racism. "The wall is weakening."
Let's help it come down.
*Note-- I feel like it's exclusion was not purposeful on everybody's part. The issue is that the first generation deemed those lectures to be useless and, therefore, they were forgotten by many and not taught to the succeeding generation of educators. However, this is still an issue. Academia owes it to itself to research those that may have been excluded and insert them back into the canon.
A couple of notes:
-I really appreciated how Carter embraces the unknown. He makes assumptions but is careful to examine ALL the possibilities. And when there are gaps in his knowledge, due to lack of sources, etc., he is quick to admit that they are there. This creates trust between him and the reader.
-Similarly, he is quick to point out perceived disconnects between beliefs and behavior. Again, creating trust in him as a reliable researcher and narrator.
-Why wasn't Addie Hunton in my MA reading list? Unfortunately, I know why. A terrible byproduct of racism is the elimination of important and valuable voices. Her lectures would have been incredibly useful for my thesis. These are writers and speakers that need to be brought back into the "canon." *
- This opens up the reader's eyes to historical, turn-of-the-prior-century racism. Even in the North. The "Harlem Rennaisance" needs to be taught differently. Unfortunately, in many classes and books, it's often the token nod to a hugely influential part of our history.
- It also illustrates how things have changed with technology. It really used to be all about people. Real people who traveled and spoke and worked together. Now... technology has almost erased the need for crusaders like Addie. And that is a huge tragedy.
-I'm not sure if he meant to do this, but I found tracking political parties and their values invariably fascinating. Values in those parties seem to fluctuate and change through time, as much as party fanatics might claim otherwise.
Finally, Carter's summation is a wonderful tribute to his grandmother and those of her generation and the following generations that fought and still fight racism. "The wall is weakening."
Let's help it come down.
*Note-- I feel like it's exclusion was not purposeful on everybody's part. The issue is that the first generation deemed those lectures to be useless and, therefore, they were forgotten by many and not taught to the succeeding generation of educators. However, this is still an issue. Academia owes it to itself to research those that may have been excluded and insert them back into the canon.
February 25, 2024
3.5* s rounded up. I loved *most* of this book. It definitely dragged in some places, but that's par for the course with historical nonfiction biographies. I think it did a really good job of giving an accurate recounting of the life of Stephen's grandmother, Eunice Carter, who was one of the key lawyers in the arrest and subsequent conviction of Lucky Luciano, a New York mobster. It didn't always paint her in the most flattering light, which I was slightly worried about, but did a good job of making her a realistic, three dimensional person.
I think what kept it from being four or five stars for me was the disconnect between the book's tagline ("The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster") and the actual plot of the book. It is the story of Eunice Carter, but it's her *life* story, and that one event happens so early in the book that it felt... Unsatisfying. I don't know how the author could have fixed this "The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster and Then Spent Decades Doing Other Things and Trying To Get Her Boss Elected President (Also Had A Communist Brother)" doesn't really have the same ring to it, but would have set the expectations a little more accurately.
I think what kept it from being four or five stars for me was the disconnect between the book's tagline ("The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster") and the actual plot of the book. It is the story of Eunice Carter, but it's her *life* story, and that one event happens so early in the book that it felt... Unsatisfying. I don't know how the author could have fixed this "The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster and Then Spent Decades Doing Other Things and Trying To Get Her Boss Elected President (Also Had A Communist Brother)" doesn't really have the same ring to it, but would have set the expectations a little more accurately.
February 24, 2023
Stephen Carter has written a comprehensive biography of his amazing grandmother. His appreciation of her talents, successes, and barriers are well documented. Eunice Carter had a major success despite major barriers. Her perseverance is astounding but her overall story is as discouraging and disappointing as it is impressive. She was not given the rewards for work as were deserved.
The book is well worth reading. It is an excellent document for those who have reason to study her life or are her heirs. I applaud it's value.
As a casual reader, the book was interesting but would have been approachable if edited for that more casual use. This is a story worthy of study by young persons across social populations and minorities who struggle with unfair practices.
The book is well worth reading. It is an excellent document for those who have reason to study her life or are her heirs. I applaud it's value.
As a casual reader, the book was interesting but would have been approachable if edited for that more casual use. This is a story worthy of study by young persons across social populations and minorities who struggle with unfair practices.
September 20, 2020
I really enjoyed this book not only because the incredible talents displayed by Eunice and her family, and also the glittery glimpse into 1930s Harlem society, but also because throughout the book, it becomes so clear the way race and sex intersect to limit and denigrate the work of incredible people.
September 27, 2019
Read for Read Harder 2019 #19: A book of nonviolent true crime.
August 1, 2023
I enjoyed this book quite a lot. It tells of an interesting aspect of black history. I think many people assume that, because of segregation and discrimination, Black people in the United States were very poor. Certainly that was true for the majority but, there was substantial minority of well educated and moneyed Black people. This is the biography of one of them, a lady lawyer who led the fight against Lucky Luciano, head of the mob.
April 23, 2019
An absolutely great biography of Eunice Hunton Carter, The highlight is her role in prosecuting and convicting Lucky Luciano while advocating for the women who were trafficked by Luciano's mob, but the whole story of her life as a courageous, smart African American woman ahead of her time is compelling.
The book is written by her grandson, Stephen Carter, a Yale law professor and author. Carter refers to the family relationship throughout the book but he does not substitute that for extensive research to tell the story and Carter does not hide the warts that his family, like all families, had. This includes her repeated neglect of her son while she focused on her career and causes, though it is put in context of how she and her brother were raised by parents who had similar approaches to career and parenting.
The telling of the prosecution of Lucky Luciano has the suspense of the best novel. Carter was hired by Tom Dewey who was appointed as a special prosecutor in investigate the mob in New York City. While Dewey can be commended for hiring an African American woman lawyer in the 1930s, he still succumbed to stereotype by assigning her to "woman's cases" as opposed to the more glamorous, higher priority investigations. But while the other investigations stalled, Carter's painstaking work and documentation showed that the mob profited from and controlled prostitution throughout the city. She also showed that the prostitutes were not willing participants but were forced labor subjected to rape, beatings, and stolen earnings. Dewey long resisted the prosecution based on prostitution cases, he was afraid of being characterized as a moralizer. He finally listened to Carter when she showed how they could convict Luciano and how the prostitutes controlled by the mob were victims, not criminals.
The trial itself was ahead of its time. It foreshadowed recent changes of acknowledging that woman who are forced to stay in business of selling their bodies for other's profits are trafficking victims, not prostitutes. Not prosecuting them and arranging for help and protection foreshadowed today's controversy of incentivized witnesses. The trial was one of the earliest and most effective examples of the developing conspiracy law.
While Dewey gave Carter credit at the time, he did not reward her with later jobs, Carter missed opportunities to become a Judge, a top Prosecutor, and other jobs, though her brother's background as a Communist played a role, in Carter's eyes, the main role.
Carter's grandson continues her story with tangents about Harlem, affluent African American life of the time, the gradual tide of African Americans turning away from Republicans to Democrats (though not Carter herself) and especially the complicated Carter life.
In summary: this is a fantastic book that has the fun of a novel and the inspiration of a great woman's life
The book is written by her grandson, Stephen Carter, a Yale law professor and author. Carter refers to the family relationship throughout the book but he does not substitute that for extensive research to tell the story and Carter does not hide the warts that his family, like all families, had. This includes her repeated neglect of her son while she focused on her career and causes, though it is put in context of how she and her brother were raised by parents who had similar approaches to career and parenting.
The telling of the prosecution of Lucky Luciano has the suspense of the best novel. Carter was hired by Tom Dewey who was appointed as a special prosecutor in investigate the mob in New York City. While Dewey can be commended for hiring an African American woman lawyer in the 1930s, he still succumbed to stereotype by assigning her to "woman's cases" as opposed to the more glamorous, higher priority investigations. But while the other investigations stalled, Carter's painstaking work and documentation showed that the mob profited from and controlled prostitution throughout the city. She also showed that the prostitutes were not willing participants but were forced labor subjected to rape, beatings, and stolen earnings. Dewey long resisted the prosecution based on prostitution cases, he was afraid of being characterized as a moralizer. He finally listened to Carter when she showed how they could convict Luciano and how the prostitutes controlled by the mob were victims, not criminals.
The trial itself was ahead of its time. It foreshadowed recent changes of acknowledging that woman who are forced to stay in business of selling their bodies for other's profits are trafficking victims, not prostitutes. Not prosecuting them and arranging for help and protection foreshadowed today's controversy of incentivized witnesses. The trial was one of the earliest and most effective examples of the developing conspiracy law.
While Dewey gave Carter credit at the time, he did not reward her with later jobs, Carter missed opportunities to become a Judge, a top Prosecutor, and other jobs, though her brother's background as a Communist played a role, in Carter's eyes, the main role.
Carter's grandson continues her story with tangents about Harlem, affluent African American life of the time, the gradual tide of African Americans turning away from Republicans to Democrats (though not Carter herself) and especially the complicated Carter life.
In summary: this is a fantastic book that has the fun of a novel and the inspiration of a great woman's life
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