In 1890, Chicago was a mining camp, five stories high. It was owned by the gamblers. What I seem to remember most clearly of that all-night and wide-open time is that the minor courts were controlled by agents of crime. The poor man, unprotected by an alderman, was helpless when the vultures swooped down on him. No wonder we had anarchists.
George Ade (1866-1944)
Single Blessedness and Other Observations (1922)"Looking Back From Fifty"
My thanks to John A.Farrell
Photo credit: "Our Land, Our Literature," Ball State University
Note: In the weeks to come, I'm going to feature more of George Ade. If you have never read any of his essays or stories, this is a good time to start. He is very funny! Did I mention John T. McCutcheon did the illustrations for many of his books? That got your attention, didn't it!
2 comments:
wowww you wrote about dr kenny. she is very well known in Black literary circles. great post indeed. do you know about Ida B. Wells ? also a great chicagoan.
Delighted to here that Dr. Kenny is well-known. The problem was, she wasn't to me and I'm crazy about her books. Also, I asked a couple scholarly friends and they were not familiar with her either. I really wanted to get her name out there. I absolutely know about Ida B. Well! Thanks for stopping!
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