Early 20th Century - Business and Economy
Industry and Labor
Ordinance Concerning Work Hours and Wages, February 19th, 1900 / Transcription
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This ordinance requires that the city of Chicago employees would receive a minimum pay of two dollars for an eight hour work day, that an employee working more than eight hours was paid time and a half for additional time, and working on Sundays was paid twice the minimum.
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Citation: Bailey, Robert E. and Elaine Shemoney Evans. From the Ashes, 1872-1900 A Selection of Documents from the Proceedings Files of the Chicago City Council. Springfield: Illinois State Archives, 1990. Document 50. Used by permission of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Accessed on 12/01/2016. https://cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/teaching_packages/from_the_ashes/doc50.html
The Jungle
Upton Sinclair's "muckraking" novel, published in 1906, exposed the appalling conditions in the meatpacking industry. The public outcry pushed the United States government to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which established the Food and Drug Administration. The Jungle tells the tale of Lithuanian immigrant, Jurgis, who comes to live and work in the "jungle" of the Chicago stockyards.
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: Packinghouse Tour, 1906
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In this excerpt, Jurgis tours the facilities of a Packinghouse.
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Citation: Upton Sinclair. The Jungle. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1906. 35-38.
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: Pollution, 1906
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Incredible pollution was caused by the stockyards. This paragraph describes "Bubbly Creek," used as drainage for the grease and chemicals produced by the packinghouses.
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Citation: Upton Sinclair. The Jungle. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1906. 92.
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: Inspections, 1906
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The United States laws and the corrupt management of the packinghouses contributed to the packing and selling of tainted meat. This passage describes both contributors to the unsanitary food eaten by Americans, and particularly by residents of Illinois.
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Citation: Upton Sinclair. The Jungle. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1906. 92-93.
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: Fertilizer Plant, 1906
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Jurgis is reduced to taking the worst job in Packingtown - the fertilizer plant. Waste products were processed into fertilizer here, and thus all parts of the animals were used. Working conditions were especially terrible in the fertilizer plant, as Jurgis soon learns.
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Citation: Upton Sinclair. The Jungle. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1906. 125-127.
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: Pickling and Sausage, 1906
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This is one of The Jungle's famously nauseating passages, describing the methods used to pickle meat and make sausage.
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Citation: Upton Sinclair. The Jungle. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1906. 130-132.
Transportation
Roads
Photo of State Street in Chicago, c. 1907
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Photo caption: State Street, Chicago, looking north from Madison Street, (one of the busiest streets in the world at 18 miles long).
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Citation: Strong, Josiah. The Challenge of the City. New York: Eaton & Mains, 1907.
Railroads
Map of Mattoon Township, 1913, showing railroad and interurban routes
- Citation: Geo. A. Ogle & Company, Standard Atlases of Coles County, Illinois. 53.
Map of La Fayette Township, 1913, showing railroad and interurban routes.
- Citation: Geo. A. Ogle & Company, Standard Atlases of Coles County, Illinois. 51.
