Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939

Lizabeth Cohen's Making a New Deal is a deep examination of how Chicago industrial workers from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds were able to unite during the Great Depression and New Deal. Cohen has written a massive sprawling narrative that leaves little un-turned about Chicago Industrial Workers from 1919 to 1939 showing how the diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds kept workers divided in a post-WWI economy inflamed by the very companies they worked for and how by the New Deal workers were able to put aside those differences to unite for better working conditions overall. Cohen is able to weave how these workers lived in their community, turned to their communities in times of need, isolated themselves and how they interacted with mass media and how industrialists were able to foster a united worker community at work through welfare-capitalism and eventually how Immigrants and African Americans began to participate in national politics by voting for the Democratic party at every level, local/city, state and federal. Overall, Cohen shows how the New Deal was made possible by the workers at the ground level. Cohen's book is a must read for anyone interested in the history of Chicago, the New Deal and labor rights.

A great view of how early American cities moved from local, ethnic based social networks to more governmental support systems. Also gives a great inside view using Chicago as its case study as to what an urban space looked like and how that space changed and developed based on the role of industry, unions, and the population within those spaces.

This book is an absolute labor of love! You can easily picture Chicago in the 1920's and 1930's while reading the book, and witness the ebb and flow of politics, personalities, ethnicity, and the economy. A great study of Chicago, labor relations, and humanity in Chicago between the wars.

This work removes the agency of the New Deal from FDR and places it in the hands of the working class, primarily Chicago. There is probably some truth in that. This is a good book in the study of what the working class went through during the depression, it will give you insight. It is well written, easy to read, and very well documented.

Perfect!