Back of the Yards

Images of America: Illinois

by Jeannette Swist

The Back of the Yards neighborhood, located in back of the Union Stockyards and composed of Packingtown, Town of Lake, and New City, was the setting of Upton Sinclair's classic 1906 novel, The Jungle. Permeated by an unforgettable smell, Back of the Yards was a melting pot of immigrants, many who worked in the stockyards. In 1894, Mary McDowell started the University of Chicago Settlement House in Back of the Yards. She improved living conditions and in 1905 helped create Davis Square Park. The Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council was founded in 1939 by Joseph Meegan, Saul Alinsky, and Bishop Bernard Sheil and is America's oldest notforprofit communitybased organization. It consisted of 185 delegate organizations involving residents, business owners, churches, parks, schools, and social clubs that worked to advocate improvements. The council motto continues on as "We the people will work out our own destiny." Relive the bustling activity and the lives of the people in the neighborhood through the historic images in Back of the Yards.

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2007

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Class F – Local History of the United States and British, Dutch, French, and Latin America

This book served double-duty. I am continuing to read my way through Library of Congress Classification. About six months ago, I began working in this Chicago neighborhood. It was interesting to see what used to be at various locations I pass on my way to work every day. I might do a program where teens match the old photos to current locations.

I would have liked more pictures of the neighborhood building and less of people I don't know.

[Brigid · Rating 5 out of 5]

First the disclaimers: most of the material in this book is from 1930 through 1960, and geographically, much of it focused on the section from 43rd to 47th St., Ashland to Honore. Out of all the parishes, the one most featured is Holy Cross. That said, if you would like a glimpse of your parents’, grandparents’, or great grandparents’ daily life, this book is fantastic. It’s all pictures and captions, 120 pages. I even found my grandparents in there as a young married couple.