WICKEDEST DISTRICT IN THE WORLD (1896-1909)
Misery, death, crime, vice, drugs, filth–you name it. Photojournalists and newspaper reporters in bold captions characterized the West Side area as the wickedest district not merely in the nation or in western civilization but in the global world. As the contemporary showman and huckster P.T. Barnum proclaimed, when it came to dominating the public’s attention, notoriety trumped honorable repute every time. bjb
- Dirt: Cause of Misery and Death in a West Side Ward (1896)
- Sleep In The Streets: Heat Drives Thousands from Tenements (1897)
- Tenement Conditions in Chicago Report of Investigation (1901)
- Shows Extent Of Child Gambling (1904)
- Crime Fills a District: West-Side Condition at its “Worst” (1906)
- Typical Chicago Tenement Court and Children’s Playground: Ewing Street. Near Halsted (1906)
- Wickedest District In The World (1906)
- Renews Crusade On Vice: Nickel Theaters Best, Children Permitted to Gamble (1907)
- Alley, Playground of Slums: Crime and Disease Result (1908)
- Drinking Women Nation’s Menace: Degeneracy of Children is Increasing (1908)
- Unhealthy Filth of Slums: Children Die Without Soap (1908)
- Slum Barefoot Brigade at Work: Hokey Pokey Chief Inspiration (1909)
Cocaine on Halsted Street (1903-1908)
- Law to Curtail Cocaine Abuses (1903)
- West Side Slaves Drug Habit (1903)
- West Side Levee Hears its Knell: Four Hundred Women to Leave (1905)
- Cocaine The Curse (1906)
- Cocaine Trade In Disguise (1907)
- Hidden Bottles of Cocaine Found in Chinese Laundries (1908)
- Druggist Gets Heavy Fine; Cocaine Slaves Accuse Him (1908)
Slum Living Conditions (1897-1911)
