{"id":4004,"date":"2011-02-01T01:49:06","date_gmt":"2011-02-01T01:49:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/?p=4004"},"modified":"2013-05-14T22:59:24","modified_gmt":"2013-05-14T22:59:24","slug":"4004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/","title":{"rendered":"Miss Diamond Lil’"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 1920s, “Diamond Lil” ran central Illinois’s best-known “Black and Tan” resort \u2014 a brothel that offered both African-American and mulatto prostitutes. An imposing figure, with twelve diamonds set in gold in her teeth, Lil ran a tight ship that catered to the area’s high- profile clientele.<\/p>\n

On September 29th, 1930 an angry man kicked in the door to her business and demanded to see her. After a scuffle, Lil shot him dead from the top of her stairs. The ensuing trial was the talk of the town for several weeks, as everyone waited for scandalous details on the city’s most famous denizens.They never got them:\u00a0Lil shut the book on her life<\/a> when a prosecutor tried to force her to testify against former clients.<\/p>\n

When she drew a sentence of “one to life” at the state penitentiary in Joliet, her resort closed down for good. Her departure from Peoria coincided nearly with Marie Pryor’s arrival there, and Marie opened a brothel just down the street from Diamond Lil’s place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the 1920s, “Diamond Lil” ran central Illinois’s best-known “Black and Tan” resort \u2014 a brothel that offered both African-American and mulatto prostitutes. An imposing figure, with twelve diamonds set in gold in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[340,346,11,358,6,18],"tags":[79,39,248,166,280,304,298],"class_list":["post-4004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-before-marie-pryor","category-1-women-who-blazed-marie-pryors-trail","category-1919-40","category-3-brisk-trade-in-the-pleasures","category-north-washington-street","category-sin-city","tag-arrest","tag-brothels","tag-diamond-lil","tag-guns","tag-murder","tag-norman-kelly","tag-trial"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMiss Diamond Lil' - Richard Pryor's Peoria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Miss Diamond Lil' - Richard Pryor's Peoria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the 1920s, “Diamond Lil” ran central Illinois’s best-known “Black and Tan” resort \u2014 a brothel that offered both African-American and mulatto prostitutes. An imposing figure, with twelve diamonds set in gold in […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Richard Pryor's Peoria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-01T01:49:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-14T22:59:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/assets\/BRP.Cover_1-e1416970637481.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"120\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"179\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Avatarr8\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Avatarr8\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Avatarr8\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/#\/schema\/person\/ff7930b93672d8b2607a34d457f9a2ca\"},\"headline\":\"Miss Diamond Lil’\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-01T01:49:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-14T22:59:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/\"},\"wordCount\":173,\"keywords\":[\"arrest\",\"brothels\",\"diamond lil\",\"guns\",\"murder\",\"Norman Kelly\",\"trial\"],\"articleSection\":[\"1. Before Marie Pryor Came to Town (1874-1934)\",\"1. Trailblazers of the Red Light District (1870s-1930s)\",\"1919 \u2013 1940: Roarin' Peoria\",\"3. A Brisk Trade in the Pleasures of the Flesh\",\"North Washington Street\",\"Sin City\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/\",\"name\":\"Miss Diamond Lil' - Richard Pryor's Peoria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-01T01:49:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-14T22:59:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/#\/schema\/person\/ff7930b93672d8b2607a34d457f9a2ca\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Miss Diamond Lil’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/\",\"name\":\"Richard Pryor's Peoria\",\"description\":\"The primary source archive of Richard Pryor's youth in midcentury Peoria, Illinois\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/#\/schema\/person\/ff7930b93672d8b2607a34d457f9a2ca\",\"name\":\"Avatarr8\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/author\/avatarr8\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Miss Diamond Lil' - Richard Pryor's Peoria","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Miss Diamond Lil' - Richard Pryor's Peoria","og_description":"In the 1920s, “Diamond Lil” ran central Illinois’s best-known “Black and Tan” resort \u2014 a brothel that offered both African-American and mulatto prostitutes. An imposing figure, with twelve diamonds set in gold in […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/","og_site_name":"Richard Pryor's Peoria","article_published_time":"2011-02-01T01:49:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-05-14T22:59:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":120,"height":179,"url":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/assets\/BRP.Cover_1-e1416970637481.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Avatarr8","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Avatarr8","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/"},"author":{"name":"Avatarr8","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/#\/schema\/person\/ff7930b93672d8b2607a34d457f9a2ca"},"headline":"Miss Diamond Lil’","datePublished":"2011-02-01T01:49:06+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-14T22:59:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/"},"wordCount":173,"keywords":["arrest","brothels","diamond lil","guns","murder","Norman Kelly","trial"],"articleSection":["1. Before Marie Pryor Came to Town (1874-1934)","1. Trailblazers of the Red Light District (1870s-1930s)","1919 \u2013 1940: Roarin' Peoria","3. A Brisk Trade in the Pleasures of the Flesh","North Washington Street","Sin City"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/","url":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/","name":"Miss Diamond Lil' - Richard Pryor's Peoria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-02-01T01:49:06+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-14T22:59:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/#\/schema\/person\/ff7930b93672d8b2607a34d457f9a2ca"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/2011\/02\/01\/4004\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Miss Diamond Lil’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/","name":"Richard Pryor's Peoria","description":"The primary source archive of Richard Pryor's youth in midcentury Peoria, Illinois","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/#\/schema\/person\/ff7930b93672d8b2607a34d457f9a2ca","name":"Avatarr8","url":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/author\/avatarr8\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4004"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4009,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4004\/revisions\/4009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.becomingrichardpryor.com\/pryors-peoria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}