City of Scoundrels: The 12 Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern Chicago (49 page)

  
7.
 For the sad history of Chicago’s quest to control its own transit system, see especially Young,
Chicago Transit
.

  
8.
 “All the shades of black” is from the
CEP
of August 8, as quoted in Waskow,
From Race Riot to Sit-in
, p. 45. For the jury “strike,” see Tuttle,
Race Riot
, p. 254 (“What the [hell] is the matter with the State’s Attorney?”) and the
CDJ
of August 16 (jury members’ threat to gather evidence on their own).

  
9.
 “The State’s Attorney will do his duty” was quoted in the
CDJ
of August 16. For the statements about the “large quantities of firearms, deadly weapons, and ammunition,” see the
Literary Digest
of August 9. For Hoyne’s raids in the Black Belt, see the
CDN
of August 23. “These raids are the beginning of revelations” was quoted in the
CDJ
of August 23.

10.
 “State’s Attorney Runs Amok” was in the
CD
of September 6. For Darrow and the NAACP, see Waskow,
From Race Riot to Sit-in
, pp. 48–50. The NAACP’s statement was quoted in the
Cleveland Advocate
of August 16. For the gathering at the Eighth Regiment Armory, see the
CD
of September 6. For Wells-Barnett’s response to the “storm-trooper” raids, see
Crusade for Justice
, p. 407, and Giddings,
Ida
, p. 602 (“[Hoyne] sends his hand-picked confederates”). For Hoffman’s and Peters’s objections, see the
CDN
of August 25. Brundage’s admission as per Hutchinson,
Lowden of Illinois
, p. 405.

11.
 “We cannot dodge the fact that whites and blacks will not mix” was quoted in the
CEP
of July 31. For the letter from the Hyde Park–Kenwood Property Owners’ Association, see the
CDT
of August 6. “The sooner the Negro realizes” was in the
CDN
of August 2.

12.
 For the special city council meeting, with quoted wording of the resolution, I have relied mostly on the report in the
CDT
of August 6.

13.
 For Cotter’s and Thompson’s accusations against the governor, see Hutchinson,
Lowden of Illinois
, p. 405. “Segregation measures are in the air” is from the November 15 issue of the
Chicago Whip
, quoted in Homel,
Down from Equality
, p. 21. Lowden’s approving mention of the “common understanding” idea is from the
CDN
of August 1.

14.
 For events at the stockyards and environs (“heavy guards about the L stations”), see the
CDT
of August 7. The job action by unionized white stockyards workers as per the
CDT
of August 8. For Thompson’s official letter and the end of the riot, see the
CDJ
of August 9 and Tuttle,
Race Riot
, p. 64.

15.
 Morton’s new commission and his quote (“I shudder to think”) are from his letter of August 11. The scene with Lowden and Dickson at city hall comes from the
CDJ
of August 9 and Tuttle,
Race Riot
, p. 64.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: “THROW AWAY YOUR HAMMER AND PICK UP A HORN!”

  
1.
 For the Sandburgs’ new house in Elmhurst, see Sandburg,
Great and Glorious Romance
, p. 276, and Niven,
Carl Sandburg
, pp. 342–45. “Why should I be
the only poet of misery to be keeping out of debt?” is from a September 26 letter to Alice Corbin Henderson (Sandburg Papers). “We mustn’t let our anxiety” is quoted in Niven,
Carl Sandburg
, p. 345.

  
2.
 Details about the Lardners’ moving on come from Yardley,
Ring
, pp. 209, 221. Jane Addams’s speaking tour as per Davis,
American Heroine
, p. 260. For the Emma Simpson crime and trial, I have relied on various articles in the
CDT
dating from April 27 to October 3. Darrow’s quotation (“You’ve been asked to treat a man and a woman the same—but you can’t”) was cited in the
CDT
of September 26.

  
3.
 The story of Emily’s romance as per her diary (Emily Frankenstein Papers). (NB: Her diary says that she and Jerry reestablished contact on the second day of the riot; however, since she mentions that the streetcar strike was on that day, it was apparently the third day of the riot.)

  
4.
 For the subsequent bombings in 1919 and 1920, see Tuttle,
Race Riot
, p. 250. Thompson’s (temporary) revocation of the athletic club charters is discussed in Lindberg,
Chicago by Gaslight
, p. 209. Tuttle,
Race Riot
, p. 255, discusses the rumors of more riots.

  
5.
 For the Olivet Protective Association incident (“I rose and laid my membership card on the table”), see Wells-Barnett,
Crusade for Justice
, p. 407. Indictments and convictions in the riot cases as per
TNIC
, p. 48; see also Giddings,
Ida
, p. 622.

  
6.
 For background on the Red Scare and the Palmer raids, see especially Kornweibel,
Seeing Red
, as well as Murray,
Red Scare
.

  
7.
 The most popular work on the Black Sox scandal is Asinof,
Eight Men Out
. For Lardner’s role in the episode, I have relied mostly on Yardley,
Ring
, pp. 211–18.

  
8.
 Fitzgerald’s journey through the criminal justice system as per articles in the
CDT, CDN
, and
CDJ
of August 4, August 18, and September 23 (“as in a daze” and “If you have any idea the court will not inflict the death penalty”). The courtroom filled with “morbidly curious men and women,” and the sentencing scene that follows, with quotations, are from the
CDT
of September 24.

  
9.
 For the episodes leading up to Fitzgerald’s execution, I have relied on reports in the
CDT
of October 5, 14, 17, and 18.

10.
 For Thompson’s peaking popularity, see Stuart,
20 Incredible Years
, pp. 88–91. For the Boom Chicago campaign, see Bukowski,
Big Bill Thompson
, pp. 108–10, and Wendt and Kogan,
Big Bill of Chicago
, pp. 176–77.

11.
 For one of the special newspaper supplements, see the
CEP
of August 30; see also Stuart,
20 Incredible Years
, pp. 85–88. The Burnham remark (“Beauty has always paid better than any other commodity and always will”) was quoted in Bachin,
Building the South Side
, p. 171. For the passing of the bond issues, see Smith,
Plan of Chicago
, p. 124, and Stuart,
20 Incredible Years
, p. 88. The
Bukowski quotation about concrete is from his essay in Green and Holli,
Mayors
, p. 80.

12.
 For the school board controversy and other distracting issues, see Wendt and Kogan,
Big Bill of Chicago
, p. 175ff, and Bukowski,
Big Bill Thompson
, p. 105ff. Bukowski, ibid., p. 185, is especially good on the real meaning behind Thompson’s tirades against King George and the war profiteers.

13.
 For Thompson’s success at getting money for his municipal ownership study, see the Twenty-fifth Annual Preliminary Report (1920) of the Municipal Voters’ League (Chicago History Museum). The
Defender
’s praise of the elevation of Ed Wright appeared in the
CD
of December 27.

14.
 For the extent of Thompson’s predominance in the fall of 1919, see the
CDT
of September 30. The quotation about Lundin’s push for a “vise-like” grip on the county and state is from Bright,
Hizzoner Big Bill Thompson
, p. 166. For the targeting of Lowden, see Stuart,
20 Incredible Years
, p. 92.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: THE SMOKE-FILLED ROOM

  
1.
 Much has been written about the 1920 Republican National Convention. In addition to works already cited (especially Hutchinson,
Lowden of Illinois;
Stuart,
20 Incredible Years;
and Wendt and Kogan,
Big Bill of Chicago
), I have relied most heavily on Pietrusza,
1920
, and Sullivan’s
Our Times
, along with Dean’s respectful
Warren G. Harding
and Anthony’s gossipy
Florence Harding
. See Pietrusza,
1920
, pp. 219–21, for the shifting delegate votes. Both the Ferber and the Mencken quotations are from ibid., pp. 205 and 206, respectively.

  
2.
 For the Lowden “steamroller,” see the
NYT
of June 11, 1920. For General Wood’s lack of second-choice support, see Hutchinson,
Lowden of Illinois
, p. 458.

  
3.
 For Lowden’s early hopes for Thompson’s support, see Hutchinson,
Lowden of Illinois
, p. 411.

  
4.
 For early hints that Thompson would work against Lowden’s nomination, see an interview with the mayor in the
NYT
of December 13. Hutchinson,
Lowden of Illinois
, p. 442, talks about the issues Thompson raised against Lowden, and the latter’s liability in being married to the daughter of a great capitalist.

  
5.
 For primary results and Thompson’s control of seventeen Illinois delegates, see especially Wendt and Kogan,
Big Bill of Chicago
, pp. 179–80.

  
6.
 The Lowden finance scandal is most completely discussed in Hutchinson,
Lowden of Illinois
, p. 453ff. The quotation is from ibid., p. 455.

  
7.
 Big Bill’s bad-mouthing of Lowden (“His word’s no good”) is from Wendt and Kogan,
Big Bill of Chicago
, pp. 182–83.

  
8.
 Thompson’s dramatic public scene as per ibid., p. 183. “It is my opinion that if the delegates to the Republican State Convention had known” is quoted in the
NYT
of June 11, 1920.

  
9.
 The
CA
story—under the blaring headline “Mayor Bolts Republican Party: Refuses to Aid in Sale of Presidency”—appeared in a June 12, 1920, special extra edition. For the ordering of a “wagonload” of newspapers, the instructions to the woman in the pink dress (“Don’t let anyone stop you”), and the “dazzling smile” quotation, see Stuart,
20 Incredible Years
, pp. 100–104.

10.
 The timing of Henry Cabot Lodge’s receipt of the newspaper as per Stuart,
20 Incredible Years
, p. 103.

11.
 “In a smoke-filled room at the Blackstone Hotel” is from Ferber’s memoir,
Peculiar Treasure
, p. 251. Dean,
Warren G. Harding
, and especially Pietrusza,
1920
, p. 226, express doubts about the traditional explanation of the choice of Harding as the result of a conspiracy among a few powerful men. For Lowden’s release of his delegates, see the
NYT
of June 13, 1920. Dean,
Warren G. Harding
, p. 67, quotes the same paper’s characterization of Harding as “a very respectable Ohio politician of the second class.” Mencken’s more biting description (“of the intellectual grade of an aging cockroach”) is cited in Pietrusza,
1920
, p. 235.

12.
 Florence Lowden and her daughter Florence Lowden Miller were inveterate diarists. Their many volumes of journals are all in the Pullman-Miller Family Papers at the Chicago History Museum. Quotations here are from the entries of June 12 and 13, 1920.

13.
 “With bowed head [and] cries of ‘bought delegates’ and ‘steamroller’ in his ears” is a quotation from Bright,
Hizzoner Big Bill Thompson
, p. 165. “Of course, while the contest was on, I wanted to win” is from a letter from Lowden to Lucius Teter dated June 24, 1920 (Julius Rosenwald Papers, series 1, box 24, folder 13). “We are very tired” is from Florence Lowden’s diary entries for June 13 and 14, 1920.

14.
 “Bill Thompson exulted” is from Bright,
Hizzoner Big Bill Thompson
, p. 165. For the Edward Dunne quotation, see Stuart,
20 Incredible Years
, p. 107. (NB: It should be mentioned, however, that Mark Sullivan, who was an eyewitness to the convention, does not even name Thompson in his account of the event.) “What a great President he would have been!” is from Morton, “Illinois Reserve During World War I and After,” p. 5.

15.
 Lowden’s retirement announcement as per the
CDT
of June 30, 1920. For Lowden’s later career and his subsequent failure to hold any other elective office, see Hutchinson,
Lowden of Illinois
, pp. 570–601.

16.
 For Thompson and Lundin’s ambitious agenda in the November 1920 elections, see Wendt and Kogan,
Big Bill of Chicago
, p. 184. Lowden’s quotation (“Thompson has developed a machine”) was cited in the
NYT
of July 18, 1920.

17.
 “I never did understand the politics of that town” is quoted in Stuart,
20 Incredible Years
, p. 118. “A ferret-faced Kankakee banker” is from Smith,
Colonel
,
p. 241. For Lundin’s control of thirty-eight thousand offices and a $78 million payroll, see a memoir by Robert R. McCormick about Lundin (Robert R. McCormick Papers, I-63, box 20) and Bright,
Hizzoner Big Bill Thompson
.

18.
 For the victory celebrations on election night, with quotations, see Bright,
Hizzoner Big Bill Thompson
, p. 166, and Wendt and Kogan,
Big Bill of Chicago
, pp. 188–90.

EPILOGUE: THE TWO CHICAGOS