RIOT ZONE: CHICAGO 1919 BY CHRISTOPHER LAMBERTI B.A., MIAMI UNIVERSITY (OHIO), 1998 A.M., BROWN UNIVERSITY, 2007 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AT BROWN UNIVERSITY PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND MAY, 2013 © Copyright 2013 by Christopher Lamberti This dissertation by Christopher Lamberti is accepted in its present form by the Department of History as satisfying the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Date _______________ ________________________________ Elliott J. Gorn, Advisor Recommended to the Graduate Council Date _______________ ________________________________ Robert O. Self, Reader Date _______________ ________________________________ Robert G. Lee, Reader Approved by the Graduate Council Date _______________ ________________________________ Peter M. Weber, Dean of the Graduate School iii CURRICULUM VITAE Christopher Lamberti was born on February 27, 1975, in Evanston, Illinois, raised in the Chicago area, and currently resides in Chicago. He graduated with a B.A. in American Studies from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1998. For five years he worked as a web developer while volunteering in the exhibitions department at Chicago Historical Society (now Chicago History Museum), before entering the Teaching of History graduate program at University of Illinois at Chicago. At UIC, he served as a research assistant and a practicum student teacher at Roberto Clemente High School. Christopher entered the Ph.D. program in history at Brown University in September 2006, earned his master’s degree in May 2007, and passed his qualifying exams in December 2008. While at Brown, he studied modern U.S. cultural history, global approaches to history, and public history. He served as a teaching assistant in U.S Civil War, American Revolution, and Early American history courses. He earned a Brown University Howard and Jan Swearer Graduate Fellowship for the 2010-11 academic year. During his time at Brown, Christopher presented graduate conference papers on Brown University’s “History and Justice” report and on mapping the Chicago 1919 race riot. He authored the chapter "Chicago's Game," in Rooting for the Home Team: Essays on Sport, Community, and Identity, forthcoming in 2013 from University of Illinois Press, edited by Daniel A. Nathan. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Research for this project brought me into contact with many gracious folks to whom I owe thanks. William Tuttle kindly allowed me access to his personal papers on the Chicago riot, and Sheyda Jahanbani and Jonathan Hagel were generous hosts in Lawrence, Kansas. At the National Archives, I received assistance from Chris Elzey and enjoyed the hospitality of Cian Cashin while in Washington D.C. In Chicago, I thank Daniel Greene, Doug Knox, and John Powell at the Newberry Library for their time and assistance. Lesley Martin and the Research Center staff helped me navigate the collections at Chicago History Museum. For helping me to track down source materials, I would like to thank also historians Jim Grossman and Dominic Pacyga, Valerie Harris at University of Illinois at Chicago, the staff at Special Collections Research Center of the University of Chicago Library, Leonard Kurdek at the Polish Museum of America, Erica Campbell at the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, as well as Sarah Donovan, James Epstein, and Peter Vernon. I benefitted a great deal from a committee of remarkably talented scholars. I've enjoyed Bob Lee's guidance as a teacher, a field advisor, and dissertation reader. Bob’s insightfulness is extraordinary and beyond the purview of most others; I appreciate very much having profited from it. There is no sharper mind than Robert Self's in the History Department at Brown University. As an advisor, Robert's feel for the structural dynamics that drive historical narratives is extremely impressive and has been tremendously helpful. As a faculty member, Robert has been a devoted friend to history graduate v students at Brown. For that, we all thank him. Many years ago at Miami University as a struggling third year college student I entered Elliott Gorn’s office, where he agreed to be my undergraduate advisor. Lucky for me, as a devoted Chicago Cubs fan, Elliott has an affinity for lost causes. During the more than fifteen years since then, Elliott has been both an invaluable teacher and unwavering ally. I owe a tremendous debt to him for so much of what I have accomplished; the completion of this dissertation is no exception. I owe thanks to others at Brown who have helped me to grow as a scholar and a teacher including Steven Lubar, Michael Vorenberg, Karl Jacoby, Naoko Shibusawa, Kerry Smith, and Seth Rockman. I would not have been able to navigate the winds of graduate student life without the kind assistance of Mary Beth Bryson, Julissa Bautista, and Cherrie Guerzon. I appreciate the help and feedback I received in the early stages of this project from Holly Snyder at Brown University’s John Hay Library. I owe much to Joan Richards, who helped me get back to Chicago, making the last years of writing this dissertation much easier to bear. In the current economic environment, receiving an advanced academic degree without accumulating significant loan debt is a challenge. So I feel especially fortunate and grateful for the financial support that I have received from the Brown Graduate School over these six years. Among my fellow graduate students, Sean Dinces and Will Brucher stand out as least discouraged by my tendency toward reclusion while at Brown. I have benefited greatly from getting to know them over the years. I appreciate also the advice and friendship of Sara Fingal, Sarah Seidman, Gosia Rymsza-Pawlowska, and Wen Jin. Many thanks to the members of the Loyola University History Dissertation Writers Group, especially Sarah Doherty and Ronald Martin, who welcomed me in their meetings vi after I moved back to Chicago. I owe so much to my good friend and advisor Robert Johnston at University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as Julie Peters, John D’Emilio, and Leon Fink. At Miami University, I learned to love the study of history as an undergraduate in the American Studies program, from professors Daniel Nathan, Peter Williams, and the late, great Jack Kirby. Lastly, I thank Milena Sjekloca, my wife. Milena and I met in a Teaching of History graduate program at University of Illinois at Chicago. After spending some time observing and teaching in the classroom, I decided that I was not up to the task, and retreated into a Ph.D. program. Milena went on to teach high school. While there have been some wonderfully gratifying moments since, she has endured much in her six years as a Chicago public school teacher. Milena’s many sacrifices for her students and school have benefitted me materially while I completed my degree, for which I am grateful to her. But for Milena’s passion, poise, intellect, and drive as well as the heartfelt support she has shown me during what has been an especially trying time for urban educators, I revere her. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: 1 CHAPTER 1: “The Center of the Trouble”: The Angelus Flat Building Riot 19 in Chicago’s Black Belt CHAPTER 2: “A Pretty Tough Hole”: The Hostile Area West of the Black 76 Belt CHAPTER 3: “They Did Not Bring With Them This American 141 Obsession”: The Packingtown Fire and Polish Workers at the Union Stock Yards CHAPTER 4: “Reaping the Whirlwind”: Soldiering, Manhood, and First- 199 Class Citizenship in Chicago’s Race Riot CONCLUSION: 253 BIBLIOGRAPHY: 267 viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Map of the riot zone within Chicago city limits 8 Map 1.1: Chicago Race Riot Deaths/Injuries near the Angelus Apartment 24 Building Map 1.2: The Ratio of Total Homes Occupied by Whites Owned by White 28 Residents by Census Tract Map 1.3: White Population Percentage by Census Tract in 1920 29 Map 1.4: Chicago Community Areas Surrounding the Riot Zone 37 Map 1.5: The Bombing of Black Homes in Chicago 1917-1921 64 Map 1.6: Allan Spear’s Map of the growth of the African American population 66 in Chicago and the expansion of the Black Belt by 1910 and 1920 census tracts Map 1.7: Black Home ownership by census tract in 1920 68 Map 1.8: The changing racial demographic of the Angelus district 1900-1920 73 Map 2.1: The Chicago Commission on Race Relations Riot Districts and 81 “hostile area” Map 2.2: The percentage of total reported wounded during the riot in two of 82 seven designated Riot Commission riot districts versus the rest of the city Map 2.3: Racial breakdown along the dead line 85 Map 2.4: The hostile area 88 Chart 2.1: Nationalities as a percentage of the foreign-born population in the 93 hostile area and citywide Fig.3.1: Packingtown, the Union Stock Yards, and the incendiary fire area in 146 ix relation to the Black Belt, the hostile area discussed in Chapter 2, and the riot zone designated by the Illinois state militia Map 3.1: The riot district patrolled by the Illinois state militia 152 Map 3.2: Riot Activity Index: Number injured/killed plus residents of 153 injured/killed in census tract divided by total census tract population in 1920 multiplied by 10,000. Map 3.3: “White Foreign-Born Ethnicity Index: POLISH”: Census tracts 154 where Polish foreign-born residents exceed the city average in 1920 Map 3.4: Census tracts with percentages of men employed in manufacturing 155 higher than the city average in 1920 Map 3.5: Census tracts with percentages of white foreign born higher than the 156 city average in 1920 Map 3.6: “Population Index Map: AFRICAN AMERICAN”: Census tracts 157 where African-American residents exceed the city average in 1920 Map 3.7: Census tracts with percentages of native born higher than the city 158 average in 1920 Map 3.8: “White Foreign-Born Ethnicity Index: IRISH”: Census tracts where 159 Irish foreign-born residents exceed the city average in 1920 Map 4.1: Whites injured or killed in Riot Commission riot districts 244 Map 4.2: Residences of white persons injured or killed in Riot Commission 246 riot districts Racial Segregation in Chicago in 2000 (map by Sean Dinces) 264 x INTRODUCTION “For a full hour the procession passed without a halt….