City of Scoundrels: The 12 Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago (48 page)

  
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.

10.
 “The recent regrettable disorders in Chicago” is from the
Republican
of August 9.

11.
 For the Thompson administration’s outrage at the apparent quid pro quo of the transit compromise, and the conference with Ettelson, see the
CEP
and
CDJ
of August 2.

12.
 Lowden’s praise for Chicago’s “admirable patience” was quoted in the
CEP
of August 2. The details of his journey to Sinnissippi (“very tired, of course, but not as worn-out as I had feared”) are from Florence Lowden’s diary entry for August 2 (Pullman-Miller Family Papers).

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: TO THE LAST DITCH

  
1.
 Lowden’s return to the city as recorded in his wife’s diary for August 4. Cleveland’s official notice and other details about the Thompson administration’s response are from the
CDJ
and
CEP
of August 4, 5, and 6.

  
2.
 Thompson’s telegram as per the
CDT
of August 6. “Vicious public holdup,” “corporate cooties,” and “toadies” as quoted in Hutchinson,
Lowden of Illinois
, p. 402. “Solemn contracts with the people” is from the
Republican
of August 16. “The people of Chicago may rest assured” was quoted in the
CDT
of August 8.

  
3.
 For Lowden’s response to the attacks, and subsequent petitions and court reversals, see Hutchinson,
Lowden of Illinois
, pp. 402–3. Cleveland’s announcement as per the
CDT
of August 9. The threat to impound fares and seize control of the lines as per the
CDJ
of August 16.

  
4.
 “When you pay seven cents today” and all other quotations in this paragraph are from the
CDJ
of August 8.

  
5.
 “It is futile for the people to expect representative government” was quoted in the
CDJ
of August 9.

  
6.
 Lowden’s condemnation of the plan as “state socialism” as per Hutchinson,
Lowden of Illinois
, p. 403. “The present proposal is simply a bald-headed fraud” is quoted from a letter from Lawson to Charles H. Dennis dated September 20 (Victor F. Lawson Papers, series 1, box 89, folder 166).