When Fannie Davis and her family moved to Detroit in the mid-1950s, they hadn’t prepared themselves for how hard it would be. They had trouble finding steady work. So, Fannie found a way to take care of her family. She started small, but built a robust and lucrative operation… a business that a lot of people knew about but no one talked about.

Bridgett Davis’ book is The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother’s Life in the Detroit Numbers.

Criminal is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

If you haven’t already, please review us on iTunes! It’s an important way to help new listeners discover the show: iTunes.com/CriminalShow.

Say hello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Sign up for The Accomplice.

If you’d like to introduce friends or family members to podcasts, we created a How to Listen guide based on frequently asked questions.

Artwork by Julienne Alexander.

Sponsors:

Care/of For 50% off your first month of personalized Care/of vitamins, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter CRIMINAL50.

Robinhood Robinhood is giving listeners a FREE stock to help build your portfolio! Sign up at criminal.robinhood.com

Simplisafe Protect your home today and get free shipping at SimpliSafe.com/CRIMINAL

Squarespace Enjoy a free trial and 10% off your first purchase with offer code CRIMINAL.

Sun Basket Go to SUNBASKET.com and enter promo code CRIMINAL today to get 50% off your first order.

Toyota Visit BuyAToyota.com to locate a dealer, search our inventory, and find all our current offers.

ZipRecruiter Criminal listeners can try ZipRecruiter FOR FREE at ZipRecruiter.com/criminal