Chicago in the 1890's
The World's Columbian Exposition showed the world -- and the rest of the United States -- the best of Chicago. But outside the gates of the White City, many of Chicago's inhabitants lived a much darker existence.
Much of Chicago's industry centered on its great stockyards and meat-processing plants. The smoke, stench, and filth surrounding the packing operations drove many of the well-off to the cleaner suburbs, while those who labored in the yards continued to live nearby.
Many sections of the city not directly affected by the stockyards were also dirty, smelly, and unsafe. Garbage was dumped in the streets, and corpses of animals were left to rot. The water supply was notoriously unhealthy; hundreds of people, particularly children, died of cholera and other preventable diseases every year. (The fair organizers were so afraid of a cholera outbreak among fair visitors that they built a pipeline to bring in clean water from Waukesha, Wisconsin, more than 100 miles north.) The city was characterized by overcrowded schools, hundreds of brothels, filth, and rampant crime. English politician John Burns, who visited Chicago in 1895, called Chicago a "pocket edition of hell." Later he added, "On second thoughts I think hell is a pocket edition of Chicago."
Thousands of immigrants lived in crowded tenement buildings and worked long hours, six days a week; the average wage for a meat-packer was less than 20 cents an hour, and many laborers made far less. Many of these poor probably didn't see the White City except from a distance. Although the fair's organizers were pressed to provide a "Waif's Day," on which poor children would be admitted free of charge, they refused.
The United States as a whole was struggling during the year of the fair. The Panic of 1893 was a serious depression that bankrupted railroads and triggered runs on banks. Even the wealthy struggled, and many middle-class families who might have traveled to the fair stayed home, and the poor were even less likely to to experience the wonders of the exposition.
Lesson Plan
Much of Chicago's industry centered on its great stockyards and meat-processing plants. The smoke, stench, and filth surrounding the packing operations drove many of the well-off to the cleaner suburbs, while those who labored in the yards continued to live nearby.
Many sections of the city not directly affected by the stockyards were also dirty, smelly, and unsafe. Garbage was dumped in the streets, and corpses of animals were left to rot. The water supply was notoriously unhealthy; hundreds of people, particularly children, died of cholera and other preventable diseases every year. (The fair organizers were so afraid of a cholera outbreak among fair visitors that they built a pipeline to bring in clean water from Waukesha, Wisconsin, more than 100 miles north.) The city was characterized by overcrowded schools, hundreds of brothels, filth, and rampant crime. English politician John Burns, who visited Chicago in 1895, called Chicago a "pocket edition of hell." Later he added, "On second thoughts I think hell is a pocket edition of Chicago."
Thousands of immigrants lived in crowded tenement buildings and worked long hours, six days a week; the average wage for a meat-packer was less than 20 cents an hour, and many laborers made far less. Many of these poor probably didn't see the White City except from a distance. Although the fair's organizers were pressed to provide a "Waif's Day," on which poor children would be admitted free of charge, they refused.
The United States as a whole was struggling during the year of the fair. The Panic of 1893 was a serious depression that bankrupted railroads and triggered runs on banks. Even the wealthy struggled, and many middle-class families who might have traveled to the fair stayed home, and the poor were even less likely to to experience the wonders of the exposition.
Lesson Plan
- Have students analyze photos of Polish tenement buildings and children playing next to a dead horse using the Photo Analysis Worksheet. Discuss the questions that arise, and how to find answers.
- Ask students to read the page on infant mortality from the Annual Health Report in 1894. Why would deaths rise in the summer months? (Some bacteria, such as cholera, tend to be more prevalent in warm temperatures.) Could the photographs they analyzed relate to the death rate? (Overcrowding, poor sanitation.) Explain that infant mortality in the U.S. in 2006 was 6.7 deaths per 1,000. How does that compare to the 1894 Chicago rate of 14 deaths per 100?
- Chicago's Near West Side neighborhood housed many recent immigrants. Give students the Hull House Map of Nationalities and the Map of Wages in this area and ask them to analyze them using the Map Analysis Worksheet. Explain that the maps were drawn by Hull House settlement workers (more information on Hull House is available at http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/615.html). Have students locate this neighborhood and the site of the fair (Jackson Park) on the Chicago city map; how far would residents of the Near West Side have to travel to get to the fair? How can students find out what modes of transportation were available, and how much they would cost?
- Show students the photograph of workers in the meat-processing plant. Ask them to give one of the men a name, and concoct a life for him. Is he married? How many children does he have? Using the Hull House nationality and wage maps, give him a nationality and a weekly wage. (Explain that he likely worked 10 hours a day, every day but Sunday, and that the average daily wage was about $1.52.) Using the price table, have students calculate how much he would spend to take his family to the fair. What percentage of his family's income would it take? Can they afford it? What day would they go, and how would they get there?
- Explain that while most poor children in Chicago probably weren't able to visit the fair, some did. Show students photos of the fair (Bird's-eye map, the Court of Honor, the lagoon at night -- mention that many people had not encountered electric light-- the working man's model house, a Waukesha water pavilion -- why was it necessary? -- the Ferris Wheel, exhibits, and exotic people) and imagine an immigrant child seeing these things in 1893. Have students write an interview, in which they ask the child what she saw at the fair, and what she thought of it.