50 Color Vintage Snapshots Document Everyday Life of Chicago in the 1950s

In society it is quite easy for majority to rule over a minority, the majority rules as they say. In Chicago it was much like this, the whites didn't exactly rule over the blacks but they definitely used their higher numbers to their advantage. The black people were oppressed and denied some of the same things as the whites. Whites received better education, transportation, establishments, jobs with higher pay, and homes. They were free from the chains of slavery but they were still being treated as if they were second rate.

In A raisin in the Sun this discrimination and unfair treatment caused the family many troubles throughout the story. Things back then were separate, which was how most everyone thought it should remain. So when the family in this story attempted to move into a white neighborhood it caused an uproar. During the 1950s blacks often paid higher monthly house payment rates. To make things worse the higher black population a certain area had the lower its grade was. So even if a black family had managed to buy a nice house in a nice area, they would decrease the value of just by being black.

Although being black and finding a job in the 1950s wasn't as much of a hassle as lets say if it was back in the 1920's, it still was a matter of concern for the average African American. On average a black person was paid less than a white person for the same job, at which they had to work harder to attain in the first place. Even then the jobs they were given

Here's what everyday life in Chicago during the 1950s looked like.

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Everyday Life of the African-American Community in Chicago in the early 1970s through John H. White's Lens

These 75 amazing color photos show the spirit and struggle of African-American people in Chicago in the early 1970s. They were all taken by American photojournalist John H. White.

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Back of the "Fountain of Time" in Washington Park, Chicago, ca. 1920s

Back of the Fountain of Time in Chicago’s Washington Park from the 1920s. Not a good angle for that statue!

(Image: unexpectedtales)

Fountain of Time, or simply Time, is a sculpture by Lorado Taft, measuring 126 feet 10 inches (38.66 m) in length, situated at the western edge of the Midway Plaisance within Washington Park in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. This location is in the Washington Park community area on Chicago’s South Side.

Inspired by Henry Austin Dobson’s poem “Paradox of Time”, and with its 100 figures passing before Father Time, the work was created as a monument to the first 100 years of peace between the United States and the United Kingdom, resulting from the Treaty of Ghent in 1814. Although the fountain’s water began running in 1920, the sculpture was not dedicated to the city until 1922. The sculpture is a contributing structure to the Washington Park United States Registered Historic District, which is a National Register of Historic Places listing.

View from the east.

Father Time stands at the eastern edge of the fountain.

Part of a larger beautification plan for the Midway Plaisance, Time was constructed from a new type of molded, steel-reinforced concrete that was claimed to be more durable and cheaper than alternatives. It was said to be the first of any kind of finished work of art made of concrete. Before the completion of Millennium Park in 2004, it was considered the most important installation in the Chicago Park District. Time is one of several Chicago works of art funded by Benjamin Ferguson’s trust fund.

Time has undergone several restorations because of deterioration and decline caused by natural and urban elements. During the late 1990s and the first few years of the 21st century it underwent repairs that corrected many of the problems caused by these earlier restorations. Although extensive renovation of the sculpture was completed as recently as 2005, the supporters of Time continue to seek resources for additional lighting, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation has nominated it for further funding.

43 Amazing Color Photos of Railway in Chicago in the 1940s

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20 Wonderful Color Photos of Chicago Women in Swimsuits in the 1940s

Wartime production during World War II required vast amounts of cotton, silk, nylon, wool, leather, and rubber. In 1942, the United States War Production Board issued Regulation L-85, cutting the use of natural fibers in clothing and mandating a 10% reduction in the amount of fabric in women's beachwear.

1940s bathing suits, like many other clothing items, was also losing its modesty. The '40s was the era when the midriff was born, and it was shown in swimsuits as well as playsuits. 1940s swimsuits were tight, unlike the suits of previous eras.

One-piece swimsuits were still popular, but the new two-piece suit had plenty of fans too. The materials used to make swimsuits today were not invented yet, so suits were made from rayon jersey and rayon jersey blends with knit cotton linings. Many suits had accent panels of a velvet like rayon velour. Some also featured ruching on the front or side panels that were both pretty and figure flattering.

These wonderful color images of 1940s swimwear really evoke the glamour of that period.

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40 Color Photographs Capture Everyday Life of Chicago's African-American Residents in the Early 1970s

From June through October 1973 and briefly during the spring of 1974, John H. White, a 28-year-old photographer with the Chicago Daily News, worked for the federal government photographing Chicago, especially the city`s African American community. White took his photographs for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) DOCUMERICA project.

As White reflected recently, he saw his assignment as "an opportunity to capture a slice of life, to capture history." His photographs portray the difficult circumstances faced by many of Chicago's African American residents in the early 1970s, but they also catch the "spirit, love, zeal, pride, and hopes of the community."

John White has won hundreds of awards, and his work has been exhibited and published widely. In 1982 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.

Beauties with colorful hair grace a float during the annual Bud Billiken Day Parade along Dr. Martin l. King Jr. drive in Chicago’s South Side.

A senior citizens’ march to protest inflation, unemployment and high taxes.

People take to the water at a 12th Street Beach in Lake Michigan in Chicago’s South Side in the summer of 1973.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks on a radio broadcast from the headquarters of Operation Push, at its annual convention.

A young man showing his muscle during a small community program in Chicago in the South Side.

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Oak Lawn's Desolation After the Tornado Outbreak in 1967 Through Color Vintage Pictures

The 1967 Oak Lawn tornado outbreak was a destructive tornado outbreak and severe weather event that occurred on April 21, 1967, across the Upper Midwestern United States, in particular the Chicago area including the towns of Belvidere and Oak Lawn, Illinois. It was the most notable tornado outbreak of 1967 and one of the most notable to occur in the Chicago area.

41 amazing vintage pictures were found by Roberto41144 below that may show a part of this terrible destruction.

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Vintage Photographs of South Water Street, Chicago From the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

In its early years, the South Water Street Market flourished along the south bank of the South Branch of the Chicago River on what is now mostly West Wacker Drive. Jammed all day long with oxcarts, wagons and horse-drawn carriages and weather-beaten men with rough hands and stained aprons and filled with the din of a cryptic language that few outsiders understood, the area, about 8 to 10 blocks long, was a focal point of the city`s commercial life. “The street is about half a mile in length and is at all hours a most interesting and picturesque pandemonium,” noted one contemporary observer.

South Water Strett, Chicago, Ill. "The busiest street in the world", 1899

Water Street Market was a lively wholesale produce row along the Chicago River’s south waterfront. It grew up with the city and thrived – until city planners decided that its congestion and odors no longer belonged in the central business district.

Water Street Market ran parallel to the river, with buildings that backed up onto the water. Notice the booking office for the South Haven Line – the company that owned the ill-fated steamship Eastland.

Motorized trucks and horse-drawn carts coexisted at Water Street Market.

In this colorized image taken circa 1910, a Chicago police officer directs traffic – human, automobile, and equestrian – at a busy South Water Street intersection.

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Unseen Vintage Chicago Crime Photos From Between the 1900s and 1950s

Created from the Chicago Tribune's vast archives, Gangsters & Grifters is a collection of photographs featuring infamous criminals, small-time bandits, smirking crooks, pickpockets, hoodlums, and wise guys at shocking crime scenes.

These vintage glass-plate and acetate negatives were taken in the early 1900s through the 1950s, and have been largely unseen for generations. That is because most have never been published, only having been witnessed by the photographers and police in the mere moments after an arrest, crime, or even murder.

John Dillinger, center, handcuffed to Deputy Sheriff R.M. Pierce during Dillinger's murder trial hearing in Crown Point, Indiana. Though his trial was scheduled for March 12, 1934, Dillinger would escape from the Crown Point prison on March 3.

An undated photo shows Al Capone, center, in a Chicago courtroom.

Defense attorney Clarence Darrow argues for life sentences for Richard Loeb, 18, and Nathan Leopold Jr., 19, on trial for the murder of 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks. In hopes of avoiding the death penalty, Darrow pleaded both defendants guilty.

Coroner Herman N. Bundsesn, right, and Lt. Col. C.H. Goddard, look at machine guns allegedly used in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, in which seven men with supposed ties to organized crime were gunned down in a Chicago garage.

Lts. Frank Ballou and Samuel Peterson test out a new metal bulletproof shield. The shield's inventor, Elliot Wisbrod, is the man holding it.

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32 Amazing Vintage Photographs of Roller Derby Skaters in Chicago From Between the 1930s and 1960s

The term “roller derby” dates back to the 1920s and originally described roller skate races with both men and women competing.

In the mid 1930s, Chicago sports promoter Leo Seltzer created a touring competition, the Transcontinental Roller Derby, which began to evolve from simply racing to a more physical competition emphasizing skater collisions and falls. Seltzer’s creation became the foundation of the sport we know today.

Roller derby skaters, from left, Louise Thomas, Elizabeth “Libby” Hoover, Pudge Dyer, Jayne Cummings and Mildred Arndt, are started by Harry Newman on Jan. 4, 1936.

A referee goes in to break up a skirmish during a Coliseum match in 1941 between Virginia Balzer, left, of the Chicago team, and Virginia Ogden, of the California team. According to the Tribune, “the referee revealed the loss of some hair and a few loose teeth.”

Roller Derby participant Harriette “Babe” Topel at the Coliseum in 1953.

Though the women of roller derby were more popular with fans, men were very much a part of the sport. Here, Bill Bogash, left, and Bob Satterfield, step over a fallen skater during a Coliseum match in October 1940. Bogash was the leader of the Chicago team and Satterfield, a New Yorker, would go on to coach the Chicago roller derby team and marry one of its’ players, Betty Boyd. Betty and Bob had a daughter, Donna, who traveled with the team.

Mary Lou Palermo, from top, Gerry Murray, and Katy King, shown here on May 27, 1948, represented Chicago at the roller derby tournament which opened on June 10, 1948, at the Coliseum in Chicago.

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