2. HERBERT ASBURY
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September 1, 1889 – February 24, 1963
Writer and Journalist
Worked for The New York Times
Wrote “Gangs of Chicago” in 1940
Wrote books about “informal history”
• Crime
• Prostitution
• Gang activity
3. THE GANGS OF CHICAGO
Summary: Spanning from when Chicago was
first known as “Slab Town” to prohibition,
Asbury discusses how Chicago’s underworld
kept its reputation and how the gangs ran the
city. Ranging from Mikey Finn to the notorious
Al Capone.
4. INTERESTING PLOT POINTS
• The underworld ran the city of
Chicago and all of the Chicagoans
knew it
• Many of the gang leaders had a
family and children and loved ones
• The gang leaders, such as Al Capone,
were amazing at not leaving behind a
trail of evidence leading back to them
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6. CLAIM STATEMENT
The book was well-written, Asbury did a good job of
telling a story of the underworld of Chicago and
making it interesting. Asbury did a very good job of
accurately depicting the gangs of Chicago and it is
apparent while reading it, mostly all of his facts were
taken from the context of old newspapers and
eyewitness accounts. I believe Asbury’s recount
because of the sources he uses to back himself up.
7. CONNECTION
The connections I have made between my SSR book and
the course standards and discussions is that the reason
there is still such gang violence in the city is the same as it
was 100 years ago! The government outlaws something
and the gangs give the people what they want. During
prohibition it was the bootleggers giving the people
alcohol and now it is drug dealers giving the people drugs.
It makes sense that Chicago history coincides with
Chicago’s present because the gangs still slide right under
the police protection of the city. But the only difference is
now, gangs are more obvious about their murder with
drive-by shootings and gang signs. However 100 years ago,
they were more conspicuous about their murders and the
murders would almost never get traced back to their gang.
