In 1918, there was a scandal around Chicago’s classy hotels: employees were accused of using “Mickey Finn” powders to knock their wealthy customers out, so that they could be robbed. In the 1920s and 30s you heard the term used for knock-out drops given to boxers by people trying to fix fights. Around the same…
Tag: history
Frances Carrick, a Chicago Trans Woman Accused of Murder in 1923
This is the story of Frances Carrick, a transgender woman accused of murder in Chicago in 1923.
The Grave of Big Thunder: A Deep Dive
The exposed corpse of Big Thunder, which was an Illinois tourist trap in the 1830s. A deep dive into first hand accounts.
Girl in Glass: The Inez Statue at Graceland Cemetery
Lots of new information on the history of Inez, Graceland Cemetery’s famous “Girl in Glass.”
When Illinois Packed Its Supreme Court
As of the 1830s, when Chicago was just rising up from its status as a mudhole on the prairie, the law in Illinois was that anyone could vote in the state as long as they’d lived here for sixth months (Well, provided that they were white, male, and over 21). This included people who weren’t…
Henry Rhines: The Chicago Slave-Catcher
The career of Henry Rhines, an early Chicago villain.
Uncollected Frederick Douglass Speech Discovered
I love research. I feel like Indiana Jones when I’m digging around in a box crumbling paperwork at the legal archives. And, though it’s a lot easier to search old newspapers that have been digitized, it’s more of an adventure to browse the microfilm reels. For one thing, it’s the closest you can get to…
Was John Stone Chicago’s First Serial Killer? (podcast)
John Stone was the first murderer hanged in Chicago – and suggested the murder wasn’t his first. An “oral history” of his Chicago crime.