The Daddy Black Project
One life, pieced together from the archive
Arthur J. “Daddy” Black was born in Charleston, raised in a Providence orphans’ shelter, served twenty years in the U.S. Navy, and became one of the most talked-about men in Jazz Age Providence before he was shot dead in his own home on 24 September 1932. No biography of him exists. This project rebuilds his life record by record.
His life in chapters
The same chapters divide the timeline, so you can jump straight to any period.
- to 1880
Charleston
Born in Charleston, South Carolina. The family moves north while he is still an infant.
- 1880–1881
Providence
His mother, Phebe Black, settles in Providence with her children.
- 1881–1886
The Shelter
Arthur and his siblings pass in and out of the Providence Shelter for Colored Orphans while Phebe petitions the board, again and again, to keep the family together. The board’s minutes record it all.
- 1897–1898
Sockanosset School for Boys
A spell at the state reform school, whose cadet battalion and Fourth of July parades made the papers.
- 1899–1919
The Navy
Two decades of service. In December 1905 he volunteers for the gunboat Wasp’s mercy run and works her engine room through a 32-hour gale, earning a special commendation. He serves at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, up to the First World War.
- 1920–1929
Capitalist
Back in Providence, he joins the International Union of Operating Engineers (formerly the Steam Engineers) and helps build two Rhode Island landmarks: the Mount Hope Bridge and the Industrial National building, known today as the Superman Building. Meanwhile the city’s lottery trade grows around him.
- 1930–1932
Racketeer
Numbers operator and baseball magnate, with the Providence Monarchs and Giants. Arrested in the numbers war of 1932, and shot dead in his home on 24 September 1932.
- 1932–1953
Aftermath
Within two months, five men are convicted of his murder and a sixth as an accessory, all to life terms. The last of them is paroled in 1953.
How it was researched
Every one of the 213 records is transcribed from its source, dated, and cited. The scans sit alongside the text, so you can read the original for yourself.
Newspapers
More than 25 titles, from the Providence Journal and the Boston Chronicle to the Afro American, the Pittsburgh Courier and papers as far away as Tampa and Omaha.
Institutional records
Monthly minutes of the Providence Shelter for Colored Orphans, 1881 to 1886, and coverage of the Sockanosset School in the Howard Times.
Naval records
Service records and the personal log of Hugh Sweeney, commanding officer of the USS Wasp.
Court records
Superior Court dockets, indictments and capiases from the 1932 murder case.
With thanks
- The family of Arthur “Daddy” Black
- Rhode Island Historical Society, Robinson Research Center
- University of Rhode Island, Special Collections and Archives
- Providence Public Library
- John Hay Library, Brown University
- Avery Research Center, College of Charleston
- Historic Charleston Foundation
- Massachusetts Judicial Archives