Oral history interview with Odel, 1981

Biographical Note

Odel was born on May 25, 1920 in Athens, Georgia. He was the youngest of nine children. When he was five years of age, his family moved from Athens to Atlanta, Georgia. Odel attended school through fifth grade. He ran away from home many times in his youth, starting when he was eight years old. When Odel was eleven, he left home permanently, traveled around the United States on freight trains, and eventually settled in New York City at the age of sixteen. In New York, Odel had a long and profitable career as a conman, executing con games such as flim flam and the pocketbook drop. He also traveled around the United States, working with a group of fellow conmen. He began using heroin in the late 1930s. He sold drugs for a brief period in the early 1940s. Between 1949 and 1965 he was arrested forty-nine times, and spent a total of nine years in jail, including at Rikers Island. He visited Lexington Kentucky Hospital to detox from heroin three times in the 1960s. Odel got married in 1965. He joined the methadone program in 1970. Odel was interviewed for the project that led to the book Addicts Who Survived. The name is likely a pseudonym for the project

Scope and Contents

In this interview, Odel discusses his life in New York City, with respect to his drug use. He discusses running away from home at eleven years old, traveling the United States on freight trains, and eventually settling in New York City at the age of sixteen. He discusses his career as a conman in New York, and his excursions across the country with a group of fellow conmen. He explains in detail con games like flim flam and the pocketbook drop. He describes his first experience using heroin in the late 1930s. He estimates the price of his heroin habit per week across decades from the 1930s to the 1960s, and compares it to his weekly income as a conman. He reviews his arrest history, explaining that between 1949 and 1965 he was arrested forty-nine times, and spent a total of nine years in jail, including at Rikers Island. He discusses contracting hepatitis in 1961 from sharing heroin needles. He defines and compares the terms "dope addict," "dope fiend," and "dope user." He compares heroin addicts in the 1930s to heroin addicts in the 1980s. He discusses the drug panic of the 1960s. He compares his experience at various private methadone programs to the program at Beth Israel Medical Center

Subjects

• Crime--New York (State)--New York.
• Drug abuse--United States--History--20th century.
• Drug addicts--United States.
• Drug traffic--United States--History--20th century.
• Heroin abuse--United States--History--20th century.
• Imprisonment--United States.
• Interviews.
• Joseph, Herman, 1931- interviewer.
• Odel--Interviews.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Swindlers and swindling.

Access Conditions

Copyright by David Courtwright