Description
Chicago’s history extends far beyond the fire, railroads and architectural revolution that shaped its early rise.
In Chicago History: Part 2, Seraphina Everhart continues her exploration of the people, movements, conflicts and landmarks that transformed Chicago into one of America’s most distinctive cities.
Enter the dangerous and defiant world of Prohibition-era Chicago, where speakeasies flourished, bootlegging became big business and organized crime expanded its influence. The book examines the rise of figures such as Al Capone, the relationship between underground nightlife and Chicago culture, and the social forces that made the city synonymous with the Roaring Twenties.
The story continues with the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929, one of the most notorious episodes associated with Chicago’s gangland era.
From crime, the book turns to culture with an exploration of Chicago blues, tracing the music and communities that helped establish the city as one of the world’s great centers of blues music.
Everhart also examines the Civil Rights Movement in Chicago, exploring the struggles for equality, social change and opportunity that became an important part of the city’s twentieth-century history.
The final chapters look toward Chicago’s physical transformation through two landmarks from very different eras: the Sears Tower, an enduring symbol of the city’s architectural ambition, and Millennium Park, which helped redefine Chicago’s modern public and cultural landscape.
Together, the two volumes of Chicago History tell the story of a city shaped not by a single moment, but by disaster and reconstruction, industry and labor, crime and culture, activism and architecture.
For readers interested in Chicago, American urban history, music, organized crime, civil rights and architecture, Chicago History: Part 2 completes Seraphina Everhart’s wide-ranging exploration of the Windy City.
