Chicago Race Riot of 1919-- Part 5: The Results and Reasons

When the rioting ended five days later, 38 were dead (23 Black and 15 White), 520 injured (2/3 Black) and some 1,000 black residents had had their homes torched by Whites.

Chicago became a popular destination for Southern Blacks during the Great Migration and World War I.  Jobs were plentiful and opportunity abounding.  The black population of Chicago grew quickly.

Part of the problem was that of jobs.  Blacks were getting jobs that Whites had previously held.  And then there were all the white soldiers returning from World War I and looking for jobs.  Racial tensions grew until exploding in the most violent week in Chicago history (even more violent than present-day Chicago's woes).

It was among a string of nationwide outbreaks of racial and labor conflicts collectively known today as "Red Summer."

There is now a tour of some major sites pertaining to the riot.

The Chicago 1919 Race Riot-- Part 4: What Happened to Start It

Beaches were packed that hot day and black youths playing on a raft drifted over an invisible but accepted line that separated Blacks and Whites at 29th Street Beach.  This angered Whites.

The Chicago Tribune says the 29th Street Beach was for Whites and the 25th Street Beach was for Blacks.

George Stauber, a 24-year-old white man, hurled stones at the boys until 17-year-old Eugene Williams fell off the raft and drowned.  Daniel Callahan, the first police officer to arrive, refused to arrest Stauber -- angering Blacks.

Today, these two beaches are part of the Burnham Park Beaches which consist of 25th/26th Street Beaches and the Margaret Taylor Burroughs (31st Street) Beach

And, the riot started from that point.

The Chicago 1919 Race Riot-- Part 3: Bronzeville, Bridgeport and Back of the Yards

Recently about 150 bicyclists took a journey through this event's history, starting at the Lake Michigan shore front at 29th Street, the site of the only marker of the event.  They then went through sites in Chicago neighborhoods now called Bronzeville, Bridgeport and Back of the Yards.

This was "The Chicago 1919 Bike Tour: Visualizing the 1919 Riots in Today's Chicago."  It is part of "Chicago 1919: Confronting the Race Riots" which is a year-long initiative.

The Chicago Sun-Times first learned about this in March and interviewed  107-year-old Juanita Mitchell who now lives in south suburban Chicago, but in 1919 lived in the affected areas as an eight-year-old and remembers how women and children hid in her home as the men stood guard by the window.

The Chicago 1919 Race Riot-- Part 2: Sunday, July 27, 1919

Yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the beginning of this tragic event in Chicago.  As I have already stated, 38 people -- 23 Black and 15 White; 520 injured -- 2/3 Black and Whites torched the homes of some 1,000 Blacks.

It lasted for a week.

From the July 26, 2019, Chicago Sun-Times  "Ride reflects on city's most violent week" by Maudlyne Ihejirika.

Sadly, there is little to mark it in Chicago.  The only permanent thing is a marker near 29th Street.  It reads:

"A RIOT IS THE LANGUAGE OF THE UNHEARD."   Dr. Martin Luther King.

Dedicated to all the victims of the Race Riot that began near this place.

Sunday, July 27, 1919 a group of boys rafting on Lake Michigan drifted over an invisible racial barrier.  Rocks were thrown from the breakwater and Eugene Williams was struck.  His drowning sparked a week-long race riot that resulted in scores of deaths and injuries.

"DARKNESS CANNOT DRIVE OUT DARKNESS:  ONLY LIGHT CAN DO THAT.  HATE CANNOT DRIVE OUT HATE:  ONLY LOVE CAN DO THAT."  Dr. martin Luther King.

Sponsored by the students from York High School, Elmhurst, Illinois and Chicago Park District 2002.

Just One Marker?

Today Marks the 100th Anniversary of a Sad Week in Chicago: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

I came across an article in the July 26, 2019, Chicago Sun-Times "Ride Reflects On City's Most Violent Week" by Maudline Ihejirika.

Today, July 27, marks the 100th anniversary of this sad event.  It was a violent racial incident provoked by Whites on Blacks in Chicago and last a week.  At the end of that time 38 people were dead (23 Black and 15 White) and 537 injured (2/3 Black) and 1,000 to 2,000  mostly Blacks lost their homes.

It is considered the worst of the 25 racial and labor riots that occurred  in the so-named "Red Summer"

It did not end until August 3, 1919.

There is only one marker telling of the events.

I will be writing more about this in the upcoming week.

There Should Definitely Be More Markers and Statues To the Event.

Eleven Fascinating Numbers About Apollo 11-- Part 2: 48

30--  When the Eagle, Apollo 11's lunar module landed, it had less than 30 seconds of fuel left.  Any less than that and the mission would have been aborted.

21:13--  Number of hours and minutes Armstrong and Aldrin spent altogether on the Moon.

151--  The number of minutes spend walking on the surface.

73--  In addition to the lunar module, American flag and a plaque, a one and a half-inch silicon disc was left with goodwill messages from 73 countries.

48--  Pounds of Moon rocks brought back.

21--  For fear of lunar bacteria, the three had to spend  21 days in quarantine.

1,096,348--  How far Apollo 11 traveled from liftoff to landing.  That's 224 round trips between New York and Los Angeles.

Figures In My Eyes.  --Cooter

Eleven Fascinating Numbers About Apollo 11-- Part 1: 363

From CBS 19 by Arthur Pittman.

Here are some obscure and not so obscure numbers about the mission.

Obviously 7-20-69.

2,978--  Before a joint  session of  Congress, Pres. John F. Kennedy made a declaration on May  25, 1961, to get a man on the Moon.  It happened this many days later.

400,000--  The estimated number of men and women involved in getting this to happen.

1--  Just one movie, "Hidden Figures," that showed the role of women, especially black women, in getting it done.

363--  The Saturn V rocket that carried them off Earth stood this tall in feet.  There is a Saturn 1B rocket at the Alabama border on I-65 if you want to get an idea of how big of a rocket it is.  It is huge.

6,200,000--  Number of pounds it weighed fully fueled.

More to Come.  --Cooter

Man on the Moon, 11 Things-- Part 4: Flag From Sears

10.  President Nixon had a speech prepared in case of mission failure.  Nixon speechwriter William Safire had written a failure speech two days before the landing in case of the deaths of Aldrin and Armstrong.

The speech focused on their being marooned on the Moon.  Part of it went like this:   "Those courageous men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know there's no hope for his survival.  However, they know there's hope for mankind in their sacrifice."

This speech is in the National Archives.

11.  The flag planted by Aldrin and Armstrong is the only one planted by all the missions which is not standing.

They had had trouble planting the flag in the hard lunar soil.  Aldrin said that he had seen the flag topple from the lunar module's exhaust.

All of the Apollo flags were purchased at Sears by NASA secretaries on their lunch hour.

So, Now You Know.  --CootFlag

Man On the Moon, 11 Things-- Part 3: A Felt-Tip Pen to the Rescue

7.  A felt-tip pen rescued the astronauts.  Within the cramped confines of the lunar module, Neil Armstrong's backpack smashed into the  ascent engine arming transfer.  He broke it.  Not a good thing.  But Buzz Aldrin pulled a felt-tip pen out of the pocket of his spacesuit.

It worked and they got off the Moon.

8.  Armstrong and Aldrin left their pee and poop on the moon along with pieces of items associated with seismic testing,  and the silicon "Memorial Disc."

9.  NASA quarantined the astronauts for three weeks after their return for fear of Moon plague.  First they were on the USS Hornet and then at Pearl Harbor.

--CootMoon

Man on the Moon-- Part 2: 11 Things You Might Not Know

4.  The lunar spacesuits had been created by way of an underwear corporation.  Playtex, better known for its bras, had a lot to do with the design of those spacesuits.

5.  NASA was fearful that a launching pad explosion could hurt spectators.  The large Saturn V rocket used for the launch.  In 1965, two engineers figured an explosion on the pad would  create a 14,000 foot fireball with temperatures of up to 2500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bits of shrapnel could rain down on up to a 3 mile radius.    As such, NASA seated Vice President Spiro Agnew and former President Lyndon Johnson and other VIPs three miles away.

6.  Buzz Aldrin took communion on the Moon.  After the lunar module touched down on the Sea of Tranquility Aldrin radioed back to Earth:  "I'd love to take this chance to invite each and every particular person listening in, whoever and  anyplace they is also, to pause for a second and ponder the occasions of the previous few hours and to offer thank you in his or her  personal approach."

Then, Aldrin -- an elder in the Webster Presbyterian Church in Webster, Texas,  -- switched off the radio, opened small plastic boxes of bread and wine and browsed silently from the Gospel of John.

--CootMoon

Man on the Moon-- Part 1: 11 Things You Might Not Know

From the Latest Breaking News "11 Things You Never Knew About Apollo 11."

1.  Did Neil Armstrong put his dead daughter's bracelet on the Moon?  He was out of sight and communication for three minutes while on the moon.

2.  President Kennedy didn't really care that much about the Moon.  In the public he was all gung-ho about it, but wanted to get there before the Soviet Union.

3.  The Apollo 11 team had to sell their autographs to secure insurance for the mission.  Sitting on a flaming rocket propelling into space was not a safe insurance for providers.  To cover insurance, they signed a lot of envelopes and would have their buddies postmark them for July 20, 1969.

These envelopes have sold for as much as $28,500.

--Cooter

Death of Baseball's Willie McCovey in 2018-- Part 2

In his MLB debut, Willie McCovey only went 4-for-4 with two triples, two RBIs and three runs scored in a 7-2 win against the Phillies (who were no doubt saying, "Who was that guy?").  This started a stretch where the Giants won ten of twelve games.

McCovey batted .354 with 13 homers, 38 RBIs, five triples and nine doubles on his way to winning NL Rookie of the Year.

Said Hall of Famer Hank Aaron:  "You knew right away he wasn't an ordinary ballplayer.  he was so strong, and he had the gift of knowing the strike zone.  There's no telling how many home runs he would have hit if those knees weren't bothering him all the time and if he had played in a park other than Candlestick."

McCovey had attended games at the new AT&T Park as recently as the final game of the season.

I Sure Remember Him.  --Cooter

Death of Baseball's Willie McCovey in 2018-- Part 1: "Stretch"

WILLIE McCOVEY  1938-2018

From the November 1, 2018, Chicago Tribune  "A sweet swinging Hall of Famer" AP.

Willie McCovey was called "Stretch" for his 6-foot-4 height and those long arms.  he died October 31 at age 80.

He played first base and left field during his career with the San Francisco Giants and was a career .270 hitter with 521 home runs and 1,555 RBIs in 22 major league seasons, 19 of them with the Giants.  He also played for the Padres and Athletics.

His major-league debut came at age 21 on July 30, 1959, after tearing up the Pacific Coast League that year.  He played alongside that other "Willie", Hall of Famer, and that would be Willie Mays into the 1972 season when Mays was traded to the Mets in May of that year.

I well remember his playing days.  He was always a threat to my Cubs.

Stargell, Mays and Marichal.   Wow.

Wayne Huizenga-- Part 5: Back to Waste Management and Then to Car Rentals and Sales

Wayne Huizenga sold Blockbuster to Viacom in 1994 for about $8 billion.

Still not satisfied to retire and live on all that money, in 1995, he got back into the trash hauling business by buying Republic Waste Industries Inc. for $27 million.Mergers and acquisitions soon followed.  He renamed the company Republic Industries as it branched out, buying Alamo Rent-A-Car and National Car Rental.

Republic, under Huizenga's leadership, then started AutoNation, a national chain of auto dealerships.  At its peak, it had 375 dealerships in 17 states.

Republic Services was spun off in 1998 to control the waste management portion of its portfolio, a sector that had grown to about $1 billion in annual sales.  he remained its chairman until 2002.

Quite a Man.  A Real American Success Story.  --Cooter

Wayne Huizenga-- Part 4: Bought the Blockbuster Chain and Grew It

He could have retired nicely, but that bored him.  With the money, he started buying dozens of small businesses like hotels and pest control companies.

In 1987, a business partner got him to check out Blockbuster, a small chain of video stores.  Video stores were usually small locally owned .mom and pop operations.  At the time, Huizenga didn't even own a VCR.  When he saw the Blockbuster stores it opened his mind to the idea.

The stores were clean and carried 10,000 titles, ten times more than most video stores at the time.  He loved the concept and thought it could become the McDonald's of video.  He and his two partners bought 43 % of the business for $19 million and he became chairman and president.

By 1991, the chain had grown to over 1,800 stores.

A Real Businessman.  --Cooter

Here's the Complete List of 13 "American" Movies You Can Watch on the 4th of July

On July 4th, I began writing down this list, because of, you know, July 4th.  If fireworks and parades and such are not your thing, you can sit back and watch any of these movies for a taste of America.  I printed them in my Cooter's History Thing, Tattooed On Your Soul: World War II, Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 and Down Da Road I Go blogs.   Here is the complete list.

From the July 4, 2019, Chicago Tribune  "Celebrate Independence Day with 13 all-American movies" by Rex Crum.

The Godfather (1971)
Lincoln (2012)
Red Dawn (1984)

Miracle  (2004)
1776   (1972)
Independence Day  (1996)

Hidden Figures   (2016)
Apollo 13   (1995)
The Natural  (1984)

A League of Their Own  (1992)
Rocky  (1976)
The Dirty Dozen  (1967)
Stripes  (1981)

Pass the Popcorn.  --DaCootButter

Movie Watching on 4th of July-- Part 7: "A League Of Their Own," "Rocky" amd "Stripes"

Movies to avoid the mosquitoes.

"A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN"  (1992)

Tom Hanks makes his second appearance here as a drunken former baseball player who manages a women's baseball team during the manpower shortages of WW II.  Manages the Rockford Peaches in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

And, you've just got to love his quote:  "There's no crying in BASEBALL!!"

"ROCKY"  (1976)

How much more "American" can "Rocky" get.  Sylvester Stallone was the ultimate underdog and a fairly unknown person as an actor at the time.

The movie, its follow-ups, and he remain a big deal to this very day.


"STRIPES"  (1981)

If "Animal House" made kids want to join a fraternity, then "Stripes" made them want to join the U.S. Army.  It would be hard for Bill Murray not to do well with a whole bunch of misfits.

Rent It, Watch It.  --Cooter

Movie Watching on 4th of July-- Part 6: "Apollo 13" and "The Natural"

These are movies to watch instead of dealing with the crowds and mosquitoes on the 4th of July.

Parts 1 and 2  are in my July 4, Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog.  Parts 3 and 4 are in my Tattooed On Your Soul blog of July 4, 2019.  Part 5 is in yesterday's Down Da Road I Go blog.

"APOLLO 13 (1995)

When Tom Hanks, playing Jim Lpvell, says "Houston, we have a problem," you know he's serious.  Thus begins the tale of the the greatest rescue mission in history.  This happened almost 50 years ago.

"THE NATURAL"  (1984)

This is the greatest sports movie of all time as a young man falls victim to temptation and then spends years seeking redemption.  Then Roy Hobbs, played by Robert Redford, hits that famous home run that knocks the lights out in the ballpark.

Well, I Got Ate Up By the Skeeters.  --CootBite

On July 4... --Part 2: A Real Bad Day for the Confederacy, A Starry Day for the Flag

1845--  Author Henry David Thoreau began his two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts.

1863--  Union troops under Gen. Ulysses Grant defeated Confederate forces at Vicksburg, Mississippi, ending a 14-month siege in the Civil War.  Occurring one day after the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg.

1917--  In a ceremony in Paris, France honoring the French hero of the American  Revolution, U.S. Lt. Colonel Charles Stanton declared, "Lafayette, we are here!"

1946--  The Philippines became an independent republic after 48 years of U.S. rule.

1959--  America's 49-star flag was unveiled honoring Alaska's statehood.

1960--  America's 50-star flag was unveiled honoring Hawaii's statehood.

--CootDec

On July 4 ...-- Part 1: You Know and a Bad Day for Presidents

From the July 4, 2019, Chicago Tribune.  These are events that happened this date over the years.

1776--  The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.

1802--  The United States Military Academy opened at West Point, New York.

1826--  The nation's second and third presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, died.

1831--  The fifth U.S. president, James Monroe, died  in New York.

--Coot4th

Wayne Huizenga-- Part 3: Owned Waste Management, Inc.

Harry Wayne Huizenga was born in the Chicago suburbs on December 29, 1937, to a family of garbage haulers.  He attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids , Michigan, but dropped out and began his own garbage hauling business in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 1962.

He would drive a garbage truck from 2 am to noon each day, then go shower and go out and solicit new customers.  He eventually bought out several competitors expanding throughout South Florida.  In 1968 he merged with the Chicago sanitation company his uncles owned, creating Waste Management Inc. which eventually became the world's largest trash company.

That was his method of operation -- becoming the first national player in industries dominated by small and local operations.  he resigned from the company in 1984 and was paid $100 million in stock.

--Cooter

Wayne Huizenga-- Part 2: "You Just Have To Be In the Right Place At the Right Time"

He was one of the guys everyone else watched in the business world because of his knack of getting in on the ground floors of money-making endeavors.

He built Blockbuster Entertainment into the leading video rental chain by buying competitors and cracked Forbes' list of 100 richest Americans, becoming chairman of Republic Services, one of the nation's top waste management companies and AutoNation, the nation's largest auto retailer.

For a time, he was a favorite among South Florida sports fans as he went on a spending spree and his Marlins won the World Series in the team's fifth year of existence.  (Mortifying Cub fans around the world.)  But then that turned to disdain when he dismantled the team after that season.

--Cooter

A Very Interesting Man: Wayne Huizenga (1937-2018)-- Part 1: Blockbuster Video and Sports Teams

From the March 25, 2018, Chicago Tribune "Owned teams, trash haulers and video stores" by Steven Wine and Terry Spencer (AP).

"College dropout Wayne Huizenga started with a trash-hauling company, struck gold during America's brief love affair with the VHS tapes (I still use VHS tapes to record TV shows) and eventually owned three professional sports teams.

"Huizenga owned Blockbuster Entertainment, AutoNation and the world's largest trash hauler, and was founding owner of professional baseball's Florida Marlins and NHL Florida Panthers.  He bought the NFL Miami Dolphins for $138 million in 1994."

Died March 24 at age 80.

The Marlins won the World Series in 1997 and Panthers reached the Stanley Cup final in 1996, but, to his chagrin, the Dolphins never reached the Super Bowl during his ownership.

And, how he became so rich is quite a story as well.  He was what they call a self-made millionaire.

More On That In My Next Post.

McDonald's Kiwi Burger: With an Egg an a Beet

In the last post I mentioned McDonald's Kiwi Burger as being one of my favorite things I've ever eaten.  Sadly, the only place you can get it is in New Zealand and a bit too far to go for take out.  So, I am hoping that McDonald's has this on their limited-time foreign menu.

As I said, I go into American fast food places in other countries to see if they have stuff we don't have here.  My family was visiting Australia and New Zealand back in the the 2000s and I had one of these great sandwiches.

This was the first time I had ever had a fried egg on a burger (now several places in the U.S. have that including Steak 'N Shake).  Wikipedia describes a Kiwi Burger:  four ounce burger patty, griddle egg, beet, tomato, lettuce, cheese, onions, mustard on a toasted bun.  I kind of think I also might have had several thin slices of kiwifruit on my Kiwi Burger.

It was introduced in 1994 and withdrawn in 2004 and has since returned for limited times several times.

This could be my new McRib.

Well. I'm Sure Hoping They Have It Here Now.  --CootKiwi

McDonald's Bring Overseas Offerings to U.S.

I wrote about 21 items offered at McDonald's in other countries back in December 2013 and they sounded delicious.

Now, I see they are bringing some here to the U.S. for limited times so I will have to get over there and check it out.

Sure hope they have the Kiwi Burger from New Zealand.

When I have been overseas, I never have had a problem going to an American fast food place as they often have different menu offerings.  I'd never, however, order a quarter-pounder or Big Mac.

--CootMac