At this stage, it appears the Western Avenue bridge over the Congress Expressway was not yet finished, as the streetcar (and auto traffic) are using a shoo-fly. The expressway was originally designed to run through Bridgeport, then Mayor Daleys neighborhood, but the development was moved eight blocks to the east, installing a multi-lane barrier between Bridgeport and the Black Belt, literally cementing the segregation of Black and white communities. Disc Two Chicagos position as the hub of a vast railroad system enabled a bustling industrial economy that was teeming with job opportunities in its stockyards, factories, and steel mills. 75 years since the State Street Subway opened (October 17, 1943) Chicago South Side 1940s-1950s - Untitled https://thetrolleydodger.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/pic512.jpg First time I came across it and Im barely 23! Close to a third of Chicago neighborhoods were given a D grade and marked red on a mapthus, redlined. These areas, all of which were predominantly Black communities, were deemed undesirable, and residents from these neighborhoods were usually denied bank loans and insurance, severely limiting their housing prospects and mobility. In the Windy City, jazz started out in small local clubs on the South Side. At a beach near 29th Street, a white man began throwing rocks at Black boys who were swimming at a perceived whites-only beach, drowning seventeen-year-old Eugene Williams. The South Side has been home to some of the most significant figures in the history of American politics. Known as "Bronzeville," the neighborhood was surprisingly small, but at its peak more than 300,000 lived in the narrow, seven-mile strip. It is such a same they did not have the foresight to keep these lines going. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA PCC 4108 is northbound at Kinzie Street. A bit of detail on photos (pic571.jpg & pic572.jpg) at 71st & Western, the temporary facing crossover was installed without a corresponding crossover overhead wire. The plan was ostensibly intended to decentralize Black poverty and relocate residents to mixed-income housing in integrated neighborhoods. Pullman post-war PCCs did not disappear in one fell swoop. The South Side experienced a population shift during the move to suburbs following World War II. These demarcations were shaped by racist sentiments toward Black residents and non-whites and manifested through urban planning, housing policies, discriminatory banking, and other practicesall effectively confining people from different demographic groups to certain parts of the city. Also, its wonderful to see all the old advertising signs on the street cars and the buildings. Halsted cars ended their runs at 63rd. Copyright 2009-2018, New York Public Radio. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4060 is southbound on Western at 66th on October 9, 1955. HOUSING SEGREGATION IN 1950S SOUTH SIDE CHICAGO Already experiencing a population boom after Reconstruction, Chicago was a popular destination for African Americans moving from the South to the North in the early 20th century. The 'Old Roseland': One Man's Experience During White Flight Fuller Park is one of the worst neighborhoods in the city by almost every metric. Fuller Park is the Chicago neighborhood which experienced the largest decline in population over the sixty years from the citys peak population in 1950 to 2010; its population declined precipitously from 17,000 in 1950 to under 3,000 . From the 1920s through the 1950s, Chicago's South Side was the center for African-American culture and business. Residents enjoy close access to several major shopping destinations, particularly the 87th Street Center and the diverse selection of shops and restaurants . The deadliest tornado hit on April 21, 1967, traveling through Oak Lawn and the South Side of Chicago, killing 33 and injuring 500. . According to 2009 American Community Survey data, of Chicago's 77 community areas, 68 are home to a population of which at least 50 percent identify with a single racial group. He would later say, I have been in the Civil Rights Movement for many years all through the South, but I have never seen not even in Alabama or Louisianamobs as hostile and hateful as this crowd. The Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968. From the 1910s to the 1920s, thousands of Mexicans were recruited by industrial contractors to work seasonally in the Midwest, in some cases as strikebreakers in the steel mills. Burned in 1980s and in what was a real mindblower, the reporter on scene actually called it an old CTA facility. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 6154 is southbound at Halsted and Congress on October 5, 1953. What was South Side Chicago like in the 1950s? South Side Apartments for Rent - Chicago, IL - 4 Rentals | Apartments.com They were in various neighborhood, suburbs. 13 Vintage Photos of Illinois in the 1940s - OnlyInYourState If youre ever in the neighborhood, the TV house is located at 2119 South Homan Ave, Chicago, IL, 60623. Photo 537 I believe shows a detouring Halsted car turning off of Division st. onto Crosby St., not Larabee. Stunning Historical Photos Of Chicago In The 1960s - Bygonely (Wien-Criss Archive), The Western and Berwyn loop on June 10, 1956. This gigantic construction project, a part of the New Deal, would overcome many obstacles while tunneling through Chicagos soft blue clay, under congested downtown streets, and even beneath the mighty Chicago River. A man walks down Clark Street in Chicago in 1940. Although the show is set in Chicagos Back of the Yards neighborhood, the house used for filming is actually located in the citys North Lawndale neighborhood. The Second Ghetto Unfortunately, public housing did not solve Chicago's housing problems. This is post 1 of 6 in the series FIRSTHAND: SEGREGATION. By 1928, there were at least six Mexican settlements parallel to Lake Michigan that were referred to as colonias. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7208 is on Western near 34th on September 3, 1950. Chicago's South Side in black & white May 12, 2016 SJNN By Alden Loury Looking West down 79th Street at Western Ave, Chicago, IL. Many of the photos show the same area from a number of different angles, giving a snapshot early transportation worked and everyday life through a look at businesses, fashion, architecture and more. If there was one impresario of the South Side during that period, it was Johnny Robinson, also known as Johnny Pepper, who operated three successive clubs from the late 1950s through the early . (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4408 on Western at 66th on July 16, 1951. Much of the promised housing failed to materialize, and its uncertain whether the CHA will ever build new housing for the 40,000 families currently on their waiting lists. Is BCD Travel a good company to work for. Public housing was intended to house a mix of working-class and poor families and was welcomed and enjoyed by new residents, according to early testimonies. PCC 7151 is a two-man car, and passengers are boarding at the rear. These have been digitized, and we are now offering over three hours of 1950s traction audio recordings that have not been heard in 60 years. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 248 is at Crosby and Larrabee on May 17, 1954. Newly rediscovered and digitized after 60 years, most of these audio recordings of Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee interurban trains are previously unheard, and include on-train recordings, run-bys, and switching. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 4060 is southbound at Wabash and Wacker, running on Route 4 Cottage Grove. Black residents did not enjoy the same geographic freedom. (Wien-Criss Archive), CTA 7157 is northbound on Western at 67th on June 15, 1955. South Side Chicago, IL Household Income, Population & Demographics | Point2 Shaker Heights Rapid Transit: The African-American population in Chicago now makes up 25 percent of the city, but racial segregation is high, and much of the South and West sides have become densely populated, marginalized, low-income areas. 3:32 Box motor #5, May 24, 1953 Immigrants typically lived in inadequate housing near railroads and industryin bunk houses, boxcars, and section houses. They were not all taken at the same time, however. A 1920s map by sociologist Frederic M. Thrasher placed the Polish and Bohemian enclaves throughout the entire West Side, including the Lower West Side near Halsted Street; Germans occupied the northern lakefront, with Jewish people settling north of Madison Street and also along the southern lakefront. By 1960 there were 32,371 Puerto Rican residents in Chicago, a number that more than doubled within a decade. (Really! ?etc Buses terminate at the nearby Howard L station. 02. The State Street Subway The stores from left to right are: S S Kresge, on the southwest corner; The Ace department store on the northwest corner; and Sears Roebuck, the huge building on the northeast corner (with a Hillmans grocery in the basement). #534 looks south on Halsted from the (A line) L station, note the curved pull-offs of the overhead which is well defined along with the curves corresponding track which converges into the south bound track in view #536. This picture was taken from the eastbound platform of the Englewood L station spanning Halsted St. At that time, Halsted was still a very busy business district; in fact, I read somewhere that Englewood was the busiest business district outside the Loop. Look at the bottom of the photo. Many thousands gathered to celebrate the starting of work on the subway. EXPLORE: Past tornadoes and their damage around Chicago - Chicago Sun-Times Seen as one of the most massive internal movements in United States history, it was an era that sparked the Harlem Renaissance . First, they were all taken in Chicago during the 1950s. They turned east on 63rd to Union Ave. (700 W.), then south to 63rd Place, then west to alongside (south of) the Halsted L station, then back north on Halsted. What was it like in South-side Chicago in 1950? - Answers From the Original Master Tapes During the 1950s many residents called the northeast . The story of segregation in Chicago | Features | Al Jazeera Chicago Burnside Bums Gang - South Side Chicago White Street Gang Joe Barry 685 subscribers Subscribe 38 Share 13K views 11 years ago The farthest South White street gang in Chicago - the.