The Devil In The White City

The Devil In The White City tells the story of Chicago in the late 1800s and how it had a chance to rise above terrible crime and social unrest when it won the bid to host the World’s Fair but instead ended up contributing to the creation of the world’s first known serial killer.

As the turn of the century approached, Chicago was a place full of violence and crime. Death was a common occurrence. On average, two people died by trains every day. People also often died in fires because the wooden shanty homes went in flames all too easily, trapping people inside.

Another killer was the water supply, which was rife with germs like typhus and cholera. The trash-lined streets were full of flies, rats, and animal corpses, and there were no organized groups with the duty to collect them.

Perhaps scariest of all though was that the murder rates were some of the highest in North America, and the police were too understaffed and undertrained to handle the violent city. The city averaged about four murders daily. When doctor H. H. Holmes stepped off the train in Chicago, he knew he had found the perfect place to hide dark acts.

Though it was full of unrest, Chicago was also going through much-needed social change. Women were beginning to work, and this allowed young, single women to build lives for themselves for the first time. Industry was booming and Chicago was home to the biggest meatpacking district in the country. Real estate was booming, and soon modern skyscrapers were rising all over.

At the turn of the century, the US lagged behind Europe in terms of cultural charm. In 1889, France hosted the Exposition Universelle, which was a huge and glamorous world’s fair. A world’s fair was a huge public event that took place in a mini-city within a large city. World fairs invited other countries to come and host exhibits and also displayed modern innovations for everyone to marvel at. After their embarrassing jumbled booths at France’s fair, the United States knew it needed to host their own to repair their reputation. So they threw the World’s Columbian Exposition to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Columbus. There were many cities in the running to host the event, but in part due to Chicago residents’ proud boasts about their city, Chicago won the bid to host the event. They also chose the perfect man to head the job-architect Daniel Burnham. He was full of charisma and a natural leader. However, he soon found out how complex the job would be. The economy was struggling, and Chicago was beginning to experience class conflict. Between a looming…