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Society & Social Topics in Illinois & Chicago – Free Books

Society & Social Topics in Illinois & Chicago - Free Books

This webpage has links to free books and articles on Social Topics in Illinois History, including:

Illinois and Chicago Ethnic history, with works on Mexicans, African Americans, Italians, Jews, Polish, Irish, Germans, Swedish, Norwegians, French Canadians,
Crime and organized criminal organizations,
Experiences of Illinois pioneers,
Women in Illinois history,
Immigration to Illinois and Chicago,
Anti-slavery movement in the mid-19th century, and the Underground Railroad,
Living & Working conditions in coal mining communities,
Chicago’s Hull House,
Chicago Civil Rights movement,
Chicago Urban League,
Temperance movements,
Women’s Suffrage movements,
Charitable, or Philanthropic, organizations.

The Immigrant and Coal Mining Communities of Illinois

Abbott, Grace
Springfield: State of Illinois Department of Registration and Education 1920

This is a Bulletin published by the state government “Immigrants Commission”; a study of working and living conditions of immigrant miners in four regions of Illinois. Ethnic history of Illinois, pioneers 1800s Illinois, immigration history in Illinois.

See the Menu at the top of every page for Directories of Free Online Fiction and NonFiction Books, Magazines, and more, on 400 pages like this at Century Past

“The Changing Roles of Farm Women”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 7, No. 1, 1999, pp 2-6

Adams, Jane
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Pioneer woman history Illinois, pioneers 1800s Illinois.

Twenty Years at Hull-House, with Autobiographical Notes

Addams, Jane
NY: Macmillan 1911

“In 1889, while many Americans were disdainful of newly arrived immigrants, Jane Addams established Hull-House as a refuge for Chicago’s poor. The settlement house provided an unprecedented variety of social services. In this inspiring autobiography, Addams chronicles the institution’s early years and discusses the ever-relevant philosophy of social justice that served as its foundation.” -Publisher. Jane Addams Hull House Chicago, Chicago Hull House, Chicago ethnic history.

See also:
Hull-House Maps and Papers in Working Conditions – History of Labor Unions in the U.S.

Philanthropy and Social Progress; Seven Essays by Miss Jane Addams, Robert A. Woods, Father J.O.S. Huntington, Professor Franklin H. Giddings and Bernard Bosanquet in Social Services – Poverty & Homelessness

See our Illinois biographies and memoirs

Confronting the Color Line: The Broken Promise of the Civil Rights Movement in Chicago

Anderson, Alan B. and Pickering, George W.
University of Georgia 1986

“In Confronting the Color Line, Alan Anderson and George Pickering examine the hopes and strategies, the frustrations and internal conflicts, the hard-won successes and bitter disappointments of the civil rights movement in Chicago. The scene of a protracted local struggle to force equality in education and open housing for blacks, the city also became the focus of national attention in the summer of 1966 as Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference challenged the entrenched political machine of Mayor Richard J. Daley.” -Publisher. Illinois civil rights movement, black migration to Chicago, African American history in Illinois, Chicago ethnic history.

Mexican Chicago: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity, 1916-39

Arredondo, Gabriela F.
University of Illinois 2008

“Mexican Chicago builds on previous studies of Mexicans in the United States while challenging static definitions of “American” and underlying assumptions of assimilation.” -Publisher. Mexican immigration to Chicago, Mexican immigrants in Chicago, ethnic history of Chicago.

See our free online books to read at Century Past

“Mexicanas in Chicago”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 10, No. 2, 2003, pp 57-62

Arredondo, Gabriela F.
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Mexican immigration to Chicago, Mexican immigrants in Chicago, ethnic history of Chicago.

The Gangs of Chicago: An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld

Asbury, Herbert
Thunder Mouth 2002

“This classic history of crime tells how Chicago’s underworld earned-and kept-its reputation. Recounting the lives of such notorious denizens as the original Mickey Finn, the mass murderer H. H. Holmes, and the three Car Barn Bandits, Asbury reveals life as it was lived in the criminal districts of the Levee, Hell’s Half-Acre, the Bad Lands, Little Cheyenne, Custom House Place, and the Black Hole. His description of Chicago’s infamous red light district-where the brothels boasted opulence unheard of before or since-vividly captures the wicked splendor that was Chicago.” -Publisher. Chicago gangland history, history of crime in Chicago.

The Entrance of Women into the Occupations in Illinois

Bedient, Ethel Louise
University of Illinois 1917

A thesis submitted for a Masters’ degree in Economics, in two parts. The first part very briefly covers women’s occupations prior to 1870. The second, more thorough part covers the period from 1870 to 1910, for which the author found much more data. Pioneers 1800s Illinois, pioneer history of woman.

See also: Campbell, Helen, Woman Wage-earners: Their Past, Their Present and Their Future in Working Conditions – History of Labor Unions in the U.S.

Candee, Helen Churchill, How Women May Earn a Living in Working Conditions – History of Labor Unions in the U.S.

“French Women and Family Life in Post-Colonial Illinois”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 12, No. 2, 2005, pp 18-21

Bishop, Erin I.
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Pioneer woman history Illinois, Illinois historical pioneers, pioneers 1800s Illinois.

See our free Illinois history books & articles

The Poorhouse: Subsidized Housing in Chicago, 1895-1976

Bowly, Devereux, Jr.
Southern Illinois University 1978

“The first major study of subsidized housing in any American city, this history of the Chicago experience shows that decisions about the future of public housing to be made in the next few years will if not made in the context of past programs achievements and fail­ures inevitably lead to more “poor­houses” for the indigent and elderly.” -Publisher.

“French Canadians in the Kankakee Valley”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 12, No. 2, 2005, pp 28-33

Brettell, Caroline B.
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Ethnic history of Illinois, French Canadians in Illinois, pioneers 1800s Illinois.

“The Progressive Era in Illinois: “Launching Pad” for “New Women””

Illinois History Teacher Vol 7, No. 1, 1999, pp 15-20

Buenker, John D.
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Women’s suffrage movement Illinois.

“Chicago’s Italians: Immigrants, Ethnics, Achievers, 1850-1985”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 6, No. 2, 1999, pp 36-41

Candeloro, Dominic
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Immigration Chicago history, ethnic history of Illinois, ethnic history of Chicago, Italian immigrants in Chicago, Italian immigration to Chicago.

Italians in Chicago

Candeloro, Dominic
Charleston, SC: Arcadia

“Italians have been a part of the Chicago community since the 1850s. An intriguing visual tour, Italians in Chicago explores the lives of over four generations of the community’s residents and experiences. In over 200 images accompanied by an insightful narrative, this collection uncovers the challenges of migration and ethnic survival as well as the trials and triumphs of daily life.” – Book cover.

See our free historic pioneer guides for the Midwest

50-50: Fighting Chicago’s Crime Trusts

Chamberlin, Henry Barrett
Chicago: 1916

Reveals through details of police investigations how organized criminal groups operated a number of activities. History of crime in Chicago.

Contents:1. Arson Trust 2. Clairvoyant Trust 3. Wiretapper’s Trust 4. Pickpocket Trust 5. Burglary Trust 6. Detective Bureau Criminals 7. Horse Thief Trust 8. Auto Thief, Auto Bandi and Auto Murderer 9. Glass Smashers’ Trust 10. The Gunmen 11. Parasite Trust 12. Moron, Juvenile and Sex Criminal 13. Unspectacular Crime 14. Maclay Hoyne. Chicago gangland history.

Illinois and the Underground Railroad to Canada

Cooley, Verna Lucille
University of Illinois 1917

Master’s Thesis in History. Anti-slavery movement in Illinois, abolitionist movement in Illinois, underground railroad in Illinois, African American history in Illinois.

For links to books about the issue of slavery in Indiana and Illinois, see: Anti-Slavery before the Civil War

The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb

Cutler, Irving
University of Illinois 1996

“The book includes representative biographical vignettes of some of Chicago’s best-known figures: Edna Ferber, the first Jew to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction; Saul Bellow, who won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for fiction; musicians Benny Goodman and Mel Torme; radio personality Studs Terkel; noted rabbis Emil G. Hirsch, Saul Silber, and Solomon Goldman; actor Paul Muni …” -Publisher. Jewish immigrants in Chicago, immigration history in Illinois, ethnic history of Illinois, ethnic history of Chicago.

The Jews of Illinois …

Their Religious and Civic Life, their Charity and Industry, their Patriotism and Loyalty to American Institutions, from their earliest settlement in the State unto the Present Time

Eliassof, Herman
Chicago: Reform Advocate 1901

Produced by a weekly newspaper that was published “in the interest of Reform Judaism”. Jewish immigrants in Chicago, immigration history in Illinois, ethnic history of Illinois, ethnic history of Chicago.

See our True Crime Books Free PDF Download

Opposite Poles: Immigrants and Ethnics in Polish Chicago, 1976-1990

Erdmans, Mary Patrice
Pennsylvania State University 1998

Polish immigration in Chicago, immigration history in Illinois, ethnic history of Illinois, ethnic history of Chicago.

Sugar Creek: Life on the Illinois Prairie

Faragher, John Mack
Yale University 1986

“The fascinating story of the birth and development of a rural American community from its origins at the turn of the nineteenth century to the years that followed the Civil War. Drawing on newspapers, account books, and reminiscences, the author of the prize-winning Women and Men on the Overland Trail vividly portrays the lives of the prairie’s inhabitants—Indians, pioneers, farming men and women—and adds a compelling new chapter to American social history.” -Publisher. Sugar Creek Valley (Macoupin County and Sangamon County, Ill.) Pioneers 1800s Illinois, Illinois historical pioneers, Illinois historical pioneers.

“Female Office Workers in Chicago, 1870-1930”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 10, No. 2, 2003, pp 24-29

Fine, Lisa M.
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

“From Immigration to Integration: Jewish Life in Quincy in the Nineteenth Century”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 5, No. 1, 1998, pp 29-34

Frolick, David A.
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Immigration history in Illinois, ethnic history of Illinois, Jewish immigrants in Illinois.

See our books on Illinois cities & other places

“The Irish in Chicago”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 6, No. 2, 1999, pp 12-15

Funchion, Michael F.
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Immigration history in Illinois, ethnic history of Illinois, Irish immigration to Chicago, Irish immigrants in Chicago, ethnic history of Chicago.

“The Chicago Anarchists of 1886: The Crime, The Trial, and the Punishment, by the judge who presided at the trial”

The Century Magazine Vol 45, 6, April 1893, pp 803-837

Gary, Joseph E.
NY: Century

The trial after the famous event now known as the “Haymarket Affair” or “Haymarket Massacre”.

“Railroads and Community Life”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 15, No. 1, 2008, pp 18-21

Grant, H. Roger
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

“Chicago and the Great Migration”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 3, No. 2, 1996, pp 33-37

Grossman, James
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

African American migration to Chicago, black migration to Chicago, great migration Chicago, African American history in Illinois.

Books about Michigan women’s movements

History of Negro Slavery in Illinois and of the Slavery Agitation in that State

Harris, Norman D.
Chicago: McClurg. 1904

This book was originally a PhD dissertation at the University of Chicago History Department. Elijah Lovejoy, anti-slavery movement in Illinois, abolitionist movement in Illinois, pioneers 1800s Illinois, African American history in Illinois.

Contents:-The Beginnings of Slavery in the Illinois Country, 1719-1783 -Slavery in the Illinois Territory, 1800-1818 -Slavery and the Constitution of 1818 -The Contest for a Convention, 1820-1824 -Negro Servitude under the Constitution of 1818 -The Lovejoy Episode – in St. Louis -The Lovejoy Episode (continued) – in Alton -The Slavery Question in the Courts, 1819-1864 -The Beginnings of the Anti-slavery Agitation -The Origin of the Illinois Liberty Party and the Free Soil Party -The Free Soil, Free Democratic, and Republican Parties, 1848-1856 -Later Slavery Agitation and the Lincoln-Douglas Debates -The Progress of Sentiment on the Negro Question, 1840-1875.

Appendices -Bibliography -Specimen Copies of Slave Papers -Data Relative to the Contest of 1823-24 -Table of Abolition Votes

The Ethnic Frontier: Essays in the History of Group Survival in Chicago and the Midwest

Holli, Melvin G. and Jones, Peter d’A., eds.
Eerdmans 1977

Ethnic history of Illinois, ethnic history of Chicago, pioneers 1800s Illinois.

Free digital magazines online

“Hull House and the Immigrants”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 10, No. 1, 2003, pp 23-26

Holli, Melvin G.
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Jane Addams Hull House Chicago, Chicago Hull House.

Brief History of the Charitable Institutions of the State of Illinois

Illinois Board of World’s Fair Commissioners
Chicago: Morris Printers. 1893

This consists of 10 short histories of the following institutions prepared by their superintendents, distributed at the Columbia Exposition of 1893.

-Institution for the education of the deaf and dumb, at Jacksonville, 1838-1893.
-Institution for the education of the blind, at Jacksonville. 1849-1893.
-Southern hospital for the insane, at Anna. 1869-1893.
-Central hospital for the insane, at Jacksonville 1847-1893.
-Eastern hospital for the insane, at Kankakee. 1877-1983.
-Northern hospital for the insane, at Elgin. 1869-1893.
-Charitable eye and ear infirmary, at Chicago. 1858-1893.
-Soldiers’ and sailors’ home, at Quincy. 1885-1893.
-Soldiers’ orphans’ home, at Normal. 1865-1893.
-Asylum for feeble minded children, at Lincoln, 1865-1893. Public welfare–Illinois. Psychiatric hospitals–Illinois.

“Mary Livermore and the Illinois Women’s Suffrage Movement”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 3, No. 1, 1996, pp 2-5

Janu, Bruce D. and Venet, Wendy Hamand
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Women’s suffrage movement Illinois.

Illinois in the Fifties or A Decade of Development 1851- 1860. Illinois Centennial Edition

Johnson, Charles Beneulyn
Champaign: Flanigan-Pearson 1918

In this volume the author has endeavored to describe things, people and conditions as he saw and knew them in the Fifties.

Contents:-The Pioneer and his environment -A Progressive pioneer and the evolution of a home -The gold seekers of the late Forties -The stage-driver, stage-coach, stage-hand and an original Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde -A Country store in the Fifties -Churches, church people and preachers in the Fifties -Sports, amusements and some other things -The village Lyceum and some local Pettifoggers -An old-time water-mill -Schools, scholars and teachers -In and about an Illinois cornfield in the Fifties -Books, periodicals and other reading matter in the Fifties -The village doctors -Railroads and other methods of travel and transportation -Elections, parties and politics -Slavery and the Lincoln-Douglas debate. Illinois History 1778-1865. Illinois Social life and customs, pioneers 1800s Illinois.

Ethnic Chicago

Jones, Peter d’A., ed.
W.B. Eerdmans 1984

Chicago (Ill.), ethnic history of Chicago, immigration Chicago history, immigration history in Illinois.

Polish-American Politics in Chicago, 1888-1940

Kantowicz, Edward R.
University of Chicago 1975

“Kantowicz examines such questions as why Chicago, with the largest Polish population of any city outside of Poland, has never elected a Polish mayor. The author also examines the origins of the heavily Democratic allegiance of Polish voters. Kantowicz demonstrates that Chicago Poles were voting Democratic long before Al Smith, Franklin Roosevelt, or the New Deal.” -Publisher. Immigration history in Illinois, ethnic history of Chicago, Polish immigration in Chicago.

German Workers in Industrial Chicago, 1850-1910: A Comparative Perspective

Keil, Hartmut, and Jentz, John B., eds.
Northern Illinois University 1983

German immigrants in Illinois, German immigrants in Chicago, ethnic history of Chicago.

See our Illinois religion free books & articles

“African-American Women’s Clubs in Chicago, 1890-1920”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 10, No. 2, 2003, pp 11-15

Knupfer, Anne Meis
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

African American history in Chicago.

League for the Protection of Immigrants: Annual Reports 1909-1917

League for the Protection of Immigrants
Chicago 1910-1918

The name of the League changed to “Immigrants Protective League” in the 1910-1911 report. “The work that the League is attempting to do is primarily that of first help to the immigrant … welcoming the newcomers, seeing that they reach the homes to which they are destined, guarding them against wrongs at the railroad stations, labor employment agencies, and work camps, assisting them to secure work, advising and encouraging them to take advantage of [educational opportunities] , settlements, churches, Y.M.C.A. and other organizations, protecting [women and girls] from the perils of the white slave trade and prostitution. Personal visits to stations and homes, conferences with the local, state and national authorities, co-operation with other organizations and especially with the police, have been some of the methods employed as the basis for the work.”
– Report of the President 1909-10, pp 5-6
In addition to being annual summaries of the work of the organization, these reports contain numerous descriptions of case studies or incidents, along with a wide variety of useful data. Immigrants Protective League, immigration history in Chicago, ethnic history of Chicago.

Murder city: The Bloody History of Chicago in the Twenties

Lesy, Michael
W.W. Norton 2007

“Michael Lesy’s disturbingly satisfying account of Chicago in the 1920s—the epicenter of murder in America—could be fiction, but it’s not. “Things began as they usually did: Someone shot someone else.” So begins a chapter of this sharp, fearless collection from a master storyteller. Revisiting seventeen Chicago murder cases—including that of Belva and Beulah, two murderesses whose trials inspired the musical Chicago—Michael Lesy captures an extraordinary moment in American history, bringing to life a city where newspapers scrambled to cover the latest mayhem.” -Publisher. Chicago gangland history, history of crime in Chicago.

Gangland Chicago: Criminality and Lawlessness in the Windy City, 1837-1990

Lindberg, Richard
Rowman & Littlefield 2016

“This engrossing tale of gangs and organized criminality begins in the frontier saloons situated in the marshy flats of Chicago, the future world class city of Mid-continent. Gangland Chicago recounts the era of parlor gambling, commercialized vice districts continuing through the bloody Prohibition bootlegging wars; failed reform movements; the rise of post-World War II juvenile criminal gangs and the saga of the Blackstone Rangers in a chaotic, racially divided city.” -Publisher. Chicago gangland history, history of crime in Chicago.

Chicago, 1860-1919

Longstreet, Stephen
McKay 1973

Social history Chicago.

Americanization in Chicago …

The Report of a Survey made by authority and under direction of the Chicago Community Trust

Loomis, Frank D.
Chicago: Chicago Community Trust 1920

This small book covers addresses the efforts being made by a wide variety of organizations that served the needs of immigrant groups in Chicago and worked to “Americanize” them. It contains brief descriptions of many types of organizations and the way in which they contributed. A number of tables provide data about immigrant groups, and there are lists of all organizations involved in such work. Chicago immigration history, Chicago ethnic history, Americanization of immigrants.

Chicago Sensations, or, Leaves from the Note Book of a Chicago Reporter and Detective

Maitland, James
Chicago: Rand, McNally 1886

 
Crime history Chicago.

Pioneers of Illinois, containing a Series of Sketches relating to Events that occurred previous to 1813…

also Narratives of many thrilling incidents connected with the early settlement of the West, drawn from History, Tradition and Personal Reminiscences

Matson, N.
Chicago: Knight & Leonard. 1892

The author wrote in the Preface that a very large share of the content of this volume was collected by him in discussions with early settlers and by an Indian he employed to collect stories and narratives from Indians. Much of the book concerns interaction between pioneers and Indians, and there appears to be a lot of material about Peoria. Pioneers 1800s Illinois, Illinois historical pioneers, pioneer woman history Illinois.

The Irish in Chicago

McCaffrey, Lawrence J., et al
University of Illinois 1987

Examines the history, religion, politics, and literature of one of the city’s most influential ethnic groups. Chicago (Ill.) Ethnic history of Chicago, immigration Chicago history, Irish immigration to Chicago, Irish immigrants in Chicago.

The Women of Illinois

McCormick, Henry
Bloomington, ILL: Pantagraph 1913

Contents:-The Pioneer Women of Illinois -Mrs. Le Compt -Mrs. John Edgar -Mrs. Robert Morrison -Mrs. Mary A. Bickerdyke -Mrs. Mary A. Livermore -Frances E. Willard -Jane Addams -Mrs. Lida Brown McMurry -Mrs. Letitia Green Stevenson -Marie Eugenia Von Elsner (Litta) -The Women of Today. Pioneer woman history Illinois, pioneers 1800s Illinois, Illinois historical pioneers.

“A Quarter of a Century in the Stockyards District”

Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society 1920, pp 72-83

McDowell, Mary E.
Springfield: Illinois State Historical Society

An account of labor conditions by a Chicago social worker. Ethnic history of Chicago, immigration Chicago history.

See our Illinois historic maps

What Parish Are You From? A Chicago Irish Community and Race Relations

McMahon, Eileen M.
University Press of Kentucky 1995

“For Irish Americans as well as for Chicago’s other ethnic groups, the local parish once formed the nucleus of daily life. Focusing on the parish of St. Sabina’s in the southwest Chicago neighborhood of Auburn-Gresham, Eileen McMahon takes a penetrating look at the response of Catholic ethnics to life in twentieth-century America. She reveals the role the parish church played in achieving a cohesive and vital ethnic neighborhood and shows how ethno-religious distinctions gave way to racial differences as a central point of identity and conflict.” -Publisher. Irish immigrants in Chicago, immigration Chicago history, ethnic history of Chicago, African American history in Illinois.

“Foreign Immigrants in Illinois 1850”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 5, No. 1, 1998, pp 15-21

Meyer, Douglas K.
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Ethnic history of Illinois, immigration history in Illinois, Illinois historical pioneers, pioneer woman history Illinois.

“Freedom’s Early Ring: Ending Slavery in the Illinois Country, 1787-1818”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 5, No. 1, 1998, pp 2-6

Middleton, Stephen
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Slavery in Illinois, anti-slavery movement in Illinois, African American history in Illinois.

People to See: An Anecdotal History of Chicago’s Makers & Breakers

Nash, Jay Robert
New Century 1981

“People to See is an irreverent and revealing portrait of the merchant princes and magnates Marshall Field, William Randolph Hearst, P.K. Wrigley, George Pullman; crime kings Roger Plant, Al Capone, Arnold Rothestein, who fixed the 1919 World Series and “Shoeless Hoe” Jackson who played it that way; Richard J. Daley and the long line of his predecessors who insisted Chicago was not ready for reform; the proud pioneers of journalism and literature, Ben Hecht, Carl Sandburg, Nelson Algren, Saul Bellwo, Gwendolyn Brooks; and the rich heritage of Chicago sports. This is social history dominated by vivid personalities–regal and raffish characters with a talent for making out, moving up, and having their own way.” -Publisher. Chicago (Ill.)

“The Work of Pioneer Women”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 15, No. 2, 2009, pp 23-30

Nordhauser, Ellen More
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Pioneer woman history Illinois, pioneers 1800s Illinois, Illinois historical pioneers.

The Swedish Element in Illinois; Survey of the Past Seven Decades

Olson, Ernst W.
Chicago: Swedish-American Biographical Association 1917

Arranged into four parts, each with numerous chapters, followed by 320 pages of “Life Sketches of Men of Today”, a general index and a biographical index. The parts are:

1. The Pioneer Period; Prior to 1846 2. The Period of Settlement and Foundation 3. The Period of Growth and Establishment 4. The Period of Cultural Progress. Immigration history in Illinois, ethnic history of Illinois, Swedish immigrants in Illinois, Illinois historical pioneers, pioneer woman history Illinois.

“Multicultural Difficulties in Chicago’s Polish Catholic Community: Historical Perspectives”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 6, No. 2, 1999, pp 23-27

Parot, Joseph John
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Immigration history in Illinois, ethnic history of Illinois, immigration history in Chicago, ethnic history of Chicago, Polish immigrants in Chicago.

See our Illinois Native Americans free books & articles

Pioneer Life in Illinois

Perryman, F. M.
Pana, ILL: Kerrs. 1907

An unusual little book of one-page chapters of reminiscences about a wide variety of topics in pioneer life. Pioneers 1800s Illinois, pioneer woman history Illinois, Illinois historical pioneers.

See also: Biographies & Memoirs in Illinois History

Criminal Reminiscences and Detective Sketches

Pinkerton, Allan
NY: Dillingham. 1878

This book is a collection of autobiographical stories of investigations by Allan Pinkerton, a Scottish immigrant who became Chicago’s first detective in 1849. In 1850 he formed a partnership later known as the ‘Pinkerton National Detective Agency’. He developed some investigative techniques such as ‘shadowing’ a suspect and ‘assuming a role’, or undercover work.

This book appeared nine years before the first Sherlock Holmes stories. History of crime in Chicago.

Looking Backward: True Stories from Chicago’s Jewish Past

Roth, Walter
Chicago: Academy Chicago 2002

The narrative follows 6 broad themes:
1. Chicago Jews and the Secular City: Builders, Movers, Shakers;
2. Chicago Jews and Anti-Semitism;
3. Chicago Jews and Zionism;
4. Renowned Visitors;
5. Chicago Jews and the Arts;
6. Chicago Jews on Both Sides of the Law.

The Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock …

Historical Accounts of the Famous Highwaymen and River Pirates who operated in pioneer days upon the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and over the old Natchez Trace

Rothert, Otto A.
Cleveland: Clark. 1924

This volume is about gangs of criminals that operated for decades from the cave located on the Illinois bank of the Ohio River. Some readers may remember a scene from the 1962 movie “How the West was Won”, which was partly shot in the cave. History of crime in Illinois, pioneers 1800s Illinois.

“The Springfield Race Riot of 1908”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 3, No. 2, 1996, pp 22-27

Senechal, Roberta
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

African American history in Illinois.

Black Chicago; The Making of a Negro Ghetto, 1890-1920

Spear, Allan H.
University of Chicago 1967

“Allan Spear explores here the history of a major Negro community during a crucial thirty-year period when a relatively fluid patter of race relations gave way to a rigid system of segregation and discrimination. This is the first historical study of the ghetto made famous by the sociological classics of St. Clair Drake, E. Franklin Frazier, and others—by the novels of Richard Wright, and by countless blues songs. It was this ghetto that Martin Luther King, Jr., chose to focus on when he turned attention to the racial injustices of the North. Spear, by his objective treatment of the results of white racism, gives an effective, timely reminder of the serious urban problems that are the legacy of prejudice.” -Publisher. African American history in Chicago, black migration to Chicago, African American migration to Chicago, great migration Chicago.

See our free books on Illinois economic topics

Chicago: Race, Class, and the Response to the Urban Decline

Squires, Gregory D.
Temple University

“Despite local folklore, Chicago is not always a city that works. No longer the “Hog Butcher for the World,” the Windy City has, in recent decades, pursued economic growth at all costs–to the detriment of many of its citizens. This book describes the social, economic, and political costs of the growth ideology and examines the populist response that promises an alternative Chicago. Tracing the city’s uneven economic development since World War II, the authors demonstrate how unchecked growth in favor of private enterprise has resulted in severe poverty, unemployment, crime, reduced tax revenues and property values, a decline in municipal services, and racial, ethnic, and class divisiveness.” -Publisher. History of urban renewal in Chicago.

A History of the Norwegians of Illinois …

a concise record of the struggles and achievements of the early settlers together with a narrative of what is now being done by the Norwegian-Americans of Illinois in the development of their adopted country. Illustrated. With the valuable collaboration of numerous authors and contributors

Strand, A. E., comp. and ed.
Chicago: Anderson 1905

The first half of the book is a collection of stories from pioneer life and local histories. The second half contains numerous brief histories of Norwegian churches, histories of other societies, 19 biographies, “some memorable events in the history of the Norwegians in Chicago”, and profiles of some companies owned by Norwegians. Pioneers 1800s Illinois, ethnic history of Illinois, immigration history in Illinois, Norwegian immigration in Illinois, Illinois historical pioneers.

History of the Chicago Urban League

Strickland, Arvarh E.
University of Illinois 1966

The first scholarly study of a local racial advancement organization, History of the Chicago Urban League provides a detailed history of the Chicago League from its founding in 1916 through the early years of the civil rights movement in the 1960s and relates the work of this agency to broader developments in Chicago and the nation. Chicago Urban League history, black migration to Chicago, great migration in Chicago, ethnic history of Chicago, civil rights movement Chicago.

“Ferdinand Ernst and the Germany Colony at Vandalia, Illinois”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 4, No. 1, 1997, pp 2-5

Stroble, Paul E.
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Immigration history of Illinois, ethnic history of Illinois, German immigration in Illinois, Ferdinand Ernst of Vandalia, Illinois historical pioneers.

The Martyrdom of Lovejoy; an Account of the Life, Trials, and Perils of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy …

who was killed by a Pro-Slavery Mob at Alton, Ill., on the night of November 7, 1837. By an Eye-Witness

Tanner, Henry
Chicago: Fergus. 1881

“In May 1836, after anti-abolitionist opponents in St. Louis destroyed his printing press for the third time, Lovejoy left the city and moved across the river to Alton in the free state of Illinois. In 1837 he started the Alton Observer, also an abolitionist paper. On November 7, 1837, a pro-slavery mob attacked the warehouse where Lovejoy had his fourth printing press. Lovejoy and his supporters exchanged gunfire with the mob, which fatally shot him. He died on the spot and was soon hailed as a martyr by abolitionists across the country.” – Wikipedia entry for Elijah Parish Lovejoy. Elijah Lovejoy, African American history of Illinois, anti-slavery movement in Illinois, abolitionist movement in Illinois.

A Woman’s Story of Pioneer Illinois

Tillson, Christiana Holmes
Southern Illinois University 1995

Pioneer woman history Illinois, pioneers 1800s Illinois, Illinois historical pioneers.

Illinois Pioneer Days

Waller, Elbert
Litchfield, Ill: Lewis. 1918

An 80-page book describing what life was like for pioneers, in no particular location of Illinois. Light and humorous, but informative. Frontier and pioneer life — Illinois.

Contents:-Where the West Begins -Pioneer Home Life -A Pioneer Church -A Pioneer School -The Pioneer Mother -Going to Mill -A Ranger’s Adventure -“Lasses” -Buck-Skin Breeches -Pioneer Boatmen -Camp Meetings -Witchcraft -Kaskaskia Cursed -Freak Lawsuits of Pioneer Days -Money of the Good Old Days -Settling their Differences -A Trapper’s Predicament -Pioneer Hash -Song of the Pioneers -A Pioneer Vocabulary. Pioneer woman history Illinois, pioneers 1800s Illinois, Illinois historical pioneers

The Roads they Made: Women in Illinois History

Wheeler, Adade Mitchell
C.H. Kerr 1977

Illinois historical pioneers, women in Illinois history, pioneer woman history Illinois.

“Conflict in the Illinois Woman Suffrage Movement of 1913”

Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society Vol 76, No. 2, Summer 1983, pp 95-114

Wheeler, Adade Mitchell
Springfield: Illinois State Historical Society

Women in Illinois history, women’s suffrage movement Illinois.

Woman and Temperance: or, The Work and Workers of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union

Willard, Frances E.
Hartford, CT: Park 1883

“Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women’s suffragist. Willard became the national president of Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in 1879, and remained president until her death in 1898.” -Wikipedia. Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. Temperance 1800s Illinois, temperance 19th century Illinois, women in the temperance movement Illinois.
 

“Bishop Hill, Sweden’s Doorway into Illinois”

Illinois History Teacher Vol 6, No. 2, 1999, pp 2-4

Wyman, Mark
Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Ethnic history of Illinois, immigration history in Illinois, Swedish immigrants in Illinois.

Poles of Chicago, 1837-1937

A history of one century of Polish contribution to the City of Chicago, Illinois

Zglenicki, Leon Thaddeus
Polish Pageant 1937       

A collection of papers by various authors on the history and immigration of Chicago’s Poles.

Contents: The Poles in Chicago – Hundred years of economic contribution of the Poles to Chicago’s progress – The rise of Poles in American politics – Chicago Poles share in city art history – Contribution of Americans of Polish ancestry to the development of music in Chicago – The amateur theatre among the Poles – The Polish stage in Chicago – Polish churches of Chicago and vicinity – Polish contribution to social welfare in Chicago: Institutions maintained by Poles of Chicago, Works of Chicago Poles in other social welfare organizations, Poles on the School Board, Polish secondary schools, Polish language supplementary schools – Polish days and other demonstrations of civic and national character – Early days of sport among Polish Americans of Chicagoland – Polish organizations of Chicago – Thrift among the Poles – Biographies. Ethnic history of Illinois, immigration history in Illinois, ethnic history of Chicago, immigration history of Chicago, Polish immigrants in Chicago.

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