City of Scoundrels: The 12 Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago

by Gary Krist

  15. The carloads of whites firing at random as per Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 40. Edward Dean Sullivan’s ordeal was described by him in his book Rattling the Cup on Chicago Crime, pp. 1–7.

  16. The Angelus incident is most reliably described in TNIC, pp. 6, 661–62. The shooting went on for ten minutes according to the CD of August 2.

  17. That the white gangs seemed to be focusing on the contested neighborhoods with black newcomers is emphasized by Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 41; Philpott, Slum and the Ghetto, p. 170; and TNIC, p. 6.

  18. For the aldermen urging suspension of search-and-seizure laws, see the CEP of July 28. George Harding’s reassuring quotation after his tour of the riot zone was cited in the CDN of July 28.

  19. The carefully worded text of Thompson’s telegram was reprinted in the CDT of July 29. TNIC, p. 41, breaks down the groups from the Illinois National Guard and those from the state’s reserve militia; both groups were typically referred to interchangeably as “the militia.”

  20. Details about Sterling Morton’s experience come principally from two sources—a letter he wrote to his cousin, Wirt Morton, dated August 11, 1919, and a memoir, “The Illinois Reserve During World War I and After,” written decades later (both in the Sterling Morton Papers at the Chicago History Museum). The quote about the need for the militia being greater after the war is from the memoir, p. 5.

  21. Morton’s history as per “Illinois Reserve During World War I and After,” pp. 5–7, his biography in the Sterling Morton Papers, Joy Sterling Morton’s entry in Ingham, Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, and the Fifth Year Record: Class of 1906, Princeton (Princeton University Press, 1912). The story about choosing the Morton Salt girl comes from an anonymous article in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance (September 1959), p. 42.

  22. The scene in the Loop as described in Morton’s letter of August 11 and “Illinois Reserve During World War I and After,” pp. 7–9.

  23. “Get in my cab” is from Morton, “Illinois Reserve During World War I and After,” p. 8. “I saw sights that I never shall forget” is from the letter of August 11. Other details from the memoir, pp. 7–9.

  24. “The South Side is a seething cauldron of hate” is from the CEP of July 28. The Horace Jennings episode was described in both Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 43, and TNIC, pp. 38–39.

  25. The “grossly unfair” conduct of the police as per TNIC, p. 599. See also pp. 34–35. For any white person in uniform as a target, see the CDT of July 28.

  26. Emily Frankenstein describes her father’s close call in her diary, p. 201. The man shot while eating dinner comes from the CDT of July 28. Lucius Harper described his harrowing experience in the CD of August 2.

  27. The number of dead and wounded at the end of the second day of rioting as per Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 44. The results of the strike vote and the shutting down of the streetcar and elevated systems were ubiquitously reported.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: TUESDAY, JULY 29

  1. “I stood up in a truck” and “Oh mother, here comes the lion’s cage” are from the CEP of July 29. “Never in the history of the city has such a condition prevailed” was quoted in the CDN of July 29. All of the other details in these paragraphs come from the same two papers.

  2. The NYT of July 30 reported that half a million Chicago commuters stayed home. For the stockyards and municipal employees, see Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 44. “Snipers, white as well as black” is from the CEP of July 29. Edward W. Jackson’s death as per TNIC, pp. 658–59. The shooting of Parejko and Maminaki is from ibid., pp. 664–65. The absence of larger mobs on Tuesday was noted in the CDT of July 30. For the prowling group of twelve black soldiers, see the CDN of July 29. “This is the most serious problem that has ever confronted the police department in Chicago” was quoted in the CDJ of July 29.

  3. Three officers and one sergeant in the Loop as per TNIC, pp. 36–38. For the cited incidents in the Loop, see ibid., pp. 19, 666.

  4. “The race riots are spreading” is from Florence Lowden’s diary for July 29 (Pullman-Miller Family Papers). Calls for martial law as per the CDN of July 29.

  5. Lowden’s abrupt return to Chicago was noted in the CDT and CDJ of July 29. “I cannot say who is responsible for this situation” was quoted in the CDN of July 29.

  6. For Dickson’s upbeat assessment, see the CEP of July 29.

  7. The joint news conference of the mayor and the governor was covered by all of the papers. The quotations in this section are as they were reported in the CDN and CDJ of July 29.

  8. For the prison riot, I have relied most heavily on reports in the CEP and CDN (“Look here, I’m not going to give you more than a minute”) of July 29.

  9. The sixty armed detectives around city hall as per the CDT of July 30. For the far-fetched rumors, see TNIC, p. 33, and White, “Causes of the Chicago Race Riot.” The CD story of the alleged murder of the black woman and her baby appeared in the August 2 edition.

  10. For the press distortions, see especially West, “Press Coverage of Urban Violence, 1903–1967.” See also Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 47, and TNIC, p. 26, for discrepancies over the numbers of killed and wounded.

  11. For police distortions (seventy-five police dead; “For God’s sake, arm [yourselves]”), see Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 48. TNIC, p. 35, compares the relative number of black and white arrests and casualties. The incident of the arrested and released light-skinned black man (“You’ll probably need this before the night is over”) is recounted in West, “Press Coverage of Urban Violence, 1903–1967,” p. 50.

  12. For the North Side gunfight, see the CDT of July 30. Threats to household staff are from Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 50. TNIC, p. 659, reports on the death of Joseph Lovings and the newspapers’ exaggeration of it.

  13. “While all sensible people” is a quote from Sterling, Black Foremothers, pp. 112–13. For Wells-Barnett’s other activities during the first days of the riot, see the CDT of July 30. Her letter (“Free Chicago stands today humble before the world”) appeared on the front page of the CDJ of July 29.

  14. The Broad Ax accusation was reported in the NYT of July 30. The quotation from the CDN editorial appeared in the July 29 issue.

  15. The CDJ of July 29 blamed the mayor and police for their failure to protect the city’s children. “We have other Fitzgeralds; we have other little Janet Wilkinsons” comes from an editorial in the CEP of July 29.

  16. “Vast Throng Weeps at Slain Girl’s Bier” is from the CDN of July 29. Reverend Phelan’s and John Wilkinson’s quotations were reported in the CDJ of July 29.

  17. Details of the funeral service and burial in this paragraph come from the CEP of July 29.

  18. The CDN of July 29 wondered aloud how everyone had gotten to the Wilkinson funeral. Denial of strikebreaker rumors as per the CEP of July 29. “The fire will have to die out of the men” was quoted in the CDJ of July 29. “The compromise was liberal” as reported in the CDT of July 29. “The majority of our employees” as per the NYT of July 30.

  19. The NYT of July 30 also reported that the plan was “hooted down.” The mayor’s quotations in this paragraph are from the CDT of July 29.

  20. Strikers setting a streetcar on fire as per the CDN of July 29. For Hoyne’s meeting with Lowden, see Dobbert, “History of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919,” p. 62.

  21. “Everyone cheered themselves hoarse,” “I did my best to put some pep into them,” and “For political reasons, we were kept in the armory” are from Morton’s August 11 letter to Wirt Morton (Sterling Morton Papers).

  22. The spike in nonfatal shootings of police was reported in the CDT of July 30. For the shot-out streetlights, see Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 50. The CDT of July 30 reported on the Provident Hospital incident and the rise in arson.

  23. “Our men are all ready” was quoted in the CEP of July 29. The late-night conference and the quotations from Thompson (“I am going to go home”) and Righeimer (“There are a half-dozen cases on record”) are from the CDT of July 30.

 
24. Sandburg’s report on the meeting of the Olivet Protective Association and his interview with George C. Hall appeared in that evening’s CDN of July 29. The text of the poem “Hoodlums” is from Sandburg, Complete Poems, p. 201. For Sandburg’s composition of this poem, see also Yanella, Other Carl Sandburg, p. 144.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: WEDNESDAY, JULY 30

  1. Excerpts from Emily Frankenstein’s diary come from pp. 199–201 (Emily Frankenstein Papers).

  2. Death toll by Wednesday morning as per the CHE of July 30. “Mayor Refuses Assent to Martial Law” is from the CDJ of July 30; “Storm Mayor with Demand for Troops to Quell Race Riots” is from the same day’s CDN.

  3. For the appearance of the South Side, see the CDN of July 30. Police cordoning off the Black Belt as per the NYT of July 31. The July 30 CDT mentions the four hundred crossing guards, while the CSM of July 31 reports on the closing of many Loop businesses.

  4. “Frank is living through the most anxious days of his life so far” is from Florence Lowden’s diary entry for July 30. Hoyne’s announcement of his request for martial law as per the CHE of July 31. “The troops are to be had for the asking” is quoted in the CDJ of July 30. “If we were to order out the militia for riot duty” is as recorded in the CEP of July 30.

  5. The incident seen from Lowden’s window, with quotations, as reported in the NYT of July 31.

  6. Ed Wright’s advice not to call in troops as per “Report on the Chicago Riot by an Eye-Witness,” p. 12, published in the Messenger of October 1919. The delegation of black leaders is described in the CDT of July 31; the second delegation (which included Darrow, Rosenwald, and Sandburg) comes from the CDJ of July 30.

  7. Details of the city council meeting in these paragraphs, including all dialogue, come from the CDJ and CDN of July 30. For McDonough as Daley’s mentor (and for his prodigious weight), see Cohen and Taylor, American Pharaoh, p. 39.

  8. Again, all details and dialogue in this section come from the July 30 CDJ and CDN, except for one exchange (“Don’t you believe the militia should supplement the police?”), which is rendered here as reported in the CHE of July 31. For the one thousand special policemen, see also Tuttle, Race Riot, pp. 51–53.

  9. Hoyne’s statement about the “secret order of Negroes” as per the CDN of July 30. That day’s CDJ mentioned Brundage’s curtailed vacation in Michigan. Brundage’s statements in this paragraph as reported in the CDN of July 30.

  10. The CDT editorial appeared in the July 29 edition. “That may be unconstitutional, but we should not waste time over details” was quoted in the CHE of July 30.

  11. Thompson’s first quotation in this paragraph comes from the CDT of July 31. His second (“Yes, the situation is better”) is from the CEP of July 30. The third (“The rookie police are doing wonderfully well”) is from the CDT of July 31. The arrival of W. D. Mahon as reported in the CDN of July 30. Hopes that the cars would be running by Thursday were noted in the CDJ of July 30.

  12. The coroner’s inquest report on the riot deaths was later published as a booklet (see Hoffman, Biennial Report 1918–1919 and Official Record, in bibliography). The inquest jurors’ trip through the South Side as per the CEP of July 30 and the CHE of July 31. “My people have no food” is quoted in Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 54. The forbidden deliveries as per the NYT of July 30. Rumors of a full-scale invasion by Ragen’s Colts are mentioned in Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 55.

  13. “This Is Chicago’s Crisis” is from the CA of July 30, as cited in TNIC, p. 44. General Dickson’s assessment (“The condition is very grave”) is from the CHE of July 31.

  14. Location of clashes, and the roaming white mobs, as per the NYT of July 31. The 112 fire alarms were reported in the CDT of July 31. Philpott, Slum and the Ghetto, pp. 173–74, describes the scene on Wells Street. For the late report and Thompson’s official request to Dickson, see the CSM and CDT of July 31, the latter of which printed the full text of the letter.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN: THURSDAY, JULY 31

  1. For the description of the militiamen heading out into the streets, I have relied on reports in the CDT and CDN of July 31. The contrast between the police and the militia are discussed in TNIC, p. 42. Using guns only as a last resort is as per Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 55.

  2. For the Sterling Morton episode and all quotes therein, I have relied on the two unpublished documents in the collection of the Chicago History Museum (Sterling Morton Papers).

  3. For other confrontations the nights of July 30–31, see the CDN of July 31. “You soldiers don’t know how glad we all are you are here” was quoted in the CDJ of July 31. For the truckloads of food sent into the Black Belt, see the CDN of July 31. “Thank God! We can’t stand up under this much longer” and “We are tickled to death to see you” were quoted in TNIC, p. 42.

  4. For the free rein given the athletic clubs, see TNIC, p. 42, and Pacyga, “Chicago’s 1919 Race Riot,” p. 217. For the confrontation at the stockyards, see the CEP of July 31 and Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 57. Details of Dozier’s death are from TNIC, p. 667. “Peace has been established” was quoted in the CEP of July 31.

  5. Thompson’s press conference at city hall was covered by all of the newspapers; the quotations in this section are as rendered in the CDJ of July 31 and the CHE of August 1.

  6. The stretched cables across the street as per the NYT of August 1. For the pressure from the meatpacking companies, see Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 54. See also Pacyga, Chicago, p. 211.

  7. The emergency city council meeting was also widely covered. I have used the quotations as they appeared in the CDJ of July 31 (“More policemen, more vehicle equipment,” etc., and “The finance committee has spent many nights”), the CDN of July 31 (“The crisis through which our city has passed”), and the CDT of August 1 (“It was claimed [that] Prohibition would reduce the need for police”).

  8. For Hoyne’s promise of vigorous prosecution, see the NYT of July 31. “Why?” is from the CDJ of July 31, while “War in a Great City’s Streets” is from the same day’s CDN. “Chicago is disgraced and dishonored” is (famously) from the CDT of July 31.

  9. “[Frank] is receiving great commendation” is from Florence Lowden’s diary entry for July 31. “I shudder to think what might have happened Tuesday” was quoted in the CDJ of July 31.

  10. Mahon’s arrangement of a second strike vote as per the CEP of July 31.

  11. For the ban on “promiscuous aviation,” see the CDN of July 31. The same day’s CDT reported on a plan to convert the epileptics’ hospital into “an institution for morons.” For the Chicago Plan ordinance signing, I have relied most heavily on the reports in the CDN of July 31 and the CDT of August 1.

  CHAPTER TWENTY: THE MORNING AFTER

  1. The CEP of August 2 carried details on the resumption of L and streetcar service.

  2. For the sporadic violence on the South Side on Friday, see the CDN of August 1. “There is a quieter feeling in Chicago today” is from Florence Lowden’s diary for August 1 (Pullman-Miller Family Papers). The closing of gathering places in the riot zone and the suppression of the Chicago Whip as per the NYT of August 2. The CDT of August 3 reported on the thousand new deputy sheriffs. “I am greatly impressed with the complete mastery of the situation” was quoted in the CDN of August 1.

  3. The Saturday morning fire was ubiquitously reported in the newspapers. Sterling Morton’s experience is related in his August 11 letter (“In twelve minutes I had the company loaded”) and in his memoir (“The residents were very excited”). (NB: In the memoir, written decades later, Morton puts the time of the alarm at 2:35 a.m., but the time given in his letter is more likely accurate.) Details about the “hundreds of scantily clad persons” are from the CEP of August 2.

  4. For rumors about groups of black men using railroad torches, see the CDJ of August 2. For those about IWW radicals, see the CDT of August 3. For Poles hostile to their Lithuanian neighbors, see Bukowski, Big Bill Thompson, pp. 99–100. For the ultimate attribution to white athletic clubs, see the
CDN of August 2; see also Pacyga, “Chicago’s 1919 Race Riot,” p. 200, about the relative lack of involvement of eastern Europeans in the riot.

  5. “The profiteering meat packers of Chicago are responsible” is quoted in Doreski, “Chicago, Race, and the Rhetoric of the 1919 Riot,” pp. 295–97. “The wealthy have their cellars full” is from John Fitzpatrick of the CFL, as quoted in Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 241. For the quotation about “the fact that the masses have forsaken God,” see the CDJ of July 31. “You Northern folks don’t know how to get along” was quoted in the CEP of August 1.

  6. “U.S. Seeks Hand of Bolsheviki in Race Riots” was in the CDT of August 3. For Wells-Barnett’s testimony before the federal investigators, including her quotation, see the CDT of August 3 and her own Crusade for Justice, p. 406. For deeper background on postwar investigations into black radicalism by the DOJ’s Bureau of Investigation (as well as by the army’s Military Intelligence Division), see Kornweibel, Seeing Red. “America is known the world over as the land of the lyncher” is from the CD of August 2.

  7. For Hoyne’s fulminations (“City Hall organization leaders, black and white, have catered to the vicious element”), see Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 252. For the editorial from Dziennik Chicagoski, see Pacyga’s Polish Immigrants and Industrial Chicago, p. 225.

  8. Lowden’s big-picture analysis is as per articles in the NYT of August 3 and the CEP of August 4. For the formation of the biracial commission, see the NYT of August 2; Hutchinson, Lowden of Illinois, pp. 405–6; and Bukowski, Big Bill Thompson, p. 99. For the selection of Lawson and Rosenwald, see Tuttle, Race Riot, p. 258.

  9. The article from the Memphis Commercial Appeal is quoted in Bukowski, Big Bill Thompson, pp. 101–2. “Chicago’s Shame” was reprinted in the CDT of August 3. Wilson’s quotation (“a failure of the civic authorities”) was quoted in Bontemps and Conroy, Anyplace but Here, p. 183.