Levee

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
contemporary map of the 1st Ward District of Chicago with the Customs House Place
Chicago city map from 1906
Caricature of the "Lords of the Levee" - "Bathhouse John" and "Hinky Dink" Kenna
Portrait of "Big Jim" Colosimo
Midnight Mission and Prostitutes on the Levee
South Dearborn Street about 1911
Brothel “The Paris”, 2101 Armor Street. The establishment was run by Maurice Van Bever, who was accused of "white slavery"
Everleigh Club - exterior view
Everleigh Club interior
Image of one of the actors of the "White Slavery", the barman Mike Hart. Photo taken in 1911 from Ernest Bell's book: Fighting the Traffic in Young Girls. Was on the white slave trade

The Levee ( English river dyke ) was a notorious red light district in the south of Chicago , which existed from about 1890 to the 1930s. It was located in the Second Ward District (Near South Side) and comprised the city blocks of Cermak Road and Michigan Avenue, between Harrison and Polk , and Dearborn and Clark Avenue. It was four blocks in the southern Loop district, essentially between 18th and 22nd Streets. Originally the Levee was just a particularly "dilapidated" part of State Street. The Levee is believed to be the nucleus of organized crime in Chicago.

history

Chicago's entertainment district was initially located downtown in the First District. Chicago's first brothels sprang up on Well's Street. However, after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, it moved south of the city. Before 1890, the area known as Customs House Levee was a gathering place for gamblers and pimps and was one of the most criminal districts in Chicago. Chicago was described by a newspaper at the time as "the most violent, filthiest of all cities - loud, lawless, ugly, smelly, godless; an oversized, stupid village ” . City councilors "Hinky Dink" Michael Kenna and "Bathhouse" John Coughlin ensured a rapid rise in the district through corruption and cooperation with the Chicago Outfit . Both founded an organization in 1893, which established gambling parlors and brothels in the Levee, from which they collected protection money. Kenna and Coughlin formed a group of corrupt city councilors called "Gray Wolves" who were active from 1890 to 1930.

The most famous establishments included: The House of All Nations (between Archer / Cullerton. Similar to the Parisian establishment of the same name, girls from all over the world worked here), The Little Green House, various houses in Bed Bug Row, The Bucket of Blood (infamous saloon southwest corner 19th Street / Federal. A newspaper mentioned in 1916 that liquor was served there after curfew . The name probably comes from the fact that buckets of blood were cleaned from the floor in the morning after numerous fights and knife fights had to be), Ed Weiss' Capitol (dance hall. His brother Louis Weiss owned the brothel "The Sappho's"), Freiberg's Dance Hall (brothel, between 22nd, Wabash and State. The place offered the possibility of a bar, dance floor and contact with prostitutes According to the Chicago Vice Commission, the dance hall was one of the most notorious venues in Chicago after it became known rde that women were often kidnapped and forced into prostitution from there. Freiberg's Dance Hall was closed on August 24, 1914) and the Everleigh Club were the most famous establishments of this time. Kenna and Coughlin resided in Freiberg's Dance Hall, a house that became the social hub of the neighborhood. The Everleigh Club on Dearborn Avenue , run by Ada and Minna Everleigh, was frequented by Chicago's elite. Even Prince Henry of Prussia wrong there. The prostitutes, who called themselves "butterflies" (butterflies), had weekly sales of USD 100 to 400 in the brothel, which was incredible sums at the time, given the prevailing daily wages. The contemporary phrase “I'm going to get Everleighed” originated from this club , from which the slang term “get laid” was probably later developed. The lowest level of the brothels was formed by the simple houses on Bed Bug Row (corner of Dearborn / Federal and 19th Street / Archer). The colored girls who anschafften there were often deflowered by force from their pimps and had their services for 25 cents under catastrophic hygienic conditions (bed bug - bed bug ( Cimex lectularius )) offer. As forced prostitutes without rights, they were also helplessly exposed to the perversions of their suitors. Bed Bug Row had a similar bad reputation as the “Cribs” in New Orleans or the “Cow Yards” in San Francisco .

Devout Christian communities protested against prostitution and gambling in the Levee at the beginning of the 20th century . In the high phase, up to 5,000 prostitutes worked in the brothels there. Cases of “white slavery” , in which girls from rural areas came under the control of pimps and were systematically forced into prostitution, became increasingly known to the public . The case of Madame Mary Hastings caused a sensation, who tortured underage girls and forced prostitution in her brothel Custom House Place on Jackson Street . Before she could be tried, she fled to Canada . In 1914 the last brothel (panel house) was closed due to increasing public pressure in the Levee.

The election of Chicago Mayor William "Big Bill" Hale Thompson in 1915 reactivated illegal business on the Levee. Many of the brothels have reopened as hotels , saloons or cabarets . "Big Jim" Colosimo and his wife Victoria Moresco took over three brothels and control of the district. His Colosimo's Café restaurant , frequented by famous guests like Enrico Caruso , became the center of Chicago high society . Due to his Italian origins, Colosimo was the target of Sicilian blackmail gangs such as the Black Hand Gang (La Mano Nera), who increasingly threatened him. Fearing kidnapping, he sought protection with his in-law relative, Johnny Torrio, in New York . Torrio, a cousin of Victoria Moresco, sent Al Capone to rearrange the situation there. Capone began his career in this part of the city in “The Four Deuces” (2222 South Wabash). The four-story brick building, which also housed an office and a brothel on the upper floor, was initially owned by Jonny Torrio. Capone had his business cards (Alphonse Capone - Used Furniture Dealer - 2220 South Wabash Avenue) printed with this address. It is believed that he tortured his rivals in the basement of the Four Deuces .

Around 1930 most of the area was demolished.

Timeline

  • Mid-19th Century Chicago had more arcades than New Orleans and Pittsburgh combined. The metropolis, whose brothels and amusement arcades are bigger and more revealing than anywhere else, was considered the "wickedest city in the USA" at the time.
  • 1871 The Great Fire of Chicago. Numerous saloons and brothels are destroyed. The Customs House district, the forerunner of the Levee, is emerging between Harrison Street, Polk Street and Dearborn train station
  • In 1893, the Levee brothels and gambling saloons were crowded with crowds from the World's Columbian Exposition
  • 1895 Jim Colosimo moves to the Levee District, which at that time already has 2,000 brothels, saloons and gaming rooms
  • 1897 Street prostitution was banned in a designated area
  • February 1, 1900 The Everleigh Club luxury brothel opens its doors
  • May 15, 1900 The Chicago Vice Commission aims to close the brothels for the first time
  • 1903–1909 Van Beven and Colosimo trade in young prostitutes who are scheduled by so-called “cadets” (pimps) for a five-year rotation between the brothels. After that, most of them begin to descend to the level of the hour hotels and finally to street prostitution. Colosimo and Van Beven run a "ring of white slaves". Their victims are often farmer's daughters who are lured to Chicago with promises of marriage, where they are drugged and "broken in" (raped several times) by the "cadets" . The girls are threatened with years of martyrdom from drug abuse, beatings and rape . Few can break free from it. Many die early from alcohol and drug abuse , as well as sexually transmitted diseases . Therefore, the girl traffickers and pimps have to continuously replenish their stocks of “fresh meat” . Colosimo and Van Beven stretch their thriving businesses nationwide to New York , St. Louis and Milwaukee from
  • 1905 Colosimo opens its first saloon and its first hour hotels
  • October 18, 1909 Gipsy Smith March of 200 Christian believers through the Levee Red Light District
  • January 9, 1910 Nathaniel Ford Moore (born January 31, 1884, † January 9, 1910 in Chicago, well-known American golfer and son of the President of the Rock Island Railway Company , took part in the 1904 Summer Olympics) dies in the brothel of Vic Shaw Overdose of drug. Shaw tries to cover up this and wrongly blame her rivals, the owners of the Everleigh Club . The death triggers a social scandal
  • 1910 Colosimo opens the cabaret "Colosimos Café" in the heart of the Levee, 2126 South Wabash. Both jazz and Italian opera arias are played in the well-tended restaurant with a noble ambience . It is quickly becoming the hub of Chicago nightlife, attracting politicians, artists, and actors
  • 1910 Estimated gross income from prostitution is $ 60 million and net income is $ 15 million. In the same year, brothel managers founded the protective community of "Freundliche Freundinnen"
  • 1910 Enactment of the Mann Act against "White Slavery". In the wording, the "transport of a woman across state borders for immoral purposes" is prohibited
  • 1911 Everleigh Club closes
  • December 10, 1911 Inspector PD O'Brien takes measures against the serving of alcohol and music. This includes u. a. also the ban on unaccompanied women from staying in bar rooms.
  • October 3, 1911 Prosecution charges against a total of 135 people associated with the Levee. These include "Big Jim" Colosimo, Ed Weiss, Roy Jones and Vic Shaw
  • 1912 The fight against prostitution in the Levee is declared due to public pressure. The “Moral Division” of the city of Chicago arranges for a mass arrest of prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, contract killers, pub owners and gamblers. After that prostitution is increasingly attracting into so-called "call-house flats" back
  • October 22, 1913 The Mayor of Chicago has the Ed Weiss Capitol closed
  • July 18, 1914 The closure of brothels in the Levee causes rioting. A police officer dies in the process
  • August 24, 1914 Freiberg's Dance Hall closes as one of the Levee's last long-established clubs
  • 1920s Under the influence of Kenna and Coughlin, gambling increased again sharply in the Levee. The Chicago outfit is increasingly moving prostitution to other districts such as Cicero or the suburbs.

Levee District personalities

  • Ike Bloom aka Isaac Gitelson Bloom (* 1865 - December 15, 1930): well-known cabaret and night club owner, was involved in alcohol and human trafficking in the 1920s
  • Michael "Hinky Dink" Kenna (* August 20, 1858 - October 9, 1946 ): City Councilor. During his tenure in the First Ward of Chicago (1897 to 1923), Kenna ensured that organized crime and politics were particularly closely linked. Irish-born Kenna opened his first saloon, The Workingman's Exchange, in 1882, which became a center of his political activity. Kenna and Coughlin ruled their district like a feudal feudal lord model . The duo granted the Levee businessmen protection only under fixed fees.
  • "Bathhouse" John Coughlin (born August 15, 1860 , † November 11, 1938 ): city councilor. The Coughlin, who was also of Irish descent, was friends with Kenna. The two had a long-term political partnership. Together with Kenna he organized the infamous First Ward Ball from 1896 to 1908, in which up to 15,000 people, including businessmen, brothel operators, senior police officers, underworld giants and criminals of all kinds, took part. The First Ball was a kind of fundraising and agreement on how to do business in the Levee. These activities did not stop until 1909 when the city of Chicago granted new liquor serving concessions. After the rule of the two, Capone took over the municipality.
  • Ada (born February 15, 1864 in Greene County, Virginia, † January 5, 1960 in Charlottesville, Virginia) and Minna Everleigh (born July 13, 1866 in Greene County, † September 16, 1948 in New York), née Simms: operators of the Everleigh Club s. In their youth they worked for a theater company in Omaha / Kansas and during this time they adopted the stage name "Everleigh" . In 1895, with the help of their father's inheritance, they opened their first brothel in Omaha, and three years later the second, which quickly doubled their investment in the wake of visitors to the Trans-Mississippi exhibition. In 1900 they moved to Chicago and had great success with the Everleigh Club (three- story, 50-room building at 2131 S. Dearborn Street), which has earned a reputation as the "most opulent brothel in the world" due to its luxurious interior . In order to preserve the good reputation and the stylish atmosphere of the Everleigh Club , only fine wine and champagne were served, spirits and drugs were strictly prohibited. It was expected that the prostitutes handpicked by them would behave like elegant ladies and suitors like gentlemen. The women who worked at the Everleigh Club and considered it a great privilege were allowed to keep half of their earnings. The prices for the services usually varied between USD 10 and 50. Colosimo was a frequent guest of the Everleigh sisters. To maintain exclusivity, admission was only granted on letters of recommendation. According to Minna Everleigh, the club had "no time for the rough element, the clerk on a holiday, or a man without a checkbook - no time for rough elements, for an employee on vacation or a man without a checkbook" ".
  • Giacomo "Big Jim" Colosimo (born February 16, 1878 in Colosimi , Cosenza Province , Calabria , Italy , † May 11, 1920 in Chicago , USA ): Mafioso, known by the nickname "King of the Pimps". Colosimo, one of the richest and most influential businessmen in the Levee, is considered one of the first godparents of the Chicago outfit.
  • Vic Shaw alias Emma Ludwig (* 1862 - † 1951 Chicago): brothel operator. She was nicknamed "Queen of the Levee" and was close friends with Kenna and Coughlin. At the age of 14 she was already working as a burlesque dancer, was married four times and served several prison terms. Shaw ran several cathedrals with strict discipline.
  • Maurice Van Bever: French-American dandy and brothel operator “The Paris” (2102 Armor Street) and “White City” (2102 Dearborn Street). The human trafficking ( "interstate ring" between several states), which he operated with his wife Julia, was u. a. corroborated by statements of the underage Loretta Campbell, who was abducted from St. Louis and picked up during a raid on the "White City" . Van Bever smuggled hundreds of prostitutes into Colosimo's houses and was arrested in 1909.
  • John "Mushmouth" Johnson: one of the first African American underworld greats . Johnson operates a saloon and an arcade on State Street
  • Mary Hastings (* around 1860 in Brussels ): notorious brothel operator and human trafficker, who came to Chicago in 1888 after gaining relevant experience in the red light industry in her hometown of Brussels, Paris, Toronto, Denver, Portland and San Francisco. She was one of the first women to systematically practice "white slavery" around 1890 . With the help of bribes (around USD 2.00 per week to the local patrol) or forced services from her girls to officials, the police avoided investigation for many years. Their houses, which were in the "Hell's Half Acre" area, were considered to be the worst brothels in town, where all kinds of perverted wishes were granted . She was assigned the statement, "if a girl was good enough to be accepted at an ordinary brothel, then she was too good for her own - if a girl was good enough for an ordinary brothel, then she was too good for her own" . From around 1893 she made herself independent from pimps (pander - matchmakers) and lured young girls (average age between 13 and 17 years) from rural areas of the Midwest into one of her notorious houses under the pretext of being able to earn good money in Chicago where their clothes were taken away and then locked in a room. They were then abused (broken-in) by six “professional” rapists. This was the process called "The Life" in red-light milieu jargon, which involved an ongoing ordeal of abuse, rape, and inhumane treatment. The inhumane working hours usually went from noon to 5 a.m. During this time, the girls often consumed schnapps and absinthe to persevere. The British journalist William Stead visited one of Hastings' brothels and described the situation in his socially critical article "If Christ came to Chicago". After the broken-in, the victims were either smuggled into their own homes (including Customs House Place in Jackson Street) or, depending on their age and attractiveness, sold to other brothel operators for around USD 50 to 300 at the highest bidder. Legend has it that some of the girls managed to smuggle a piece of paper outside with the words "I am being held as a slave" to alert the police to the crime. In 1895, after nine girls managed to escape the brothel under adventurous conditions, the criminal machinations of the Mary Hastings were exposed and the police, who had watched this goings-on for a long time, were forced to act. Hastings had to flee to Toledo , Canada and never returned to Chicago. In Canada she operated under the name Madame Gain.

literature

  • Lloyd Wendt and Herman Kogan: Lords of the Levee: The Story of Bathhouse John and Hinky Dink. Indianapolis, New York, Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1943 (1st reprint under the title: Bosses in Lusty Chicago. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1967, ISBN 0-253-20109-8 , 2nd reprint under the title: Lords of the Levee. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 2005, ISBN 0-8101-2320-7 .).

Web links

Commons : Levee  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert J. Schoenberg: Al Capone. The biography. Chapter: A city begins to dance. Albatross Verlag, Düsseldorf 2001, p. 43. ISBN 3-491-96042-8 .
  2. ^ Robert J. Schoenberg: Al Capone. The biography. Chapter: A city begins to dance. Albatross Verlag, Düsseldorf 2001, p. 37. ISBN 3-491-96042-8 .
  3. ↑ John Kobler: Al Capone. Playboy Report, Moewig Verlag 1971, p. 38, ISBN 3-8118-6613-3 .
  4. ↑ John Kobler: Al Capone. Playboy Report, Moewig Verlag 1971, p. 31, ISBN 3-8118-6613-3 .
  5. ^ The Levee District. Chicagology
  6. ↑ John Kobler: Al Capone. Playboy Report, Moewig Verlag 1971, p. 30, ISBN 3-8118-6613-3 .
  7. ↑ Bucket of Blood on Chicago Crime Scenes
  8. ^ Bucket of Blood. Chibar Project
  9. ↑ Cynthia M. Blair: I've Got to Make My Livin ': Black Women's Sex Work in Turn-of-the-Century Chicago (Historical Studies of Urban America). P. 137
  10. ^ Freiberg's Dance Hall. Chicago Crime Scenes
  11. ↑ The Golden Age of Chicago Prostitution: A Q&A with Karen Abbott on Freakonomics
  12. ^ Gael Chandler: Chronicles of Old San Francisco: Exploring the Historic City by the Bay. Museyon guides. October 2014. pp. 249-250, ISBN 978-0-9846334-9-4 .
  13. ^ The Levee District - Bed Bug Row. Chicagology
  14. ^ Customs House Place. The Chicago Crime Scenes
  15. ^ Robert J. Schoenberg: Al Capone. The biography. Chapter: A city begins to dance. Albatross Verlag, Düsseldorf 2001, p. 48. ISBN 3-491-96042-8 .
  16. ^ The Four Deuces
  17. ^ Robert J. Schoenberg: Al Capone. The biography. Albatross, Düsseldorf 2001, p. 55. ISBN 3-491-96042-8 .
  18. ^ Robert J. Schoenberg: Al Capone. The biography. Albatross, Düsseldorf 2001, p. 57. ISBN 3-491-96042-8 .
  19. ↑ The Life And Crimes Of Al Capone. Chicago Tribune. August 26, 1997
  20. ↑ Jonathan Eig: Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America's Most Wanted. P. 19
  21. ^ Robert J. Schoenberg: Al Capone. The biography. Chapter: A city begins to dance. Albatross Verlag, Düsseldorf 2001, pp. 37-39. ISBN 3-491-96042-8 .
  22. ↑ Giacomo "Big Jim" Colosimo on www.scenacriminis
  23. ↑ John Kobler: Al Capone. Playboy Report, Moewig Verlag 1971, p. 31, ISBN 3-8118-6613-3 .
  24. ↑ John Kobler: Al Capone. Playboy Report, Moewig Verlag 1971, p. 35, ISBN 3-8118-6613-3 .
  25. ^ Robert J. Schoenberg: Al Capone. The biography. Chapter: A city begins to dance. Albatross Verlag, Düsseldorf 2001, p. 46. ISBN 3-491-96042-8 .
  26. ^ Robert J. Schoenberg: Al Capone. The biography. Chapter: A city begins to dance. Albatross Verlag, Düsseldorf 2001, p. 46. ISBN 3-491-96042-8 .
  27. ↑ John Kobler: Al Capone. Playboy Report, Moewig Verlag 1971, p. 34, ISBN 3-8118-6613-3 .
  28. ↑ John Kobler: Al Capone. Playboy Report, Moewig Verlag 1971, p. 34, ISBN 3-8118-6613-3 .
  29. ^ Robert J. Schoenberg: Al Capone. The biography. Chapter: A city begins to dance. Albatross Verlag, Düsseldorf 2001, p. 46. ISBN 3-491-96042-8 .
  30. ^ Dope and Death doomed Levee "Queen" recalls. Chicago Tribune. March 16, 1949
  31. ^ Robert J. Schoenberg: Al Capone. The biography. Chapter: A city begins to dance. Albatross Verlag, Düsseldorf 2001, p. 27, p. 49. ISBN 3-491-96042-8 .
  32. ↑ John Kobler: Al Capone. Playboy Report, Moewig Verlag 1971, p. 32, ISBN 3-8118-6613-3 .
  33. ↑ John Kobler: Al Capone. Playboy Report, Moewig Verlag 1971, p. 31, ISBN 3-8118-6613-3 .
  34. ↑ O'Brien starts Levee clean-up. For first time in Years South Side Saloons close at 1 at the Chicago Tribune. December 11, 1911
  35. ^ Robert J. Schoenberg: Al Capone. The biography. Chapter: A city begins to dance. Albatross Verlag, Düsseldorf 2001, p. 49. ISBN 3-491-96042-8 .
  36. ^ Ed Weiss Resort closed by Mayor. Chicago Tribune, October 22, 1913
  37. ^ Freiberg's Dance Hall. Last Stronghold of the Levee. Chicago Tribune. July 23, 1914
  38. ^ The History of Chicago's "Red-Light" Vice Districts. The Digital Research, January 2, 2017
  39. ^ The Chicago "Politics" of Hinky Dink and Bathhouse John
  40. ^ The Story of Bathhouse John. Chicago Tribune, May 24, 1953
  41. ↑ a b c d e f g The ladies Everleigh. Chicago Tribune. January 21, 1979
  42. ↑ Chicago Tribune. November 13, 1951
  43. ^ Laws Force felt by White Slaver. Chicago Tribune. October 10, 1909
  44. ↑ member betrays Band of Pander. More than Twenty-five Men in the Gang Are Now Under Surveillance. Chicago Tribune
  45. ^ Colosimos Home. Chicago Crime Scenes
  46. ^ Troy Taylor: Murder and Mayhem in Chicago's Vice Districts, The History Press, 2009. ISBN 978-1-59629-692-3 .
  47. ^ Sin in the Second City. New York Times, August 12, 2007
  48. ^ Origin of White Slavery. Chicago Guide to The Loop's Unusual Attractions
  49. ↑ the quote in a different reading, which should come from her time on the Barbary Coast in San Francisco, read: "any girl who is good enough for a high class house, is good enough for my joint"
  50. ^ Customs House Place. Chicago Crimes Scenes
  51. ↑ Stephen Schneider: Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada, Wiley, 2009, p. 128. ISBN 978-0-470-83500-5
  52. ^ William Stead: "If Christ Came to Chicago" First Ward, Chicago, Laird & Lee 1894
  53. ↑ The Notorious Madame Gaine on Zenith City Online