1919: The Year of Living Dangerously (Hybrid)

Historians often point to pivotal years of profound change that mark a turning point from one era to the next. 1919 was one such year. Richard Lindberg discusses what happened in Chicago during that important year and its parallels to our modern age. The influenza pandemic continued to claim lives as the soldiers of World War I began returning from European battlefields. A long-forgotten accident involved an air blimp crashing in the heart of Chicago's business district, immediately followed by the worst race riot in city history. A young Al Capone, newly arrived in the city, began to lay the foundation for the wild and reckless 1920's gangster era. Chicagoans desired a "Return to Normalcy," a campaign slogan of the day that still rings true in the post-pandemic world we live in.

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