Frank Stephenson

Frank Stephenson (fl. 1860 – 1885) was an American saloon keeper and underworld figure in New York City during the mid-to late 19th century. He was the owner of The Black and Tan, a popular Bowery basement bar located on Bleecker Street. It was one of the first saloons to cater to African Americans and was a competitor against neighboring establishments such as Harry Hill's gambling resort and Billy McGlory's Armory Hall among others. He is also credited for opening the city's first and oldest "undisguised" gay bar, The Slide, also on Bleecker Street.

Stephenson was described by Herbert Asbury in The Gangs of New York (1928) as "a tall, slim man with a curiously bloodless face. Contemporary writers marked his resemblance to a corpse; his face was almost as white as snow and his cheeks were sunken, while his eyebrows and hair were black as ink. His eyes were deep set, and very keen and piercing. It was his custom to sit bolt upright in a high chair in the center of his resort, and remain there for hours without displaying any other sign of life than the baleful glitter of his eyes." and its clientele including Native Americans, East Indians, Chinese, Malaysians and Lascars. News reports of the time, however, reported "that non-whites were just as likely to be cold-cocked and fleeced as visiting farmers from upstate".

In popular culture Frank Stephenson and The Black and Tan appear in the historical novels The Alienist (1995) by Caleb Carr and The Midnight Band of Mercy (2004) by Michael Blaine.