1922 Encyclopædia Britannica/Chicago

CHICAGO (see 6.118). With a pop. in 1920 of 2,701,705, representing an increase of 23.6% over the enumeration for 1910 (2,185,283), Chicago easily maintained its position as the second city in the United States. While the city's growth was greater proportionately than that of New York, which was 17.9%, it was considerably less absolutely. The percentage of increase was less than in any other decade of Chicago's history. It was likewise smaller than that of Detroit, 113.4%, and Cleveland, 42.1%, Chicago's closest rivals in the Middle West. In 1920 the negro pop. was 109,594, an increase of 148.5% over the preceding census. This influx of negroes, largely from the South, was due to the great demand for unskilled labour, especially in the packing industry, during the period of the World War when the European immigration was slight. A shortage of housing facilities for these negro labourers was one of the underlying causes of the race riots of 1919 in which a number of negroes and whites were killed. Much of Chicago's growth in previous decades had been due to immigration; this was sharply restricted after 1914. By the annexation of suburban territory, the area of Chicago (both land and water) was increased from 191.4 sq. m. in 1910 to 200 sq. m. in 1920.

The City Plan.&mdash;The most striking feature of Chicago's recent history is the formulation of the plan for the physical reconstruction of the city and the progress of the movement for its execution. This plan had its genesis in a report, issued by the Commercial Club of Chicago in 1909, which was prepared largely under the guiding spirit of Mr. Daniel H. Burnham, Director of Works of the World's Fair of 1893. The first step was the appointment of the Chicago Plan Commission, created by ordinance of the city council, and composed of aldermen and citizens. In furtherance of the Chicago Plan, Roosevelt Rd. (formerly i2th St.) was widened to more than 100 ft. between Ashland Ave. and Michigan Ave., a distance of 2 m., at a cost of $8,303,284. Michigan Ave. was widened to 130 ft. between Roosevelt Rd. and the river and to 141 ft. between the river and Chicago Ave. Widening that part of the street between Randoph St. and Chicago Ave. was a difficult matter, involving the taking of valuable private property, and the construction over the Chicago river of a large two-level bascule bridge. The cost of the Michigan Ave. project was in excess of $16,000,000, paid for out of bond issues and special assessments. The new thoroughfare was opened to traffic in 1920. Other street-widening and street-opening projects were under way in 1921.

The situation with respect to railway terminal facilities had long been unsatisfactory. The fact that Chicago is the greatest railway centre in the world, and that the interests involved were conflicting, made the problem exceedingly difficult. In 1911 the new passenger station of the Chicago and Northwestern railway was opened to service, at a cost of $25,000,000. This station, which is a dignified structure, was the project of a single railway. Other terminal projects authorized later represent greater coöperation, though they materially conflicted in some respects with the ideas of the Chicago Plan Commission.

History.&mdash;Carter H. Harrison (Dem.), who was elected in 1911 to his fifth term as mayor of Chicago, was succeeded in 1915 by William Hale Thompson (Rep.), who was reflected in 1919. After the United States entered the World War, Thompson was sharply criticised for various actions that seemed to indicate a reluctant support of the war policy of the Government.

The disappearance from the newspaper field of the Inter-Ocean and the Herald left Chicago for a time with only two English-speaking morning dailies, the Tribune and the Herald and Examiner. In 1920 the Chicago Journal of Commerce was established as a morning paper for business men, with no Sunday edition. The Joseph Medill School of Journalism was opened in Feb. 1921, with over 100 students, as a part of the Northwestern University. The Chicago Tribune, of which Joseph Medill was founder, agreed to underwrite the deficit of the school for a five-year period.