86-631: The Metropolitan Library System (MLS) was an association of academic, public, school, and special libraries in Chicago and its suburbs in Cook , DuPage and Will counties. On July 1, 2011, Metropolitan Library System merged with Alliance Library System, DuPage Library System, North Suburban Library System, and Prairie Area Library System to form the Reaching Across Illinois Library System . Sarah Ann Long, director of
172-806: A TV show series. From the mid 1960s to the present day the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians has nurtured "Great Black Music: Ancient to the Future". Chicago's jazz scene includes the annual Chicago Jazz Festival which has its origins in the 1970s. Festival performers have included Miles Davis , Sonny Rollins , Ornette Coleman , Benny Carter , Ella Fitzgerald , Anthony Braxton , Betty Carter , Lionel Hampton , Chico O'Farrill 's big band, Jimmy Dawkins , Von Freeman , Johnny Frigo , Slide Hampton , and Roy Haynes . Musicians from all surviving eras of jazz perform regularly in
258-432: A Chicago nightclub called The Warehouse . Chicago house is the earliest style of house music. While the origins of the name "house music" are unclear, the most popular belief is that it can be traced to the name of that club. DJ Frankie Knuckles originally popularized house music while working at The Warehouse. House music was developed in the houses, garages and clubs of Chicago, and was initially for local club-goers in
344-403: A Democrat, was elected in 1955, in the era of machine politics . In 1956, the city conducted its last major expansion when it annexed the land under O'Hare airport, including a small portion of DuPage County. By the 1960s, white residents in several neighborhoods left the city for the suburban areas – in many American cities, a process known as white flight – as Blacks continued to move beyond
430-470: A free weekly Monday music series called "Downtown Sound", at Millennium Park 's Jay Pritzker Pavilion . Chicago's music scene varies from neighborhood to neighborhood, but overall has a large focus on independent music due to its influences from local record stores and local radio stations WXRT-FM and Loyola University Chicago 's WLUW . Chicago is home to media tastemakers Pitchfork Media , The Onion ' s The A.V. Club , Consequence of Sound ,
516-495: A heart attack soon after. Washington was succeeded by 6th ward alderperson Eugene Sawyer , who was elected by the Chicago City Council and served until a special election. Richard M. Daley , son of Richard J. Daley, was elected in 1989. His accomplishments included improvements to parks and creating incentives for sustainable development , as well as closing Meigs Field in the middle of the night and destroying
602-556: A major presence in R&;B/soul music. Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues , jazz , rhythm and blues and rock and roll . The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken (shortly after moving to Chicago), a husband-and-wife team who used their initials for the label's name. Vee-Jay hold historical significance being one of
688-665: A model for the new field of social work . During the 1870s and 1880s, Chicago attained national stature as the leader in the movement to improve public health. City laws and later, state laws that upgraded standards for the medical profession and fought urban epidemics of cholera , smallpox , and yellow fever were both passed and enforced. These laws became templates for public health reform in other cities and states. The city established many large, well-landscaped municipal parks , which also included public sanitation facilities. The chief advocate for improving public health in Chicago
774-479: A new grade with the use of jackscrews for raising buildings. While elevating Chicago, and at first improving the city's health, the untreated sewage and industrial waste now flowed into the Chicago River , and subsequently into Lake Michigan , polluting the city's primary freshwater source. The city responded by tunneling two miles (3.2 km) out into Lake Michigan to newly built water cribs . In 1900,
860-524: A variety of instruments in a way which heavily influenced early rock and roll music, including instruments like electrically amplified guitar , drums , piano , bass guitar and sometimes the saxophone or harmonica , which are generally used in Delta blues , which originated in Mississippi . Chicago Blues has a more extended palette of notes than the standard six-note blues scale ; often, notes from
946-804: Is an embrace of a wide variety of styles and techniques. During the mid-1960s to the late 1970s a new style of soul music emerged from Chicago. Its sound, like southern soul with its rich influence of black gospel music , also exhibited an unmistakable gospel sound, but was somewhat lighter and more delicate in its approach, and was sometimes called "soft soul". Popular R&B/soul artists from Chicago include The Impressions , Sam Cooke , Curtis Mayfield , Lou Rawls , The Five Stairsteps , The Staple Singers , Earth Wind & Fire , Rufus , Chaka Khan , Dave Hollister , The Emotions , The Chi-lites , R. Kelly , Carl Thomas , and Jennifer Hudson . Chicago soul labels, including Vee-Jay , Chess Records , OKeh , ABC-Paramount , Brunswick , and Curtom , established
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#17327866117591032-407: Is known to botanists as Allium tricoccum and known more commonly as "ramps". The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as " Checagou " was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir. Henri Joutel , in his journal of 1688, noted that the eponymous wild "garlic" grew profusely in the area. According to his diary of late September 1687: ... when we arrived at
1118-890: Is one of the places where the faster, juicier boogie-woogie emerged from the blues. The most renowned early recordings of boogies were made in Chicago with Clarence Pinetop Smith , who might have been influenced by the brothers Hersal Thomas and George W. Thomas from Houston , who were together in Chicago in the 1920s. Chicago blues and boogie music continues to be popular today with the annual Chicago Blues Festival , and with appreciation of many musicians such as Muddy Waters , Howlin' Wolf , and Willie Dixon ; guitar players such as Tampa Red , Buddy Guy , Bo Diddley , Elmore James and Lefty Dizz; and "harp" (blues slang for harmonica ) players such as Big Walter Horton , Little Walter , Sonny Boy Williamson I , Syl Johnson , Charlie Musselwhite , Paul Butterfield , Junior Wells , and, most notably, James Cotton . House music originated in
1204-554: Is routinely ranked among the world's top six busiest airports by passenger traffic , and the region is also the nation's railroad hub. The Chicago area has one of the highest gross domestic products (GDP) of any urban region in the world, generating $ 689 billion in 2018. Chicago's economy is diverse , with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. Chicago is a major destination for tourism , including visitors to its cultural institutions , and Lake Michigan beaches . Chicago's culture has contributed much to
1290-479: The Black Belt . While home loan discriminatory redlining against blacks continued, the real estate industry practiced what became known as blockbusting , completely changing the racial composition of whole neighborhoods. Structural changes in industry, such as globalization and job outsourcing, caused heavy job losses for lower-skilled workers. At its peak during the 1960s, some 250,000 workers were employed in
1376-719: The Calumet River in the industrial far South Side—flow either entirely or partially through the city. Chicago's history and economy are closely tied to its proximity to Lake Michigan. While the Chicago River historically handled much of the region's waterborne cargo, today's huge lake freighters use the city's Lake Calumet Harbor on the South Side. The lake also provides another positive effect: moderating Chicago's climate, making waterfront neighborhoods slightly warmer in winter and cooler in summer. When Chicago
1462-562: The Chicago School , the development of the City Beautiful movement , and the steel-framed skyscraper . Chicago is an international hub for finance, culture , commerce, industry, education, technology, telecommunications, and transportation . It has the largest and most diverse finance derivatives market in the world, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures alone. O'Hare International Airport
1548-576: The Fiery Furnaces . The 2000s have also seen many punk/pop/rock bands from the Chicago area attain national success, including Disturbed , SOiL, Alkaline Trio , Kill Hannah , The Academy Is , Rise Against , The Audition , Spitalfield , Chevelle , the Plain White T's , and OK Go . Fall Out Boy , from Wilmette , Illinois, has been the most commercially successful band to come from the Chicago area in recent years, scoring 4 #1 albums on
1634-599: The Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad. Manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy . The Chicago Board of Trade (established 1848) listed the first-ever standardized "exchange-traded" forward contracts, which were called futures contracts . In
1720-542: The Jefferson Township , which now makes up most of Chicago's Northwest Side . The desire to join the city was driven by municipal services that the city could provide its residents. Chicago's flourishing economy attracted huge numbers of new immigrants from Europe and migrants from the Eastern United States . Of the total population in 1900, more than 77% were either foreign-born or born in
1806-511: The Miami , Sauk and Meskwaki peoples in this region. The first known permanent settler in Chicago was trader Jean Baptiste Point du Sable . Du Sable was of African descent, perhaps born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), and established the settlement in the 1780s. He is commonly known as the "Founder of Chicago." In 1795, following the victory of the new United States in
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#17327866117591892-552: The Midwestern United States . With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 census , it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles . As the seat of Cook County , the second-most populous county in the U.S., Chicago is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area , often colloquially called "Chicagoland" and home to 9.6 million residents. Located on
1978-592: The New Negro Movement , in art, literature, and music. Continuing racial tensions and violence, such as the Chicago race riot of 1919 , also occurred. The ratification of the 18th amendment to the Constitution in 1919 made the production and sale (including exportation) of alcoholic beverages illegal in the United States. This ushered in the beginning of what is known as the gangster era, a time that roughly spans from 1919 until 1933 when Prohibition
2064-836: The Northwest Indian War , an area that was to be part of Chicago was turned over to the U.S. for a military post by native tribes in accordance with the Treaty of Greenville . In 1803, the U.S. Army constructed Fort Dearborn , which was destroyed during the War of 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn by the Potawatomi before being later rebuilt. After the War of 1812, the Ottawa , Ojibwe , and Potawatomi tribes ceded additional land to
2150-469: The University of Chicago , Northwestern University , and the University of Illinois Chicago , among other institutions of learning . Professional sports in Chicago include all major professional leagues , including two Major League Baseball teams. The name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the indigenous Miami–Illinois word shikaakwa for a wild relative of the onion ; it
2236-698: The Washington and Jackson Parks. During World War I and the 1920s there was a major expansion in industry. The availability of jobs attracted African Americans from the Southern United States . Between 1910 and 1930, the African American population of Chicago increased dramatically, from 44,103 to 233,903. This Great Migration had an immense cultural impact, called the Chicago Black Renaissance , part of
2322-521: The major scale and dominant 9th chords are added, which gives the music more of a "jazz feel" while still being in the blues genre. Chicago blues is also known for its heavy rolling bass. The music developed mainly as a result of the " Great Migration " of poor black workers from the South into the industrial cities of the North, such as Chicago in particular, in the first half of the 20th century. Chicago
2408-605: The "underground" club scenes, rather than for widespread commercial release. As a result, the recordings were much more conceptual, and longer than the music usually played on commercial radio. House musicians used analog synthesizers and sequencers to create and arrange the electronic elements and samples on their tracks, combining live traditional instruments and percussion and soulful vocals with preprogrammed electronic synthesizers and "beat-boxes". House, perhaps more than any other form of black music, has birthed many offshoots and spread its sound far and wide. The prevalence of four on
2494-494: The 1800s, Chicago became the nation's railroad hub, and by 1910 over 20 railroads operated passenger service out of six different downtown terminals. In 1883, Chicago's railway managers needed a general time convention, so they developed the standardized system of North American time zones . This system for telling time spread throughout the continent. In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition on former marshland at
2580-477: The 1850s, Chicago gained national political prominence as the home of Senator Stephen Douglas , the champion of the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the "popular sovereignty" approach to the issue of the spread of slavery. These issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln , to the national stage. Lincoln was nominated in Chicago for U.S. president at the 1860 Republican National Convention , which
2666-622: The 1980s independent music scene was alive and well in Chicago. Some of the more famous punk and "post-punk" products originating from the city were Naked Raygun , The Effigies , 88 Fingers Louie , Big Black , The Queers and Screeching Weasel , with punk legend Patti Smith also born in the city. Many of these bands would become major precursors to pop punk (Screeching Weasel and The Queers) and post-hardcore (Big Black and Naked Raygun). At this time Steve Albini (of Big Black ) also began his prolific recording engineer work with acts both local and national. The Victims represented Chicago on
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2752-705: The 57th mayor of Chicago. Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois on the southwestern shores of freshwater Lake Michigan. It is the principal city in the Chicago Metropolitan Area , situated in both the Midwestern United States and the Great Lakes region . The city rests on a continental divide at the site of the Chicago Portage, connecting the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes watersheds . In addition to it lying beside Lake Michigan, two rivers—the Chicago River in downtown and
2838-498: The Advancement of Creative Musicians working regularly in the city include Fred Anderson , Ernest Dawkins , Aaron Getsug , and Isaiah Spencer . Since the 1960s, members of the organization have performed their version of "Great Black Music" throughout the world. Innovative jazz musicians who have come to public attention since the early 1990s include Marbin , David Boykin , Karl E. H. Seigfried , Jeff Parker , Joshua Abrams and Jim Baker . Common to many of this new generation
2924-580: The Billboard Hot 200. Despite the scene's frequent distaste for local politics, city funding has allowed Chicago to become America's premier music festival city, hosting popular indie headliners such as Superchunk , Black Francis , Pavement , The Flaming Lips , Spoon , De La Soul , Mos Def , Isis , Olivia Tremor Control and Junior Boys . It has also hosted music festivals such as Pitchfork Music Festival , Lollapalooza (since 2005), Chicago Blues Festival , Alehorn of Power , Riot Fest , and
3010-455: The Chicago River were devastated; by 1933 over 50% of industrial jobs in the city had been lost, and unemployment rates amongst blacks and Mexicans in the city were over 40%. The Republican political machine in Chicago was utterly destroyed by the economic crisis, and every mayor since 1931 has been a Democrat . From 1928 to 1933, the city witnessed a tax revolt, and the city was unable to meet payroll or provide relief efforts. The fiscal crisis
3096-791: The Chicago area. Since the 2000s Chicago has remained a hotbed for independent music. Being home to a number of independent record labels such as Touch and Go Records , Thrill Jockey Records , Bloodshot Records , Drag City Records , Victory Records and Hozac Records , Chicago continues to have one of the most active indie scenes in the United States. The area is home to the foundations of American hardcore punk , alt-country , noise rock , industrial music , and many other independent music scenes. Contemporary bands with ties to Chicago include Wilco , Tortoise , The Sea and Cake , Califone , The Greenskeepers , The Loneliest Monk , The Mekons , Smith Westerns , Andrew Bird , Umphrey's McGee , Neko Case , and Matthew & Eleanor Friedberger of
3182-807: The Machine ) also attended school in the area. In the late 1990s, along with Milwaukee, WI and Champaign-Urbana, IL , Chicago also supported a healthy midwestern emo / post-hardcore scene that included Cap'n Jazz , Braid and American Football . Since the late 1990s/early 2000s, Chicago has also become a major force in the American heavy metal scene including a handful of deathcore , death metal and industrial metal groups supported and promoted by indie labels like Wax Trax! Records among others. Bands such as, Disturbed , SOiL , From Zero , No One , Ministry , Dance Club Massacre , Born of Osiris , Veil of Maya , Macabre , Oceano and Lovehammers hail from
3268-603: The Mad Thinker and Ten City The city is host to the Chicago House Music Festaval, the event is held at Millennium park in the late summer. The "Chicago style" of jazz originated in southern musicians moving North after 1917, bringing with them the New Orleans " Dixieland " or sometimes called " hot jazz " styles. Dixieland largely evolved into Chicago style in the late 1910s and
3354-535: The Mississippi River. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed an area about 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 1-mile (1.6 km) wide, a large section of the city at the time. Much of the city, including railroads and stockyards , survived intact, and from the ruins of the previous wooden structures arose more modern constructions of steel and stone. These set a precedent for worldwide construction. During its rebuilding period, Chicago constructed
3440-529: The Nation of Islam, a Black Muslim organization headquartered in Chicago, as a lyrical and ideological influence in the 1980s and 1990s, a rap theme often resulting in controversy. Kanye West's first album was nominated for Grammy Award for Album of the Year and won Best Rap Album . Lupe Fiasco's 2006 album Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor was a #1 selling rap album. Today, Chicago is well established within
3526-855: The New Wave scene. The 1980s punk scene eventually gave way to the 1990s alternative rock boom with artists like Local H , Eleventh Dream Day , Ministry , Veruca Salt (the band Seether is named after their song " Seether "), My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult , Material Issue , Liz Phair , Urge Overkill , LaTour , The Tossers , The Jesus Lizard , and The Smashing Pumpkins gaining fame. Many of these bands got their career started at noted alternative music venues Metro (originally Cabaret Metro) and Lounge Ax , and later on influential alternative music station Q101 . Alternative icons Eddie Vedder ( Pearl Jam ), Kim Thayil ( Soundgarden ), Adam Jones ( Tool ), and Tom Morello ( Rage Against
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3612-515: The North Suburban Library System, summarized the evolution of organizations in northern Illinois in a 2011 essay,"Context is Everything." SWAN (System Wide Automated Network) maintains a shared online catalog for its 80 members. 41°50′N 88°0′W / 41.833°N 88.000°W / 41.833; -88.000 Chicago Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in
3698-526: The South arrived in the city to work in the steel mills, railroads, and shipping yards. On December 2, 1942, physicist Enrico Fermi conducted the world's first controlled nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project . This led to the creation of the atomic bomb by the United States, which it used in World War II in 1945. Mayor Richard J. Daley ,
3784-418: The South into the industrial cities brought traditional jazz and blues music to the city, resulting in Chicago blues and "Chicago-style" Dixieland jazz . Notable blues artists included Muddy Waters , Junior Wells , Howlin' Wolf and both Sonny Boy Williamsons ; jazz greats included Nat King Cole , Gene Ammons , Benny Goodman and Bud Freeman . Chicago is also well known for its soul music . In
3870-624: The United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis . The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the 1833 Treaty of Chicago and sent west of the Mississippi River as part of the federal policy of Indian removal . On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 6,000 people. On June 15, 1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as Receiver of Public Monies. The City of Chicago
3956-787: The United States of foreign parentage. Germans , Irish , Poles , Swedes , and Czechs made up nearly two-thirds of the foreign-born population (by 1900, whites were 98.1% of the city's population). Labor conflicts followed the industrial boom and the rapid expansion of the labor pool, including the Haymarket affair on May 4, 1886, and in 1894 the Pullman Strike . Anarchist and socialist groups played prominent roles in creating very large and highly organized labor actions. Concern for social problems among Chicago's immigrant poor led Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr to found Hull House in 1889. Programs that were developed there became
4042-575: The birthplace of Gospel music. Originators of the genre, including James Cleveland , The Staples Singers , and the Edwin Hawkins singers, have performed there. Other instrumental members in the Gospel music movement were Roberta Martin , Sallie Martin , Kenneth Morris , and "Little Lucy" Smith . The influences of jazz and blues have been replaced with more contemporary influences such as hip hop music , rap, and rhythm and blues . Chicago
4128-757: The brass arrangements in early recordings by The Buckinghams , who recorded their first hits at the historic Chess Studios . Their horn sound was followed quickly and expanded upon substantially by the rock band Chicago , originally named the Chicago Transit Authority . Other popular Chicago-based bands from the 1960s and 1970s include Shadows of Knight , Cryan' Shames , The Buckinghams , The Flock , Ides of March , New Colony Six , Mason Proffit , Styx , Survivor , REO Speedwagon (Champaign) and Cheap Trick (Rockford). As documented in Michael Azerrad 's Our Band Could Be Your Life ,
4214-513: The city include the central business district, called the Loop , and the North, South , and West Sides . The three sides of the city are represented on the Flag of Chicago by three horizontal white stripes. The North Side is the most-densely-populated residential section of the city, and many high-rises are located on this side of the city along the lakefront. The South Side is the largest section of
4300-545: The city was affected by a series of tenant rent strikes , which lead to the formation of the Chicago Tenants Protective association, passage of the Kessenger tenant laws, and of a heat ordinance that legally required flats to be kept above 68 °F during winter months by landlords. Chicago was the first American city to have a homosexual-rights organization. The organization, formed in 1924,
4386-415: The city's first African American woman mayor and its first openly LGBTQ mayor, was elected to succeed Emanuel as mayor in 2019. All three city-wide elective offices were held by women (and women of color) for the first time in Chicago history: in addition to Lightfoot, the city clerk was Anna Valencia and the city treasurer was Melissa Conyears-Ervin . On May 15, 2023, Brandon Johnson assumed office as
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#17327866117594472-424: The city's first female mayor, was elected. She was notable for temporarily moving into the crime-ridden Cabrini-Green housing project and for leading Chicago's school system out of a financial crisis. In 1983, Harold Washington became the first black mayor of Chicago. Washington's first term in office directed attention to poor and previously neglected minority neighborhoods. He was re‑elected in 1987 but died of
4558-520: The city, encompassing roughly 60% of the city's land area. The South Side contains most of the facilities of the Port of Chicago . Music of Chicago Chicago , Illinois is a major center for music in the midwestern United States where distinctive forms of blues (greatly responsible for the future creation of rock and roll ), and house music , a genre of electronic dance music , were developed. The " Great Migration " of poor black workers from
4644-485: The city, release recordings, and tour nationally and internationally. Sinyan Shen, internationally known for his Shanghai classical repertoire and Shanghai jazz performances based on tonal interests and just intervals, is based in Chicago. Musicians still performing today who originally came to prominence in the bebop and hard bop eras include Von Freeman and Jimmy Ellis , both contemporaries of former Chicagoan Johnny Griffin . Members of Chicago's Association for
4730-527: The convention hall, with anti-war protesters, journalists and bystanders being beaten by police. Major construction projects, including the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower , which in 1974 became the world's tallest building ), University of Illinois at Chicago , McCormick Place , and O'Hare International Airport , were undertaken during Richard J. Daley's tenure. In 1979, Jane Byrne ,
4816-483: The district and forcing a shutdown of electrical power. The area was shut down for three days and some buildings did not reopen for weeks; losses were estimated at $ 1.95 billion. On February 23, 2011, Rahm Emanuel , a former White House Chief of Staff and member of the House of Representatives , won the mayoral election. Emanuel was sworn in as mayor on May 16, 2011, and won re-election in 2015. Lori Lightfoot ,
4902-710: The early 1930s, Gospel music began to gain popularity in Chicago due to Thomas A. Dorsey 's contributions at Pilgrim Baptist Church . In the 1970s and 1980s, heavy metal music , punk , industrial music and hip hop also were heavily innovated by Chicago artists. Orchestras in Chicago include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Chicago Sinfonietta . Chicago's music scene has been well known for its blues music for many years. "Chicago Blues" uses
4988-539: The fair was technological innovation over the century since Chicago's founding. During World War II , the city of Chicago alone produced more steel than the United Kingdom every year from 1939 – 1945, and more than Nazi Germany from 1943 – 1945. The Great Migration, which had been on pause due to the Depression, resumed at an even faster pace in the second wave , as hundreds of thousands of blacks from
5074-496: The first African American and female owned record companies. Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago , specializing in blues and rhythm and blues . It was the successor to Aristocrat Records , founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music , gospel music , early rock and roll , and jazz and comedy recordings, released on the Chess and its subsidiary labels Checker and Argo / Cadet . Chess
5160-548: The floor beats in dance music is largely derived from house. It has influenced, in some capacity, Garage house , Jungle music , Eurodance , Electropop , Dubstep , and even certain elements of Alternative rock and Hip hop . Important musicians in the Chicago house scene include Adonis , Mark Farina , Keith Farley , Felix da Housecat , Fingers Inc. , Ron Hardy , Larry Heard , Steve 'Silk' Hurley , Marshall Jefferson , Curtis Jones , Paul Johnson , Frankie Knuckles , Lil' Louis , Jesse Saunders , Joe Smooth , Julius
5246-523: The hip hop industry. Drill music was also born in Chicago. Chicago artists and impresarios have been important in the development of the Gospel music genre. Its origin and rise in popularity is mainly due to the "godfather of Gospel music", Thomas A. Dorsey . Dorsey began his career as a blues pianist, but later began composing religious music to the rhythms of jazz and blues, later calling it "Gospel". His most popular song, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand",
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#17327866117595332-451: The lowest points are along the lake shore at 578 ft (176.2 m), while the highest point, at 672 ft (205 m), is the morainal ridge of Blue Island in the city's far south side. Lake Shore Drive runs adjacent to a large portion of Chicago's waterfront. Some of the parks along the waterfront include Lincoln Park , Grant Park , Burnham Park , and Jackson Park . There are 24 public beaches across 26 miles (42 km) of
5418-568: The nationally syndicated Sound Opinions radio talk show, and CHIRP , a community radio station providing the internet with independent music. The station also bids for support to convince the United States Congress and the FCC to remove existing barriers to low power FM radio licenses in urban areas. The hip hop of Chicago is sometimes called " Chi-town " in the music industry. It became commonplace for serious rappers to cite
5504-597: The new style was popularly called that name by the early 1920s. King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton became stars of the Chicago jazz scene. King Oliver in particular brought Louis Armstrong to Chicago in 1922 while he was performing at the Dreamland Café with his "Creole Jazz Band". More importantly, white musicians, or "alligators", attended Oliver's performances in order to learn how to play jazz. Louis Armstrong 's recordings with his Chicago-based Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five and Hot Seven band came out in
5590-506: The present location of Jackson Park . The Exposition drew 27.5 million visitors, and is considered the most influential world's fair in history. The University of Chicago , formerly at another location, moved to the same South Side location in 1892. The term "midway" for a fair or carnival referred originally to the Midway Plaisance , a strip of park land that still runs through the University of Chicago campus and connects
5676-613: The problem of sewage contamination was largely resolved when the city completed a major engineering feat. It reversed the flow of the Chicago River so that the water flowed away from Lake Michigan rather than into it. This project began with the construction and improvement of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and was completed with the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal that connects to the Illinois River , which flows into
5762-593: The runways. After successfully running for re-election five times, and becoming Chicago's longest-serving mayor, Richard M. Daley declined to run for a seventh term. In 1992, a construction accident near the Kinzie Street Bridge produced a breach connecting the Chicago River to a tunnel below, which was part of an abandoned freight tunnel system extending throughout the downtown Loop district. The tunnels filled with 250 million US gallons (1,000,000 m ) of water, affecting buildings throughout
5848-615: The said place called "Chicagou" which, according to what we were able to learn of it, has taken this name because of the quantity of garlic which grows in the forests in this region. The city has had several nicknames throughout its history, such as the Windy City , Chi-Town, Second City, and City of the Big Shoulders. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by the Potawatomi , an indigenous tribe who had succeeded
5934-494: The shore of Lake Michigan , Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed . It grew rapidly in the mid-19th century. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, but Chicago's population continued to grow. Chicago made noted contributions to urban planning and architecture , such as
6020-447: The steel industry in Chicago, but the steel crisis of the 1970s and 1980s reduced this number to just 28,000 in 2015. In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Raby led the Chicago Freedom Movement , which culminated in agreements between Mayor Richard J. Daley and the movement leaders. Two years later, the city hosted the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention , which featured physical confrontations both inside and outside
6106-675: The traditional tuba and banjo ) and saxophones also distinguish Chicago-style playing from New Orleans style. When Chicago musicians started playing four-beat measures, they laid the foundation for the swing era . The Lindy Hop was originally danced to four-beat Chicago style jazz and went on to become one of the iconic features of the swing era. Important musicians in the Chicago style include Lovie Austin , Muggsy Spanier , Jimmy McPartland , Bix Beiderbecke , Eddie Condon , Bud Freeman , Benny Goodman , Gene Krupa , Frank Teschemacher , and Frank Trumbauer . The gangsters of Chicago engaged profiled musicians like Earl Hines , whose benefit
6192-562: The unemployed. In the spring of 1937 Republic Steel Works witnessed the Memorial Day massacre of 1937 in the neighborhood of East Side. In 1933, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was fatally wounded in Miami, Florida , during a failed assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt . In 1933 and 1934, the city celebrated its centennial by hosting the Century of Progress International Exposition World's Fair . The theme of
6278-511: The visual arts, literature , film, theater , comedy (especially improvisational comedy ), food , dance, and music (particularly jazz , blues , soul , hip-hop , gospel , and electronic dance music , including house music ). Chicago is home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago , while the Art Institute of Chicago provides an influential visual arts museum and art school . The Chicago area also hosts
6364-664: The waterfront. Landfill extends into portions of the lake providing space for Navy Pier , Northerly Island , the Museum Campus , and large portions of the McCormick Place Convention Center. Most of the city's high-rise commercial and residential buildings are close to the waterfront. An informal name for the entire Chicago metropolitan area is "Chicagoland", which generally means the city and all its suburbs, though different organizations have slightly different definitions. Major sections of
6450-539: The world's first skyscraper in 1885, using steel-skeleton construction. The city grew significantly in size and population by incorporating many neighboring townships between 1851 and 1920, with the largest annexation happening in 1889, with five townships joining the city, including the Hyde Park Township , which now comprises most of the South Side of Chicago and the far southeast of Chicago, and
6536-441: The years 1925 to 1928 and were popular with both black and white audiences. These recordings marked the transition of original New Orleans jazz to a more sophisticated type of American improvised music with more emphasis on solo choruses instead of just little solo breaks. This style of playing was adopted by white musicians who favored meters of 2 instead of 4. Emphasis on solos, faster tempos, string bass and guitar (replacing
6622-431: Was John H. Rauch, M.D. Rauch established a plan for Chicago's park system in 1866. He created Lincoln Park by closing a cemetery filled with shallow graves, and in 1867, in response to an outbreak of cholera he helped establish a new Chicago Board of Health. Ten years later, he became the secretary and then the president of the first Illinois State Board of Health, which carried out most of its activities in Chicago. In
6708-622: Was a favorite of Martin Luther King Jr. , and was sung by Mahalia Jackson by his request at his funeral. Many other artists have recorded their own renditions of "Precious Lord", including another Chicago Gospel artist, Albertina Walker . Dorsey influenced other Chicago Gospel artists such as The Caravans and Little Joey McClork. Tired of the treatment he received in other music publishing houses, Dorsey founded his own called Dorsey House of Music. Music historians often cite Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood as
6794-541: Was based at several locations on the south side of Chicago, initially at South Cottage Grove Ave. The most famous was 2120 S. Michigan Avenue , from May 1957 to 1965, immortalized by the Rolling Stones in " 2120 South Michigan Avenue ", an instrumental recorded there during the group's first U.S. tour in 1964. The building is now the home of Willie Dixon 's Blues Heaven Foundation. In 1965 Chicago's burgeoning pop rock horn sound moved into national exposure with
6880-472: Was called the Society for Human Rights . It produced the first American publication for homosexuals, Friendship and Freedom . Police and political pressure caused the organization to disband. The Great Depression brought unprecedented suffering to Chicago, in no small part due to the city's heavy reliance on heavy industry. Notably, industrial areas on the south side and neighborhoods lining both branches of
6966-462: Was founded in 1837, most of the early building was around the mouth of the Chicago River, as can be seen on a map of the city's original 58 blocks. The overall grade of the city's central, built-up areas is relatively consistent with the natural flatness of its overall natural geography, generally exhibiting only slight differentiation otherwise. The average land elevation is 579 ft (176.5 m) above sea level . While measurements vary somewhat,
7052-578: Was held in a purpose-built auditorium called the Wigwam . He defeated Douglas in the general election, and this set the stage for the American Civil War . To accommodate rapid population growth and demand for better sanitation, the city improved its infrastructure. In February 1856, Chicago's Common Council approved Chesbrough 's plan to build the United States' first comprehensive sewerage system. The project raised much of central Chicago to
7138-533: Was incorporated on Saturday, March 4, 1837, and for several decades was the world's fastest-growing city. As the site of the Chicago Portage , the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicago's first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad , and the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened in 1848. The canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on
7224-461: Was repealed. The 1920s saw gangsters , including Al Capone , Dion O'Banion , Bugs Moran and Tony Accardo battle law enforcement and each other on the streets of Chicago during the Prohibition era . Chicago was the location of the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, when Al Capone sent men to gun down members of a rival gang, North Side, led by Bugs Moran. From 1920 to 1921,
7310-477: Was resolved by 1933, and at the same time, federal relief funding began to flow into Chicago. Chicago was also a hotbed of labor activism, with Unemployed Councils contributing heavily in the early depression to create solidarity for the poor and demand relief; these organizations were created by socialist and communist groups. By 1935 the Workers Alliance of America begun organizing the poor, workers,
7396-404: Was to lead an orchestra in one of the city's top locations. Armstrong was also friendly with gangsters, such as Al Capone who frequently paid for private use of jazz clubs. Hines and Benny Goodman emancipated from Chicago style when they became two of the most famous band leaders of the swing era . Two decades later, original Chicago-style pianist Art Hodes presented the classic jazz style in
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