10. The Great Depression, World War II, and Suburban Growth, 1929–1955

Abstract

This chapter discusses how Chicago's Century of Progress International Exposition drew to a triumphant close in late 1934. It explains how the world's fair used the occasion of Chicago's hundredth birthday to celebrate scientific progress. The chapter describes the years between 1929 and 1955, in which Chicago was first rocked by the Great Depression and highlights the economic prosperity during World War II and the postwar years. It speaks of the famous Chicago political machine, which was born in the early 1930s that both flowered and faltered during the next twenty years. It also looks into issues that plagued Chicago in the 1940s, such as the de facto racial segregation and the controversy over housing for the growing African American population.