Chicago's State and Madison Streets, the Busiest Corner in the World. Photo: Armistice Day, November 11, 1918.

Looking west on Madison street at the corner of State and Madison streets. The Boston Store clock (not the Marshall Field Clock, which is one block to the north on State street) indicates that the picture was taken at the moment when the crowds poured out on Chicago streets and stood facing east in honor of those who fell in World War I. It appears that this photo was shot from someone who climbed a telephone/light pole.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Photograph of Madison and Canal Streets, Chicago, Illinois shot on July 29, 1919 at 5pm rush hour.

Photograph of Madison and Canal Streets, Chicago, Illinois shot on July 29, 1919 at 5pm rush hour.

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I posted this photograph to my Living History of Illinois and Chicago® Facebook group. I will share a members comment on this post and my reply.

GROUP MEMBERS COMMENT: How's it that I don't see any black folks in any of these older pictures? And everyone wearing the same outfits, and walking the same way. It's like they just did what everyone else did and didn't do what they wanted to do...

MY REPLY: First of all, I found a couple of black people in this photo, and I'm sure there are more, but we cannot see too many faces in this crowd and the low-resolution image in not large enough, to tell. 

Secondly, in 1920 Chicago's population was 2,701,705. The city’s black population had increased from 44,000 in 1909 to more than 100,000 as of 1919 during the "Great Migration," making the black population of Chicago only 1/2 of 1%.

Moreover, this photo, dated July 29, 1919 was smack dab in the middle of the "Chicago race riot which began on July 27, 1919, and ended on August 3, 1919, so during this time, city officials asked the black community to stay indoors and lock themselves in to be safe.

READ MORE: The History of the 1919 Chicago Riot, nationally named the "Red Summer." 

Racine Wagon & Carriage Company, Chicago Public Library Delivery Station carriages. Circa 1885

As Chicago's reconstruction after the Great Fire of 1871 progressed and residential districts extended further from the downtown area, it became apparent to the library's directors that the Chicago Public Library needed to make its services available to people nearer to their homes. 

In April 1884, the Library Board appointed a Special Committee on Delivery Stations. Four stations, two on the West Side, one on the North Side, and one on the South Side, were established. In June 1884, the Board agreed to pay Mr. Morris Rosenstock $18.00 per week to manage the delivery of materials to the four stations by horse-drawn carriage.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The Eleven Mile House Tavern at 92nd and State Streets in Chicago, 1879.

The Eleven Mile House Tavern was built in 1838 at 92nd and State Streets in Chicago. Photographed in 1879.

Abraham Lincoln Ribbons.

The above ribbon one is a Memoriam ribbon which was worn by people shortly after Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865; he was fifty-six years old.

The ribbon above was worn by people commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthdate of February 12, 1809.

The Ordinance of 1787 and Old Northwest Territory.

CLICK IMAGE FOR A FULL SIZE VIEW

The Ordinance of 1787 and Old Northwest Territory. This series of maps gives a capsular explanation of the evolution of the old "Northwest Territory" into the six states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

Downtown Joliet, Illinois. circa 1900

This is the interlocking tower in downtown Joliet, circa 1900, before the tracks in Joliet were elevated and relocated. This photo was taken from the roof of the Joliet Warehouse & Storage Company building, looking southwest.

The tracks running from left to right directly behind the tower belonged to the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad.

The tracks running from the lower right to the center background belonged the Chicago & Alton Railroad.

The building in the center was the Chicago & Alton Railroad passenger depot.

The tracks running from the lower right side of the photo to the background on the left belonged to the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad.

In the background on the left were the tracks of the Michigan Central Railroad's Joliet Cut-Off.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Illustration of the Junction of the Chicago River. July 1866 (Artist: Louis Kurz)

Chicago River — This view is of that portion of the river where the two branches unite and form the main river. The drawing is taken from a point on West Water Street, north of the approach to Lake Street Bridge.

It presents a scene hardly equal in animation to what is generally to be seen at that point. On the right are the protections to Lake Street Bridge. On the left is a vessel in tow of a tug coming from the north branch, and in the extreme distance is Wells Street Bridge over the main river. On the north side of the river are the Iowa and other Elevators, and on the south the row of warehouses lying between South Water Street and the river. At the front of the picture may be seen the upper portion of a locomotive upon the track which connects along this line the various Northern and Western with the Southern and Eastern Railways.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

A Significant 1893 Photo of Lake Shore Drive in Chicago which was Misdated on the Internet.

Lake Shore Drive, looking north from the top of the Chicago Water Tower at Chicago Avenue, as seen in 1893. In the right foreground is the north end of Pine Street, now Michigan Avenue, with the Edith Rockefeller McCormick home, then occupied by General Joseph Torrence, in the middle distance across from the inlet of Lake Michigan at Oak Street. In the background, the tower of the Potter Palmer castle rises above the street in an underdeveloped area. The landfill is already creating a lakefront vista along Lake Shore Drive.

Again... the Internet propagates false information as every website with this photo has the wrong date of 1870, making it a year before the Great Chicago Fire.

The building with the arrow (at 200% zoom) appears to be the McCormick Rockefeller Mansion at 1000 N. Lake Shore Drive, which was completed in 1883. It also seems the mansion added the chimney on the south side later. 

The image was from the Chicago History Museum's Collection and dated 1870. With some painstaking research, I found this photo's date to be 1889.

Research by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Western and Devon Avenues in the West Rogers Park Neighborhood of the West Ridge Community of Chicago. 1934

Looking north on Western Avenue from Devon Avenue in the West Rogers Park Neighborhood of the West Ridge Community of Chicago. 1934

Aerial view of 18th Street and the Chicago River during the river straightening project. May 1929.

Aerial view of 18th Street and the Chicago River during the river straightening project. May 1929.

Clark and Madison Streets, Chicago. 1868

East side of Clark Street looking south from Madison Street, Chicago. 1868

Chicago, taken from top of Isabella Building. (circa 1890).

Chicago, taken from top of Isabella Building. (circa 1890).

The Famous Smoke-Ring Blowing Billboard on the North-East Corner of State and Randolph Streets in Chicago.

The famous Winston smoking billboard was on the northeast corner of State & Randolph streets in Chicago. Circa 1967. A billboard like this was featured in the movie "Take the Money and Run (1969)," where the smoke rings were blown directly into Woody Allen's apartment window.

Take the money and run.

Smoking Billboard Scene at 3:45

If I recall correctly, this sign was a steaming cup of coffee advertising a brand of canned coffee before it was the Winston sign. The same principle as Leave it to Beaver's Steaming Bowl of Soup Billboard.

Leave it to Beaver

Steaming Bowl of Soup Billboard Scene 

Note the Magikist Rug Cleaners Sign.

Note the Mattel Lighted Animated Sign Board on top of the Walgreens.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Berry’s Candy Factory in a former church at State and Adams Streets, Chicago.

Berry’s Candy Factory and shop, during a strike, in a former church at State and Adams Streets, Chicago, (1903). The painted advertising on the front of the church building reads: "How Good, Berry's Candies."

Founder John Berry had three candy shop locations. His slogan: “Berry’s Candy Must be Good - Made in a Church.” A second store was at Washington and Sangamon Streets. the third location is unknown.

The State Street location was so popular, they once served over 11,000 customers (from their 3 stores) in a single day. The church building was razed shortly after this photo was shot. 

INDEX TO MY ILLINOIS AND CHICAGO FOOD & RESTAURANT ARTICLES.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

A WWI Army Recruiting Station Set Up in Grant Park, Chicago. June 19,1916

Men are lined up outside an Army recruiting station set up in Grant Park, Chicago. June 19, 1916

An Army recruiting station set up in Grant Park in the Loop community area of Chicago. June 19, 1916

Never Built Adler and Sullivan Architectural Drawing for South Michigan Blvd., Chicago. 1894

An 1894 Adler and Sullivan architectural drawing for an apartment building at 1008 South Michigan Boulevard, Chicago. It was never built.

Preliminary sketch.

Anna Carlo-Blasi, “Queen of Little Italy," campaigned for better sanitation to fight cholera.

Anna Carlo-Blasi, “The Queen of Little Italy," born Luiga Anna Chiariello, migrated to Chicago in 1887. 

Two years later, she married Joseph Carlo, who operated a saloon in partnership with his brother-in-law, Frank Taglia. Carlos' had two children, Antonio and Cecilia. In the 1890s, she was active as a midwife, as a leader in several of the dozen Italian mutual benefit societies of which she was a member and as a driving force in First Ward politics. Allied with the infamous Bath House Coughlin and Hinky Dink Kenna, she gained a reputation as a friend and mediator who could help find jobs and get city services from the pols. 

Carlo-Blasi, a popular midwife, lived at 931 South State Street, used her political connections to campaign for better sanitation in an attempt to fight cholera that was killing many of the newborns she delivered. 

Living in a rough neighborhood, she became the first woman in Chicago to get a permit to carry a revolver. Apparently, she needed the gun; her husband was stabbed to death in a quarrel in 1908.

Informal full-length portrait of Annie Carlo-Blasi standing on a sidewalk facing census taker Philip D'Andrea, who is holding papers, with a man and several small children standing in a grocery store entrance and women standing on the sidewalk behind Blasi in Chicago, Illinois. Carlo-Blasi's nickname: Queen of Little Italy. 1914

After only 16 months, Anna Carlo married Joseph Blasi, a First Ward Republican precinct captain, in an elaborate ceremony at Old St. Peter’s Church attended by many prominent elected officials. Apparently, Blasis' developed some personal ambitions for the elective office. 

In June 1913, the big news in Illinois was the passage of women’s suffrage. Almost from the moment, she became eligible to serve Anna Carlo-Blasi, announced her intention to run for alderman. Newspapers around the country breathlessly carried the story, and then, nothing. No mention of her withdrawal or explanation of what happened. 

Her name seems to have vanished from the Chicago print media until her death in June 1920. Thousands attended her wake and funeral which was one of the largest the city had known at that time. Among the honorary pallbearers were current Mayor William Hale Thompson and former Mayor Carter H. Harrison.

What happened to Anna Carlo-Blasi after she announced her intention to run for alderman? She seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth for 7 years until her death.

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Chicago Tribune, Friday, June 27, 1913, Page 2 Article:

Mrs. Annie Carlo-Blasi Becomes Equal of Kenna. 

"QUEEN OF LITTLE ITALY." 

Plans Reform, but Won't Fight "Hinky Dink" or Coughlin.

With the signing of the woman's suffrage bill by Gov. Dunne yesterday there came into existence automatically a new factor in Chicago downtown politics and one expected to prove powerful in future municipal elections. Chicago has a new "boss." It is Mrs. Annie Carlo-Blasi, for twenty years undisputed "queen of little Italy." 

Mrs. Blasi, who lives at 931 South State street, is better known as Annie Carlo, as her marriage to Blael is recent. Her occupation as midwife, which has served somewhat in her political work, is far from her principal occupation. As a furnisher of bonds in South Clark street, as adviser to the politicians seeking information on the probable Italian vote, and as a person of great influence in swinging votes by the thousand ahe has long been well known.

Now Will Control Votes. 
But her influence hereafter is gotrg to be much greater. Heretofore she has had to tell the women, what their husbands must do, and to issue orders to the men themselves --orders which have generally been obeyed. But now she will control the votes of the women themselves, and forcing them to take an interest in politics on their own account will be able through them to swing more of the men's votes. 

But take office? Not a bit of it. She was urged yesterday to tell why. "I wouldn't fight my friends," she said. "They've been good to me. But I want the women to work and I want them to have jobs. We ought to have women on the police force." 

First to Get Revolver Permit.
She smiled as she remarked proudly that she was the first Chicago woman to be given a license for carrying a revolver. Then she exhibited a medal which had been given her by the boys at Pontiac reformatory, and gave every indication she is going in for reform." 

We will make a clean city," continued the queen boss. "There are not enough street sweepers down here." 

Admiring followers asserted she could get any office she wants. They told of her standing at the polls in snowstorms and rain and slush, telling newcomers where they should mark their ballots, and "helping her friends." They say she already has organization of 5,000 Italian women through the city, with a big organization in the First ward. On Sunday she is going to get her west side force busy by holding a meeting at Forquer and Desplaines streets, with the Incoronata society, of which she is president.

Possibility that the boss would fight the present First ward organization was kicked in the head.

"Sure, I won't." said Mrs. Carlo-Blasi. "John Coughlin, Mike Kenna, Carter Harrison, and Gov. Dunne are my friends. When they need me I will give them the First ward." 

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The Chicago Home for Aged Jews was established on the South Side in 1891.

The Chicago Home for Aged Jews was established on April 6, 1891 with Morris Rosenbaum as prendent, at 6140 South Drexel Avenue at 62nd Street (the northwest corner) to serve the German-Jewish community. Abraham Slimmer of Waverly, Iowa, donated $50,000 for such a home in Chicago, on condition that the Jews of Chicago raise an equal amount. The money was obtained without difficulty.

The Home for Aged Jews was dedicated and opened Sunday, April 30, 1893 and at the end of the year the number at the home was 44.

The building was demolished in 1959 for construction of a north wing addition to the 1950 expansion (by then renamed Drexel Home and which is now known as the Drexel Terrace Apartments).

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

The Chicago Home for the Friendless.

Chicago Home for the Friendless, 51st Street and Vincennes Avenue.

When the population of Chicago grew dramatically, it increased the need for social services to poor and destitute women and children. The Chicago Home for the Friendless, founded on March 18, 1858, responded to that need.

Eventually, the organization served as an orphanage, a shelter for women and children, and also cared for older people in need. From August of 1897 to 1938, the home was located near East 51st Street and South Vincennes Avenue in the Washington Park community area. In 1980, the agency changed its name to Family Care Services of Metropolitan Chicago.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.