The Depression Comes to the South Side: Protest and Politics in the Black Metropolis, 1930-1933

Cover, Title Page, Copyright, List of other Titles in Series, Epigraph

The Depression Comes to the South Side Protest and Politics in the Black Metropolis, 1930–1933 Christopher Robert Reed The Depression Comes to the South Side Reed INDIANA In the 1920s, Chicago’s South Side was looked upon as the new Black Metropolis, but by the turn of the decade that vision was already in decline­ —a victim of the Depression. In this timely book, Christopher Robert Reed explores early Depression-era politics in the South Side. The economic crisis caused diverse responses from groups in the black community, distinguished by their political ideologies and stated goals. Some favored government intervention, others reform of social services. Some found expression in mass street demonstrations, militant advocacy of expanded civil rights, or revolutionary calls for a complete overhaul of the capitalist economic system. Reed examines the complex interactions among these various groups as they played out within the community as it sought to find common ground to address the economic stresses that threatened to tear the Black Metropolis apart. Christopher Robert Reed is Professor Emeritus of History at Roosevelt University in Chicago and author of The Emergence of the Black Metropolis, 1910–1933; Black Chicago’s First Century,1833–1900; All the World Is Here: The Black Presence at White City (IUP, 2000); and The Chicago NAACP and the Rise of Black Professional Leadership (IUP, 1997). Blacks in the Diaspora Darlene Clark Hine, John McCluskey, Jr., and David Barry Gaspar, founding editors Tracy Sharpley-Whiting, Herman L. Bennett, Kim D. Butler, Judith A. Byfield, and Leslie A. Schwalm, editors An account of the consequences of a failing economy for the residents of Chicago’s South Side during the early years of the Great Depression “Touches on themes that are compelling for their relevance nearly a century later. The story of economic downturn and its effects —homelessness, joblessness, corruption— are clearly issues of great interest today.” —Kim Butler, Rutgers University U.S. History • African American Bloomington & Indianapolis iupress.indiana.edu 1-800-842-6796 Depression South Side MECH.indd 1 7/7/11 11:34 AM recto runningfoot 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 the depression comes to the south side 2 verso runningfoot B l a c k s i n t h e D i a s p o r a Founding Editors: Darlene Clark Hine, John McCluskey, Jr., and David Barry Gaspar Series Editor: Tracy Sharpley-Whiting Advisory Board: Herman L. Bennett, Kim D. Butler, Judith A. Byfield, and Leslie A. Schwalm recto runningfoot 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 i n d i a n a u n i v e r s i t y p r e s s Bloomington and Indianapolis The Depression Comes to the South Side Christopher Robert Reed protest and politics in the black metropolis, 1930–1933 4 verso runningfoot This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, Indiana 47404–3797 USA iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail iuporder@indiana.edu© 2011 by Christopher Robert Reed All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. ∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1992. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Reed, Christopher Robert. The Depression comes to the South Side : protest and politics in the Black metropolis, 1930-1933 / Christopher Robert Reed. p. cm. — (Blacks in the diaspora) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-253-35652-9 (cloth : alk...