The First Vice Lord: Big Jim Colosemo and the Ladies of the Levee

by Bilek, Arthur J.

• ISBN13: 9781581826395
• ISBN10: 1581826397
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-05-01
• Publisher: Cumberland House

Summary

The First Vice Lord is the story of the life and death of Big Jim Colosimo and Chicago?s infamous segregated red-light district?the Levee. For the first time, the true story is told of the colorful characters who peopled the Levee from the time of the Columbian Exposition to the Roaring Twenties, clearly the most colorful period in Chicago?s history. The product of five years of research through Chicago daily newspapers, magazines, and periodicals, and books on the city?s history, it documents the story as it occurred, with all of the sights, sounds, and smells of that lusty, unruly era. The First Vice Lord is the story of an immigrant Italian lad who grew up in the tenements of Chicago, where he worked first as a lowly street sweeper, then as a brothel operator and vice lord, and finally as the owner of the most famous restaurant of his day. His story is told against the backdrop of an open red-light district so famous it was known to the crown heads of Europe. Here are the painted ladies, the smarmy pimps, and the tough madams in their duel with the reformers and crusaders, from journalist Reverend William Steed to fiery evangelist Gypsy Smith.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. 7
Introduction	p. 11
Chicago-City of Opportunity
One Spectacular Funeral [1920]	p. 17
A Birth in Italy [1879-1891]	p. 25
Early Vice in Chicago [1857-1892]	p. 29
Growing Up [1892-1897]	p. 33
White Wings [1892-1902]	p. 37
Two Colorful Aldermen [1892-1902]	p. 43
The Levee [1893-1911]	p. 51
"If Christ Came to Chicago" [1893-1894]	p. 57
The Sisters Everleigh [1900-1912]	p. 61
First Ward Ball [1896-1908]	p. 67
Pimp to Vice Lord [1902-1912]	p. 77
Family and Business [1902-1912]	p. 83
Chicago-City of Vice and Corruption
Fighting Vice and Corruption [1901-1910]	p. 89
White Slavery [1908-1909]	p. 95
Marchers and Hymns [1907-1909]	p. 101
The Battle for the Levee Continues [1910]	p. 109
Report of the Vice Commission [1911]	p. 113
Everleigh Club Closes [1911]	p. 121
Gangster from New York [1905-1912]	p. 127
State's Attorney Wayman's Raids [1912]	p. 133
Morals Squad [1913-1914]	p. 143
Shooting of Sergeant Birns [1914]	p. 151
Colosimo in a Cell [1914]	p. 159
The Levee Closes [1914]	p. 165
Out in the County [1914-1915]	p. 171
Chief Healey Has Troubles [1914-1917]	p. 177
Chicago-City of Broken Dreams
Metamorphosis of Big Jim [1917]	p. 189
Colosimo's Cafe [1918-1919]	p. 195
Singing Angel [1917-1919]	p. 201
Wartime Prohibition [1918-1919]	p. 207
Eighteenth Amendment [1918-1920]	p. 211
Divorce and Second Marriage [1920]	p. 221
The Clock Ticks Down [1920]	p. 227
Murder! [1920]	p. 233
Investigating in All Directions [1920]	p. 243
What Happened to the Cash? [1920]	p. 253
The End of the Levee and Big Jim [1920]	p. 261
Epilogue	p. 263
Glossary of Period Terms	p. 273
Notes	p. 287
Bibliography	p. 305
Index	p. 311
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