The Jungle

 Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle. 335p. 797 mins. ISBN 978-1-8843-6530-0. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Jurgis Rudkus is Lithuanian. Born in poverty in his country, he meets a beautiful girl named Ona Lukoszaite. Looking to escape their condition and seeking opportunity in the land of plenty, they along with others from their village pool the little money they have and immigrate to the United States. Traveling to Chicago, they quickly find work in the meatpacking industry. 

Packing Town, as the area they settle in is known, is very poor. It is drab, lonely, polluted, and one of the harsher environment they have ever been in. Jurgis is strong and dedicated, so they are convinced they will escape the fate that afflict many around them. They purchase a house, to avoid paying rent. They are confused when the people around them bitterly complain about the bosses who drive them ever further towards exhaustion. Don't they just need to work harder?

Jurgis and the rest of his group do not realize that the deck has been stacked against them. Their house is poorly isolated. The two-mile walk to work in the winter is hell. The factories are either too cold, too hot, or too wet. It is dangerous work where people get hurt or killed all the time. Women are exploited and abused. Jurgis and Ona disenchant very quickly about their new lives, but they have no more money and must continue to work.

Layoffs and accidents take a toll on the family friends. When Jurgis discovers that Ona has been forced to have an extramarital affair with her boss, he goes into a rage and attacks the man. This lands him in jail, and with the absence of their breadwinner, the family loses their house and their investment. Jurgis spirals towards the depth of despair. Ona dies in the childbirth of their 2nd son. Their first son dies in an accident. The group breaks up and goes their own way. 

Jurgis travels away in the summer, but returns to Chicago for the winter. He joins a political machine, and for a while his star rises. But an encounter with the same man who abused his wife Ona once again lands him in jail, and this time it is even harder to rebound. In the depth of despair, Jurgis discovers socialism, and after living through workers' hell for two years, he now understands what is attractive about socialism.

First published in 1905 as a serial then in a heavily censored book, The Jungle nevertheless forced changes at the federal level. Laws were passed to control the quality of food, work conditions, and the more blatant abuses that happened in the slaughter houses. An indictment of crude capitalism, The Jungle remains relevant today for the lessons that it provide about workers' right and economic abuse by the rich.

A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919

Hartfield, Claire. A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919. 2018. 208p. ISBN 9781328699046. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

On a sweltering July 27, 1919, five African-American teens left their Chicago tenements near the Union stockyard, and went to the 26th street beach on Lake Michigan. Racial tensions had been simmering in the city for years, but the United States’ entry in the First World War had triggered a labor shortage at the same time as a high demand for meat for troops, and the companies that ran the stockyard recruited heavily among new immigrant groups, and from African-Americans living in the South. Despite the hard living conditions in Chicago, life for African-Americans was generally better than in the South. The return of troops, however, meant that less jobs were available. Thus, race, class, and immigration issues were all intersecting in 1919, making Chicago a powder keg that a single match could easily ignite.

That match came in the form of Eugene Williams and his friends. The teens played in the warm waters, but they did not notice as their raft slowly drifted towards the White beach on 29th street. Though Chicago was not officially segregated, a division between Whites and Blacks had taken place. White beachgoers noticed the kids on what they considered their beach, and they threw rocks. One of them fatally struck Eugene, who did not know how to swim. His death by drowning triggered anger among African-American beachgoers, and this in turn fueled their resentment against the city and its other inhabitants.

Violence soon ensued, with gangs of immigrants chasing African-Americans, bombings rocking Black neighborhoods, and many people being injured and killed. With the city in full riot, thousand of police officers and state militia intervened, but since they mainly protected White neighborhoods, they only served to fuel the anger. Over the course of a week, 15 Whites and 23 African-American men were killed, while hundreds were injured and much property was destroyed. As the heat dissipated, the rioters’ energy also waned, but the anger would continue and eventually lead to the Civil Rights movement and African-American advocacy.

Fans of history will appreciate the details of this dark page and will enjoy explanations that can directly be related to social conditions today.

The Great Fire

Murphy, Jim. The Great Fire. 1995. 144p. 151 mins. ISBN 9780439203074. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Sunday October 8, 1871 was a day like any other in the great town of Chicago. People had been out enjoying church, spending time with their families, or working in one of the many industries scattered through town. The weather had been extremely hot and dry for this time of year, and no measurable precipitation had fallen in months. With most of the city built of wood, fires were a constant danger and several procedures had been developed over the years to prevent widespread destruction. When a fire erupted in the barn of the O’Leary family in the southern part of Chicago, it spread quickly to adjoining structures, but all witnesses assumed that it would be put out quickly like the fire that had struck the city the previous day.

The alarm was triggered, and firefighters responded. A series of human errors led them to the wrong place, and by the time an effective firefighting force was assembled it was too late. Despite their best efforts, the harsh winds quickly spread fire from house to house, even leaping over the river to the other side. By Monday morning, the extent of the destruction was clear to everyone. Chicago had been ravaged by the fire, which continued to burn. It would take 36 hours to finally control and put of the fire, but by then over 79,000 buildings had been destroyed and more than 100,000 people were homeless. More than 300 people perished.

With the city devastated and winter fast approaching, measures were needed to ensure that food, water, and shelter were available to the residents who had lost everything. A profound economic recession stopped the rebuilding of the city, and by the time the economy improved six years later new fire and construction codes were in place, ensuring that new buildings would be fireproof.

The riveting story of the Great Fire of 1871 will fascinate readers of history as well as those who are interested in catastrophes and disasters. Fans of this book should take a look at Blizzard of Glass, the destruction of Halifax, Canada, during the First World War by what was at the time the largest man-made explosion in history.