Chicago

The Pacyga reading about the history of Chicago was split up into primarily 3 sections. After giving an introduction to the new mayor, Richard J. Daley, the reading goes on to address the racial issues and public housing issues during the 1950s-1960s. Public housing started in Chicago in the late 30's and early 40's with the Jane Addams Homes, Julia C. Lathrop Homes and Trumball Park. These were very small because they were built during the depression.

Jane Addams Home

Julia C. Lathrop Home

The next set of public housing was Cabrini, Lawndale Gardens, Bridgeport and Brooks. These were built primarily for war workers. The majority of people moving into these homes were African-American which caused the white working class people to move out to the suburbs. During the 1950's, the suburbs of Chicago started to develop. There were a lot of concerns around this time as to if city funding should go to development in the suburbs or high-rise public housing. High rises began construction. There were many low income families living in the public housing, causing dense populations and over crowding in not only the homes but schools as well. 

Taylor Homes

The second main section of the Pacyga, addressed the construction of the highway system in Chicago. Daley and city planners planned for a major highway to cut straight through the south side of the city, which would in turn demolish many homes, churches, and schools. The influence of creating the highways came from a larger movement in America around this time to provide more significant use of the automobile. Constructions of the Dan Ryan Expressway, the Eisenhower, the Kennedy, and the Stevenson dislocated thousands across the city. In addition to the highway expansions, the CTA offered extended rail service to provide opportunity for private or public transportation to and from the city. 

Dan Ryan Expressway

The final section of the Pacyga reading addressed racial and civil rights issues around Chicago. Much of the problems arose from public schools. Schools, at this time, were divided as white and black schools. The back schools were incredibly over-crowded which led to many problems. Around this time, Daley was caught in a tough situation. If he pleased the African-American community too much, then he would lose support of white voters, and vice-versa. Neighborhood protests started to erupt. African-Americans would boycott public schools and 225,000 would stay home from class. With all the protests going on, the city drew the attention of Martin Luther King. King made Chicago a center target far the civil rights movement addressing the Chicago Freedom Movement which was about fair housing and equal rights in schools and the workplace. King led a huge rally at Soldier Field that led to a riot 2 days later. 

1968 was when everything really started to get out of control. On April 4, Martin Luther King was shot and a surge of riots broke out in Chicago and across the nation. Daley struggled to keep everything under control and suffered much criticism after he gave orders for police to "shoot to kill" during the riots. Another large demonstration happened in Grant Park after the Democratic Convention. Police intervened and once again, the violence spread throughout the city. 

Richard Nickel - Carson Pirie Scott Building

The reading about Richard Nickel addressed his photographic practices during the late 1950's and 1960's. Nickel was an architecture photographer who was more interested in documenting certain buildings in a more stylized as opposed to neutral way. He was very drawn to Sullivan architecture which was being demolished all across Chicago because of the construction of the highways. Here, it is very interesting to see another side of the highway construction. While the city as a whole is improving and moving forward, here is Nickel photographing these buildings "as if they were on death row." Nickel is portraying these places as if they are people and is convinced that they are entirely necessary to photograph. In the reading he is compared to Dorthea Lange and her photographs of the depression.