Abbott, Grace, (1878-1939), social
worker. She moved into Hull House in 1908, heading
the new Immigrant's Protective League. Later served
as administrator of the first federal child labor
act and headed the Illinois Immigrants Commission
and the Federal Children's Bureau, returning to
Chicago in 1934 to teach at University of Chicago.
Abbott, Robert, C. (1868-1940), founder
and publisher of Chicago Daily Defender.
Addams, Jane, (1860-1935), social
reformer. One of the first generation of women
college graduates, Addams founded Hull House settlement
in 1889 in an immigrant neighborhood in Chicago,
developing working class education and cultural
programs along with political action and social
science research. With her colleagues, Addams
challenged boss rule in local politics, advocated
women's suffrage, and promoted legislation to
abolish child labor, limit hours of working women,
recognize labor unions, and make school attendance
compulsory. Wrote Twenty Years at Hull House
(1910), and after 1915 became a leading anti-war
Anderson, Margaret C. (1886-1973), author.
Editor and publisher of The Little Review,
1914-29, a literary magazine promoting new writing.
Four issues containing excerpts from James Joyce's
Ulysses were seized and burned by post
office as obscene; Anderson was convicted and
fined for obscenity in 1920. She moved to Europe
Anderson, Sherwood (1876-1941), novelist,
short story writer. Abandoned his family and successful
advertising career to move to Chicago and become
a writer. His novels include Marching Men (1917),
exploring the plight of working men in industrial
society, and his best-known work, Winesburg,
Ohio (1919) chronicling the loneliness and
frustration of small-town life.
Armstrong, Louis "Satchmo" (1900-1971),
musician. A trumpet virtuoso and pioneering jazz
singer, he became the most popular jazz figure
ever. He learned to play cornet in a New Orleans
orphanage; played on Mississippi riverboats; joined
King Oliver's band in Chicago in 1922; a series
of small group recordings in the late '20s established
him as the first great jazz instrumental soloist.
Led large orchestras in '30s, with numerous international
tours; returned to small band in '40s; appearances
in Broadway shows, movies and TV made him a national
Armour, J. Ogden (1863-1927) industrialist.
Son of Philip D. Armour (1832-1901), one of the
earliest Chicago meatpackers, he took over Armour
and Co. in 1901, expanding operations by building
packing plants throughout the U.S.
Bellows, George (1882-1925), artist. Born
Columbus, Ohio, studied painting in NYC but never
visited Europe. Uninfluenced by world artistic
trends, he developed a strong, direct style of
realism, and also helped revived artistic lithography
in the U.S.
Breasted, James H. (1865-1935), archeologist.
First teacher of Egyptology in the U.S.; founder
of the Oriental Institute at the University of
Chicago (1919). See...
Brooks, Gwendolyn (1917- ), poet. Born
in Topeka, Kansas, raised in Chicago. First African-American
woman awarded Pulitzer Prize, in 1950, for Annie
Allen, a collection of poetry, she has also
written fiction and autobiography.
Burnham, Daniel (1846-1912), architect,
city planner. In partnership with Daniel Root
built several early Chicago skyscrapers and supervised
planning and construction of World's Columbian
Exposition, 1893. Chaired 1901 commission for
development of Washington, which marked the beginning
of modern city-planning movement. Made city plans
for Cleveland, San Francisco, and Manila, Phillipines.
His Chicago Plan (1909) expanded the system of
parks and boulevards, proposed bi-level roads
downtown, and beautified the city's lakefront.
Capone, Al (1899-1947), gangster, organized
crime figure. Born in Naples, brought up in NYC,
he moved to Chicago in 1920, became a mob lieutenant,
establishing numerous speakeasies; taking control
of territory by eliminating rivals, he controlled
gambling and prostitution in Chicago through the
1920s. Sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax
evasion in 1931, he was released in 1939, physically
and mentally shattered by syphilis.
Carnegie, Andrew (1835-1919), industrialist,
philanthropist. Born in Scotland, emigrated to
U.S. in 1848, worked in cotton mill, as telegrapher,
and as railroad supervisor. Began investing in
iron manufacturing in 1864, acquiring other firms
to create Carnegie Steel Co., which by 1900 was
producing one-fourth of all steel in the U.S.,
controlling iron mines, coke ovens, and railroads.
Banking magnate J. P. Morgan formed U.S. Steel
Corp. in 1901 to buy out Carnegie; he retired
Caruso, Enrico (1873-1921), operatic tenor.
Born in Naples, one of the greatest singers in
the history of opera, a reigning favorite at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York after 1903, also
touring the U.S., Europe, Latin America; phonographic
recordings made possible his unprecedented popularity.
Cohan, George M. (1878-1942), showman.
A child performer in vaudeville, Cohan wrote the
book (script), music and lyrics for 20 musicals,
often also producing and directing, and most often
starring. Best remembered for patriotic songs
such as "You're a Grand Old Flag"
and "Over There."
Comiskey, Charles (1859-1931), see extended
Curtis, Cyrus (1850-1933), publisher. Founded
his first periodical in Boston, 1872; the women's
column of his Philadelphia Tribune became
so popular that in 1883 he turned it into the
Ladies' Home Journal. Founded Curtis Publishing
Co. in 1890, purchased the Saturday Evening
Post in 1897, and later developed a string
Darrow, Clarence (1857-1938),
labor and criminal lawyer. An eloquent and impassioned
speaker, prolific writer, with a wide-ranging
intellect and deeply held radical libertarian
philosophy, Darrow left a corporate law position
to defend Pullman strike leaders in 1895, and
over the next 20 years became nationally prominent
as a labor lawyer. Elected in 1902 to one term
in the state legislature as an independent advocating
public ownership of streetcar lines. Other major
cases included his 1924 defense of Leopold and
Loeb in their sensational murder case, where he
pioneered the use of psychiatric testimony and
argued successfully against the death penalty;
the Scopes trial, his 1925 of a Tennessee teacher
indicted for teaching evolutionary theory; his
defense of Blacks opposing racist violence in
the Sweet trial of 1925-26.
De Valera, Eamon (1882-1975), Irish statesman.
Born NYC, moved to Ireland at age 3, became a
professor of mathematics. Military leader in 1916
Easter rebellion of Irish nationalists against
English colonial status, imprisoned 1917-19, elected
to parliament and as leader of Sinn Fein independence
party. Rearrested 1918, he escaped the next year,
traveling in disguise to U.S. where he raised
funds and promoted Irish independence. Leading
advocate of complete Irish independence and unity,
he served as Prime Minister of Irish Republic
off and on between 1932 and 1959, and as President
of Ireland from 1959 to 1973.
Debs, Eugene V. (1855-1926), labor and
political leader. The leading socialist figure
in U.S. history, Debs became active in unions
as a railroad worker in his teens, becoming National
Secretary of the Brotherhood of Locomotion Firemen
in 1880; elected to Indiana State Legislature
as a Democrat in 1884; in 1893 he launched an
industrial union, the American Railway Union,
a pioneering effort to include all workers in
a single industry in one union, rather than breaking
them up by crafts. ARU carried out a massive national
strike on behalf of Pullman workers in 1894, but
this unsuccessful campaign severely weakened the
union. Debs served 6 months in prison for violating
court injunction against Pullman strike; readings
while in prison led him to adopt socialism. He
helped form the Social Democratic Party in 1898
(renamed Socialist Party in 1901), and was its
presidential candidate in 1900, 1904, 1908, 1912.
Imprisoned in 1919 for opposing World War I as
an imperialist conflict, Debs while in prison
received almost 1 million votes in 1920 presidential
election. Released 1921 by order of President
Harding, his health was broken and his movement
largely destroyed by post-World War I repression.
Dempster, Arthur J. (1886-1950), physicist.
Built first mass spectograph, an instrument which
separates molecules. Joined University of Chicago
faculty in 1919. During World War II participated
in Manhattan Project for developing atom bomb.
DePriest, Oscar (1871-1951), politician.
Born in Alabama, he settled in Chicago in the
1890s, working as a house painter and entering
politics as a Republican in the 1900s. Elected
to the Cook County Board of Commissioners, he
later became the first Black alderman in Chicago
(1915-1919), and the first Black from a northern
state in Congress (1928-34). In the City Council
he unsuccessfully proposed a civil rights ordinance;
in Congress, a national anti-lynching law.
Dickson, Leonard E. (1874-1954), mathematician.
Received the first PhD awarded by the University
of Chicago in mathematics in 1896; taught at U.
of C. starting 1900. He conducted significant
research in many areas of mathematics, making
his mark during a period of great advances in
DuBois, W. E. B. (1868-1963), scholar,
activist. Considered by many the foremost African-American
intellectual of the 20th Century. A pioneer in
the field of sociology; also a founder and later
officer of the National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People (NAACP), organized to counter
the "accomodationist" teaching of Booker T. Washington,
and organizer of five international Pan-African
Congresses from 1919 to 1945. Indicted as a Soviet
agent in 1951, for chairing the Peace Information
Center; later acquitted. In 1961 he joined the
Communist Party and took citizenship in newly-independent
Ghana. His major books include The Souls of
Black Folk (1903) and Black Reconstruction
Dunne, Finley Peter (1867-1936), journalist.
Born in an Irish neighborhood on the Near West
Side of Chicago, Dunne worked as copy boy, police
reporter, sports writer, and political reporter
before starting a weekly satirical column in 1893
featuring Mr. Dooley, a fictitious bartender speaking
in Irish dialect on a range of social topics.
Nationally syndicated in 1900, Dunne was the most
famous columnist in the country by World War I.
Ferber, Edna (1887-1968),
author of novels and plays which vividly depict
the colorful, diverse panorama of life in America
including Chicago. Among them, she received a
Pulitzer Prize for So Big in 1924, and
wrote Show Boat in 1926.
Fitzpatrick, John (1870-1946), labor leader.
Born in Ireland, orphaned at age 10, came to Chicago
two years later and began working in the stockyards,
joining Horseshoers Union in 1886. Served in various
union offices, and as union delegate helped form
Chicago Federation of Labor in 1896, serving as
CFL president from 1899-1901 and 1905 to his death.
His aggressive leadership -- particularly in organizing
mass production workers, in promoting racial unity
in the labor movement, and in initiating independent
political action for the labor movement -- made
him unique as a local labor council leader with
a national profile. Chaired the Stockyards Labor
Council in 1917 and National Committee for Organizing
Iron and Steel Workers, 1918-1919, the two early
highpoints of efforts to organize unskilled workers.
In 1918 began effort to start a labor party in
Chicago, running for mayor the next year and for
U.S. Senate in 1920 on a Farmer-Labor Party ticket.
Ford, Henry (1863-1947), auto manufacturer.
Ford built his first automobile in 1892, founded
the Ford Motor Co. in 1903, and soon became the
largest auto producer in the world, exploiting
the efficiencies of the assembly line to make
an inexpensive, standardized car (the Model T
sold 15 million between 1908 and 1928). The leading
proponent of the gospel of mass production, Ford
was also a staunch isolationist (who made millions
from military production in two world wars), a
brutal opponent of trade unionism (Ford remained
nonunion until 1941), and an anti-Semite.
Foster, William Z., (1881-1961), labor
organizer, Communist Party leader. Began working
at age 10, and for 26 years traveled from job
to job, in steel, printing, lumber, sailing, agriculture,
mines, and Chicago railyards, moving also through
several radical groups. Initiated Chicago Federation
of Labor drive to organize meatpackers in 1917,
served as Secretary of the Stockyards Labor Council;
campaign won 8-hour day and other benefits. In
1918 began steelworker organizing drive, with
100,000 members within one year, but strike was
broken. Joined American Communist Party in 1921,
and by late '20s was its best-known public figure.
CP presidential candidate in 1924, 1928, and 1932,
winning 102,000 votes that year. Communist Party
leader until retirement in 1957.
Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (1869-1948), Indian leader.
Born in India when it was a colony of England, he trained in England
as a lawyer, went to South Africa in 1893 where he led successful
campaigns fighting discrimination against Indians there. He returned
to India in 1915, and became a leader of the independence movement,
advocating a free, united India, opposing the caste system; and
teaching a philosophy of nonviolent resistance to injustice. A
leading figure in the Indian National Congress in the 1920s, he
was imprisoned 1930-31 following his civil disobedience drive
against the salt tax. A major figure in post-war negotiations
which led to Indian independence, he worked in his last years
against religious intolerance, and was assassinated by a Hindu
religious fanatic angered by his plea for peace with Muslims.
Garvey, Marcus (1887-1940), black nationalist
leader. After founding the Universal Negro Improvement
Association in his native Jamaica in 1914, he
moved to New York in 1916 and built the organization
into the largest African American civic group
of its day, with up to one million members. The
Black Star Shipping Line founded in 1919 was part
of a program of Black economic independence. Targeted
as dangerous by the FBI, Garvey was indicted for
mail fraud in 1923, imprisoned in 1925, and deported
to Jamaica in 1927.
Gary, Elbert H. (1846-1927), corporation
lawyer, financier. Born outside Chicago, moved
to New York City in 1898 as president of Federal
Steel Company. Installed as Chairman of the Board
of U.S. Steel Corp. by founder J. P. Morgan in
1903, when U.S. Steel was the largest corporate
enterprise in the world. Gary, Ind., is named
Goldman, Emma (1869-1940), Russianborn
American revolutionary who believed in a "perfect,
unrestrained freedom for everyone." With a close
friend Alexander Berkman, she published an anarchist
magazine Mother Earth from 1906-1917. Emma
Goldman was a political activist who struggled
for the rights of women and working people. Often
called "the most dangerous woman in America",
she was deported in 1919. She wrote her autobiography,
titled Living My Life in 1931.
Gompers, Samuel (1850-1924), American labor
leader who helped build the foundations of the
American labor movement. He was the first president
of the American Federation of Labor in 1886. Except
for one term in 1895, he was the AFL president
until his death on December 13, 1924.
Hale, George Ellery (1868-1938),
astronomer. Taught at University of Chicago, 1892-1904,
where he built the Yerkes observatory. Later built
Mount Wilson observatory, Pasadena. Discovered
magnetic fields in sun spots.
Hecht, Ben (1894-1964), writer. Born in
NYC, grew up in Wisconsin, began working for Chicago
newspapers in his teens, became involved in Chicago
literary movement, founded the Chicago Literary
Times in 1923. He wrote novels, stories, plays,
and films, of which his irreverent drama of newspaper
life, The Front Page (1924, co-written
with Charles MacArthur) is best known.
Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969), Vietnamese political
leader. Left his country (then a colony of France)
in 1911 as cabin boy on a French ship; settled
in Paris after World War I, working for Indochinese
independence. A founding member of French Communist
Party in 1920, he founded the Indochinese Communist
Party in the '20s and established a resistance
movement to fight Japanese occupiers during World
War II. Declared independent republic of Vietnam
in 1945, but had to fight French effort to reoccupy
its colony till 1954, when he became first president
of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).
U.S. and South Vietnam refused to hold election
for reunification in 1956, believing Ho Chi Minh
would win. Led nation in war against U.S. invasion,
1965 till death.
Hoover, Herbert (1874-1969), 31st U.S.
President. Mining engineer, 1895-1913; administered
U.S. war relief programs in Europe, 1914-1921;
U.S. Secretary of Commerce, 1921-28; President,
Hoover, J. Edgar (1895-1972), Appointed
to head General Intelligence Division of Justice
Department in 1919, he directed the monitoring
of radicals and the execution of Attorney General
Palmer's deportation raids. In 1924 he became
Director of the Bureau (later the Federal Bureau)
of Investigation, a post he held until his death.
Jenny, William Le Baron (1832-1907), architect
who pioneered metal-framework construction in
1884, earning him a reputation as "father of the
Johnson, James Weldon (1871-1938), writer,
civil rights leader. His novel, Autobiography
of an Ex-Colored Man (1912) and poetry collection,
God's Trombones (1927), are considered
classics. With his brother he wrote the Negro
National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing.
He began working for the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People as southern
organizer in 1916, and served as field secretary
from 1920 to 1931, investigating lynchings, peonage,
and race riots.
Johnson, Charles S. (1893-1956), scholar.
While a student of sociology at University of
Chicago, 1916-1918, served as director of research
and records for the Chicago Urban League. In 1919
became executive director of the Chicago Council
on Race Relations, and in 1921, director of research
for the National Urban League. Chairman of Social
Science at Fisk University starting in 1928, he
became the first African American president of
Fisk in 1946.
Kelley, Florence (1859-1932), social worker.
Associated with Hull House 1891-99, her investigations
of sweatshop conditions led to the first child
labor law in Illinois. Reform Gov. J.P. Altgeld
appointed Kelley chief factory inspector of Illinois
(1893-97). She left Chicago in 1899 to become
executive secretary of the National Consumers
League, a post she held until her death. There
she lobbied for protective legislation for women
and children, and initiated the drive for a minimum
Lowden, Frank (1861-1943),
politician. Member U.S. House of Representatives,
1906-11; governor of Illinois, 1917-21, noted
for his reorganization of state government. Unsuccessful
candidate for Republican nomination for president,
Marconi, Guglielmo (1847-1937), inventor
or radiotelegraphy. After working on new radio
technology for years, in 1901 Marconi succeeded
in transmitting radio signals across the Atlantic
ocean, the grounding-breaking event which signaled
the new era of radio and television broadcasting.
In later years developed short wave radio.
McDowell, Mary E. (1854-1936), social worker.
Director and head resident of the University of
Chicago Settlement house at 47th and Ashland in
the Back of the Yards neighborhood from 1894 till
1929 (when she retired at age 75). Known as the
"Angel of the Stockyards" she campaigned for sanitation,
supported organized labor, and promoted racial
Monroe, Harriet (1860-1936), poet, editor.
Born in Chicago, she founded the magazine Poetry
in 1912, introducing new poets including Carl
Sandburg and Robert Frost. Wrote several volumes
of poetry, ,essays, an autobiography (A Poet's
Life, 1938) and an anthology (The New Poetry,
Nestor, Agnes (1880-1948), labor leader.
She began working in a Chicago glove factory as
a teenager; at age 22 led a successful 10-day
strike in her factory, and became president of
Local 2 of the International Glove Workers Union.
Working with Women's Trade Union League, she won
state legislation (over bitter opposition from
manufacturers) for a 10-day workday for women.
Secretary-treasurer of ILGWU, 1906-1913, and president
after 1915, she remained a prominent labor leader,
publishing her autobiography in 1948.
Oliver, Joseph "King" (1885-1938), musician.
Began playing trumpet in brass bands in 1904 in
New Orleans, moved to Chicago in 1918, where he
led the Creole Jazz Band, 1920-23, the greatest
exponent of New Orleans or "Dixieland" jazz.
Palmer, A. Mitchell (1872-1936), lawyer.
Democrat elected to Congress (1909-15); U.S. Attorney
General, 1919-21, best known for the "Palmer Raids,"
raids by federal officers on the private homes
of radicals, and the deportation of hundreds of
immigrants solely due to their political beliefs.
His attempt to capitalize on this activity to
promote his candidacy for President in 1920 backfired
as the abuses of federal agents were denounced.
Randolph, A. Phillip (1889-1979),
labor and civil rights leader. After working as
a magazine editor and union organizer in New York,
became general organizer, later president, of
the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925,
leading them through a protracted campaign until
a contract with the railroads was won in 1937.
As the leading Black figure in the labor movement,
his call for a March on Washington in 1941 won
a presidential executive order banning racial
discrimination in defense industries. In 1963
he originated the call for the March on Washington
which 200,000 attended, where Martin Luther King,
Jr. gave his speech, "I Have a Dream."
Riis, Jacob (1849-1914), journalist, reformer.
Born in Denmark, emigrated to New York City in
1870, became newspaper writer. His writings, particularly
his book, How the Other Half Lives (1890),
vividly depicted the poverty of tenement communities
and led to major reforms in housing.
Ruth, George Herman "Babe" (1895-1948),
athlete. Considered the greatest of all baseball
players. Pitched for Boston Red Sox 1914-19, amassing
one of the best pitching records in major league
baseball; he moved to outfield so his hitting
prowess could be better exploited. Joined New
York Yankees in 1920, established numerous home
run records, led Yankees to seven pennants; highest
paid athlete of his era.
Sandburg, Carl (1878-1967), poet. Born
in Illinois, served in Army in Spanish-American
War, served as Socialist Party organizer in Wisconsin,
1907-1912, wrote for Chicago newspapers, published
Chicago Poems in 1916 and The People,
Yes! in 1936. His poetry was noted for finding
beauty and dignity in the lives of common people.
Collected and performed folk songs, wrote a 6-volume
biography of Abraham Lincoln (1926-39). Probably
the most popular poet of his time.
Sinclair, Upton (1878-1968), novelist,
political activist. Wrote more than 80 books,
including novels, social and economic studies.
Joining the Socialist Party in 1902, he was a
Socialist Party candidate for Congress in New
Jersey, 1906, and in '20s and '30s, for Senate
and Governor in California. In 1905 spent 7 weeks
living in Chicago to research lives of packinghouse
workers and unsanitary conditions in meatpacking
industry. His resulting novel, The Jungle
(1906), an immediate best-seller, had wide impact,
leading to passage of the Pure Food Act, and converting
countless readers to socialism.
Steffens, Lincoln (1866-1936), journalist,
reformer. A leading "muckraker" of the Gilded
Age, his articles exposed corruption in big-city
Sullivan, Louis H. (1856-1924), architect.
Became prominent in partnership with Dankmar Adler,
building the Auditorium Theatre and Carson, Pirie
Scott, among other buildings. His modernist injunction
that "form follows function" was combined with
a rich style of ornamentation. His practice foundered
after his split with Adler in 1895, but the strong
vision expressed in his designs and his later
writings survived, and he is considered the founder
of the "Chicago School" of architecture.
Swift, Gustavus (1873-1903), founded Swift
& Co., 1870s, saving freight costs by slaughtering
cattle in Chicago and shipping dressed beef rather
than live cattle. He pioneered use of railroad
refrigerator cars and the use of animal by-products
Tarbell, Ida (1857-1944), journalist. Editor
of major "muckraking" magazines: McClure's
(1894-1906) and American magazine (1906-15);
author of numerous books on social and economic
Taylor, Frederick W. (1865-1915), pioneered
the principles of "scientific management", or
the time and motion study in business and industry.
Educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and then at
Harvard Law. However, he had to give up his law
career due to his poor eyesight. He was then apprenticed
as a pattern maker, machinist and an engineer.
He had over 100 patents for industrial machinery
parts at the time of his death.
Thompson, William Hale (1867-1944), Mayor
of Chicago 1915-1923 and 1927-31, a charismatic
and flamboyant politician with broad appeal, noted
for his close relation with gangsters (he promised
to open 10,000 saloons -- in violation of Prohibition
-- in his 1927 campaign), for his major public
works programs, and for his isolationism and opposition
to World War I. Though he openly courted Black
votes, his slowness in calling state troops allowed
1919 race riot to explode. Defeated in 1931 and
under attack for his criminal connections, he
continued unsuccessful political campaigns through
the next decade.
Ward, A. Montgomery (1843-1913),
mail order merchant, began selling dry goods by
mail in Chicago in 1872; by 1876 annual sales
were $40 million, and in 1890 the companies store
at Michigan and Madison was opened. Fought in
court to preserve Chicago lakefront from commercial
Washington, Booker T. (1856-1915), educator.
Founded Tuskegee Institute in Alabama in 1881,
an industrial and teacher training school for
African Americans, he also developed a national
political network supporting his teaching of racial
uplift through hard work rather than protest,
and became an adviser to Presidents Theodore Roosevelt
and William Taft. His autobiography, Up From
Slavery, was published in 1901.
Wells, Ida B. (1862-1931), journalist,
civil rights activist. Born in Mississippi, she
began teaching there at age 14, moving later to
teach in Memphis, where she was dismissed after
criticizing segregation in the schools in 1891.
In 1884 she was forcibly removed from a railroad
after refusing to move to smoking car; suing the
railroad, she won a settlement of $500. As publisher
of the Memphis Free Speech, she began an
anti-lynching campaign in 1892, moving to New
York City after her newspaper office was burned
down, and lecturing across the country and in
Great Britain against racism and lynchings. She
settled in Chicago in 1894, where she married
a local lawyer who published The Conservator,
the city's first African-American newspaper, to
which she contributed, continuing her anti-lynching
work. In 1910 she founded the Negro Fellowship
League, a social welfare agency for immigrants
from the South. A strong proponent of integration,
she criticized both Booker Washington and the
NAACP as too moderate.
Williams, Daniel Hale (1858-1931), physician.
Founder of Provident Hospital; first surgeon to
conduct open-heart surgery. See...
Wilson, Woodrow (1856-1924), 28th U.S.
President, 1912-20. A political scientist, Wilson
became president of Princeton University in 1902
and Governor of New Jersey in 1910, supporting
reform legislation. Elected President as Democratic
candidate in 1912, his administration saw passage
of anti-trust, child labor, and workers' compensation
laws. Led U.S. in World War I but was unable to
win Senate passage of his proposal for a League
of Nations in war's aftermath.
Wright, Frank Lloyd (1867-1959), architect.
After apprenticing with Sullivan and Adler, Wright
opened his own practice in Oak Park in 1893, developing
a distinctive "Prairie" style of design emphasizing
natural colors and textures.
Wright, Richard (1908-60), writer. Born
in Mississippi, he moved to Chicago in the 1930s,
writing for federal arts projects and becoming
involved for a time with the Communist Party.
In Chicago he wrote his collection of stories,
Uncle Tom's Children (1938) and his greatest
novel, Native Son (1940). Moved to Europe
after World War II and continued writing.