OF MEN AND MACHINES:
AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTING PATTERNS IN 1930s CHICAGO
Open Access
Author:
Krasnopolsky, Brian Victor
Area of Honors:
History
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Tobias Heinrich Albert Brinkmann, Thesis Supervisor Tobias Heinrich Albert Brinkmann, Thesis Supervisor Catherine Wanner, Thesis Honors Advisor Eric Charles Novotny, Faculty Reader
Keywords:
Chicago Politics Cermak Thompson African-American
Abstract:
Urban politics and the urban political machine has for over a century been integral to Democratic political power in the United States. In this thesis, I focus on the development of the Chicago political machine in the 1920s and 1930s, with specific emphasis on the political career of Anton Cermak. The actions of Anton Cermak, coupled with the interests of the national Democratic party, allowed for the creation of a political machine that would define Chicago politics to the present day. My analysis also focuses on African-American voting behavior during the same period, with special attention paid to the party conversion of many African-Americans in the years following the 1931 mayoral election.
