The 12 Days Of Disaster That Made Modern Chicago Originally
published on Sat May 12, 2012 6:05 pm In 1919, Chicago was
called the "youngest great city in the world." World War I had
just come to a close, troops were coming home, industry was
booming and crime was down. Chicago's mayor at the time, William
Hale Thompson — known as Big Bill — had just been re-elected and
was spearheading an ambitious urban improvement program. But in
mid-July of 1919, just about everything that could go wrong in
Chicago did. Among the headlines were a deadly dirigible crash,
a bizarre kidnapping, race riots and a major public transit
strike. This is the setting for Gary Krist's new book, City of
Scoundrels: The 12 Days of Disaster That Gave Birth to Modern
Chicago. A Blimp-Sized Disaster By the summer of 1919, Chicago's
economy was winding down from its wartime peak. Soldiers were
returning from Europe, looking for jobs that had been filled in
large part by African-Americans who were moving north in what is
now called the Great