Carter Harrison, Jr.

Carter Harrison Jr. (1911)

Carter Henry Harrison Jr. (born April 23, 1860 in Chicago , Illinois , †  December 25, 1953 ) was an American politician . Between 1897 and 1905 and again from 1911 to 1915 he was mayor of Chicago.

Career

Carter Harrison Jr. was the son of Carter Harrison (1825-1893), who was also mayor of Chicago and was murdered in office. He was a member of the Harrison family , which included US Presidents William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison . The younger Carter Harrison studied for three years until 1876 in Sachsen-Altenburg in what is now Thuringia . In 1881 he graduated from Loyola University . After completing a law degree at Yale University , he was admitted to the bar. Between 1891 and 1895 he and his brother ran the Chicago Times , which their father bought in 1891. The newspaper was a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party to which he belonged.

In 1897 Harrison was elected mayor of Chicago. He held this office after three re-elections between 1897 and 1905 for an initial four terms. In 1904 he unsuccessfully hoped for his party's nomination as a presidential candidate. Between 1911 and 1915 he was again mayor of his hometown for two terms. He believed that Chicago residents had two main ideas: to make money and to spend money. During his tenure, prostitution continued to rise in the city. City maps for tourists were issued, which particularly emphasized the location of the brothels. Alcohol consumption in the saloons also increased. It was then that the foundations were laid for the infamous Chicago of the 1920s. Many of the gangsters around Al Capone were already in town at that time and the predecessor organization of his gang already existed. At that time, Jim Colosimo ruled this sector. Capone himself didn't come to the city until around 1920. However, Harrison tried during his last two terms in office (1911-1915) to turn things around and, for example, to close the red light district. It all started with the infamous Everleigh Club in 1911 . In the long term, however, these measures were unsuccessful. Harrison also opposed Charles Tyson Yerkes ' plans to monopolize the Chicago streetcar. By the time he left office in 1915, Chicago had a population of around 2.4 million and had finally become a world city.

In 1916, 1920, 1932 and 1936 Carter Harrison took part as a delegate to the respective Democratic National Conventions . During the First World War he was with the Red Cross in France. Between 1933 and 1944 he worked for the Federal Treasury as Collector of Internal Revenue . He was a member of numerous organizations and associations. These included the American Legion veterans' organization and the Freemasons . Since 1887 he was married to Edith Ogden , with whom he had two children. He died in Chicago on December 25, 1953 at the age of 93.

Web links

Commons : Carter Harrison, Jr.  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

• Carter Harrison, Jr. in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• The Political Graveyard
• Chicago History