When she was told not to look back at the evil cities of sodom and gomorra, or else she would be turned into a pillar of salt, she did anyway. Opened in 1865, chicago s union stock yard was the greatest livestock market the world had seen. Chicagos union stock yard and the world it made university of chicago press, a new book by. Revisiting the jungle in modern times chicago tribune. Chicagos union stock yard and the world it made, dominic a. Dominic pacyga traces chicago stockyards history in.
Dominic pacyga, a local historian and former stockyard worker, tells the story in his new book slaughterhouse. Sinclairs book told the tale of an immigrant familys toil in chicago s slaughterhouses, tracing the familys physical, financial and emotional collapse. Chicago s union stock yard and the world it made from the worlds largest community of readers. They all live in a small town named packingtown in chicago. Slaughterhouse tells the story of the union stock yard, chronicling the rise and fall of an industrial district that, for better or worse, served as the public face of chicago for decades. Chicago s union stock yard and the world it made on friday night at the bridgeport art center, 1200 w.
The book begins with his wife ona and his wedding feast. Upton sinclairs book the jungle exposed the unsanitary conditions in the chicago slaughterhouses of the early 1900s. Chicago is one of the major cities with high rates of obesity and health related illnesses directly caused by consuming animal products. The main character in the book, jurgis rudkus, a lithuanian immigrant, tries to make ends meet in chicago. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read slaughterhouse. When it was published in serial form in 1905, it was a full third longer than the censored, commercial edition published in book form the following year. Be sure to watch the eyeopening video of activity at a slaughterhouse in 1949. The jungle, americas most influential proletarian novel, emerged from a seven week investigation of chicagos slaughterhouses. Slaughterhouse is a critically important book about one of the citys epic neighborhoods. Slaughterhouse is vital reading for all concerned with urban, industrial, and social history. Pacyga is the great bard of chicagohistorian, raconteur, social critic. In turnofthecentury berlin, visits to the slaughterhouse were so popular that special tour books were printed to guide visitors through the facility. Automatic works cited and bibliography formatting for mla, apa and chicago turabian citation styles. Npr stories about slaughterhouse the famed architectural firm burnham and root designed the iconic entranceway to the union stock yard in.
The jungle, americas most influential proletarian novel, emerged from a sevenweek investigation of chicagos slaughterhouses. Researching the book in 1904, upton sinclair interviewed fellow socialists, settlement house officials, health inspectors, and the workers themselves, who smuggled him into meatpacking plants so he could view conditions firsthand. Upton sinclairs book the jungle remains an inspiration to journalists. In his book slaughterhouse, published last october, the columbia college chicago history professor dominic pacyga traces the rise, fall and rebirth of the citys stockyards. The main character in the book, jurgis rudkus, a lithuanian immigrant, tries. When the world columbian exposition was held in chicago in 1893, more visitors went to the stockyards than to any of the expositions own attractions. The jungle is a 1906 novel by the american journalist and novelist upton sinclair 18781968. Dominic pacyga shares history of chicagos stockyards in slaughterhouse they closed some 44 years ago, but chicagos union stockyards profoundly shaped the development of the city and the modern world.
Pacyga is professor emeritus of history in the department of humanities, history, and social sciences at columbia college chicago. Chicago s union stock yard and the world it made ebook written by dominic a. Its common knowledge now that eating meat is the number one cause of heart disease. How chicagos slaughterhouse spectacles paved the way for. Chicago s union stock yard and the world it made by pacyga, dominic isbn. For many people henry fords 19 detroit assembly line is a symbol of technological triumph. By the 1890s, the railroad money behind the union stockyards was vanderbilt money. Tourists watched masses of animals move through kill. How chicago s slaughterhouse spectacles paved the way for big meat.
As area changes, chicagos last big slaughterhouse moving. Generations of workers walked to jobs at dozens of slaughterhouses and packing plants concentrated. Slaughterhouse is the engrossing story of the creation and transformation of one of the most importantand deadliestsquare miles in american history. The union stockyards operated in the new city community. The public outrage caused by this sort of investigative reporting led directly to the a. If you have read upton sinclairs the jungle, and most of us probably have, then you are at least aware of the subject of this book, the chicago this is a rather difficult book to rate. Search results are sorted by a combination of factors to give you a set of choices in response to your search criteria.
Chicago s union stockyard and the world it made, chronicles the 150year history of chicago s infamous union stock yards. Utterly disturbing, centuryold photos of meatpacking. The history of the stockyards is the subject of dominic pacygas slaughterhouse. Vonnegut, the author, is comparing himself to lots wife in the bible. Slaughterhouses a jungle no more united states the. A halfcentury ago this week, kurt vonneguts slaughterhousefive a darkly comic, throughly batshit, semiautobiographical antiwar novel about a fatalistic young american soldier who survives the firebombing of dresden and becomes unstuck in timewas first published.
Upton sinclair, whose muckraking changed the meat industry. Cite your book in modern language association 8th edition format for free. Yp the real yellow pages sm helps you find the right local businesses to meet your specific needs. Book description for nearly a century, the original version of upton sinclairs classic novel has remained almost entirely unknown. His books include polish immigrants and industrial chicago. Chicago s union stock yard and the world it made, all from the university of chicago press. They closed some 44 years ago, but chicago s union stockyards profoundly shaped the development of the city and the modern world. Slaughterhouse book to be presented at bridgeport art center. Chicagos union stock yard and the world it made pacyga, dominic a. The jungle is a novel by upton sinclair, published serially in 1905 and as a book in 1906. She remembers her childhood love of books and reading, how she got her.
Factory networks in the industrial metropolis pacyga is the great bard of chicago historian, raconteur, social critic. Pacyga is published by university of chicago press. Dominic pacyga shares history of chicagos stockyards in. Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the united states in chicago and similar industrialized cities. The jungle paperback chicago public library bibliocommons. An interview with dominic pacyga chicago historian dominic pacygas latest book slaughterhouse. After you look at these images of meatpacking facilities from early last century, youll understand why social reformer upton sinclair wrote his great 1906 novel the jungle about workers.
From the minute it openedon christmas day in 1865it was chicagos. It is a book that will appeal to a narrow group of readers. Sinclairs book helped bring into existence, in 1906, the pure food and drug act and the federal meat inspection act, the first in a series of sanitary and. Courtesy of university of chicago pressdominic pacyga dave talks with author dominic pacyga about his new book marking the 150 th anniversary of the opening of the stockyards. Chicago traffic came to a standstill as cowboys on horseback herded livestock through the streets. Pacyga is a guide like no otherhe grew up in the shadow of the stockyards, spent summers in their hog house and cattle yards, and maintains a. Upton sinclairs book the jungle exposed the unsanitary. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a centralized processing area. In 1890 it took about eight to 10 hours for a skilled butcher and his assistant to slaughter and dress a steer on a farm. For pacyga, a history professor at columbia college chicago. Why does the author say that the book was written by a pillar of salt. As we near the 150th anniversary of the chicago stockyards, upton. Meat packing blues a book examines when chicago was the king of.
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