1920 Tenants of the
Flat Iron Building at 553 West Madison Street go on strike against a rent increase on February 12, 1920. Where the increase in rent went as high as 300% for some. Chicago Real Estate Board promoted private arbitration with them. An allusion is made to the successful
tenants strike in New York. While some historians argue that the tenant activism of the time was middle class in nature, Maia Silber argues that middle class tenants simply represented one slice of a much broader diverse tenant coalition. On the night of February 27, 40 tenants at 4706–4732 North Racine Avenue apartments met, hired an attorney, former Judge Robert Turney, and decided to rent strike in response to a proposed doubling of rent. Refusing to move on May 1. Landlords also met the same night, at a public meeting advising each other. The broad sentiment was unsympathetic towards the tenants complaints. At one point during the president of the Lake View Property Owners and Improvement Association George W. Torpe shouted "we should get as much as we can." to other landlords. During that meeting, more than 100 tenants, from
Lake View to
Rogers Park, unexpectedly joined the meeting calling for the organization -which was initially formed to battle the
Baird & Warner real estate firm attempts to raise rent 86%–100%- be made citywide instead. Reportedly the response by Dorchester-Winchester tenants were mixed on whether to allow them into the group, with one tenant stating, "It's a wonderful idea... However, we must remember that we have to win our own little local fight first." At this meeting the elected offices of the Racine-Avenue tenants union collected a 'war fund' of several hundreds ($100 ) of dollars, and had their attorney Robert Turney to present a petition to the Dorchester-Winchester building agents for a fair rents. Walter J. Minnemeyer was elected as the tenant unions permanent chairmen, Miss Mary Carlock the secretary and A. E. Jessurun treasurer. On the afternoon of March 7, plans were made for the formation of a citywide tenant organization by the North Racine Avenue apartment tenants. Their grievances over the rent increases had also reached the city council. The tenants organization would have a group for each of their neighborhoods. There then would be a central committee composed of a president, vice president, secretary, and a representative from each of the neighborhood tenant blocks. At the meeting signs were also handed out to the tenants planning to strike to use. The first settlement for a tenant was reached in court on the afternoon March 8. The tenant agreed to pay the 2 months rent they had been holding, after the necessary repairs had been made on the house and the landlord agreeing to give her a 2-year lease. The next week the Chicago Tenants' Protective League (CTPL) was formed. On March 18, A. E. Jessurun, Treasurer of the league addressed a pig in front of an audience of 500 white collar tenants, asking the pig for forgiveness: The Chicago Real Estate Board similarly claimed the building shortage and the trades high labor cost as at fault for the high rents, accusing labor of
grafting. Historian Andrew Wender Cohen, argues when discussing the rise of racketeering charges in Chicago during this period, that it was created as a rhetorical strategy by businesses in an attempt to suppress organized craftsmen. On April 5, Milton Plotke, an owner of an option on the Dorchester-Winchester apartments agreed to arbitrate with the tenants.
Strike On May 1, thousands of families of the Chicago Tenants Protective Association went on rent strike. H. J. Standish president of league estimated 10,000 tenants would be striking, defying Chicago's May 1 moving day. One van company was also reportedly found guilty of charging rates higher than those fixed by the city ordinances. Tenants and landlords alike were also at this time preparing for the Springfield hearing on the six-month stay of eviction law of the Kessinger Bill, as it was about to come up for a final vote by the
Illinois House of Representatives. Both officials of the CPTA and CREB left the city for the capital that night. During this meeting Patterson read out a document on "the battle of the so-called middle classes against the encroachments of the proletariat and capitalistic classes". In June, 18 families living in the Sunnyside apartments formed a cooperative association to purchase the building. The building had 18 apartments each with a heated
sun parlor. Each family would buy five $100 () shares for each room in their apartment. This would raise $58,500 () the first payment on the building alongside $75,000 mortgage from the bank. Then each family would pay $3.50/month per room () to cover operating expenses and another monthly payment to cover the mortgage. On the night of August 16, a mass meeting was held at Chicago's American Legion hall to set plans for a citywide movement against rent profiteering. This would include representatives of the Roger Park Tenants Protective Association and the Wilson Avenue Tenant's association. During this conference, Gov. Lowden proclaimed that the rent profiteers were beyond the scope of what existing laws could stop, and that such laws likely wouldn't be constitutional. He also stated that it was in real estate men's best interest to stamp down the profiteering.
Assistant Corporation Counsel Morton S. Cressy differed with Gov. Lowden, arguing that a valid law that gave the Chicago city council authority to name a commission with powers similar to those regulating of public utilities could be passed. Arguing on the basis that Baltimore, Maryland already had such a commission. Then September 22, the Chicago Tenants Protective League (CPTL) officially formed, bringing together all the existing tenant associations in the city to work together on the rent crisis, with plans for further expansion into the currently unorganized districts in the city without tenant associations.''' In October, plans were announced for a campaign by the CTPL to push for anti-rent profiteering laws during the next state legislature session in January.
1921 Leadup On February 15, police were guarding the eighteen apartment building after threats were made to the building. Postal cards with the following statement were reportedly mailed to half of the building occupants: On February 17, the Chicago real estate board held a meeting. Where they voted to approve
Brigadier General Abel Davis' plan to curb rent gouging. As part of the plan, a tentative
price fixing/
price control map was established. Defined both by different geographical zoning and on the class of housing present, divided among those that were steam landlord heated apartments (Division I), and those that were stove or furnace tenant heated (Division II). These were then further divided into classes based on how modern the other amenities were. At one point Dr. Zeigler was cheered and induced to make a speech stating his case. The city government also prepared for impending rent strike. Stationing extra police outside apartment buildings, and municipal court judges holding an emergency meeting to plan for handling the high number of eviction orders expected after the start of the strike.
Passing of Kessinger Laws and crackdown on building labor trades By March 24, the department of internal revenue had begun making a list of apartment buildings with 'rent war signs' to locate landlords who failed to list rent increases in their income tax schedules. After which several landlords voluntarily appeared for this claiming it was a simple mistake. On March 23, the
Dailey Joint Committee was established by the state legislature to investigate the building conditions in Chicago. With one aspect investigating whether any "'unreasonable' rules of unions which load unproductive labor upon the building [cost]." existed. The Kessinger bill(s) had several different laws that had yet to be passed yet: • To enable cities to establish rent commissions, to fix just and reasonable rents. On April 8, a majority of the Chicago Building Trades Councils' unions, voted against accepting the 25% wage cut.
Strike On May 1, the rent strike began. With tenants of the Chicago Tenants Protective league given last minute instructions by their generals to resist all efforts by landlords to evict them illegally and report any attempts to their local headquarters. The next morning thousands of eviction filings were made by landlords. Tenants stated they would demand jury trials for every case. The rent strike by tenants operated in the form of paying the previous rent amount agreed too before the raise, sent through registered delivery mail or in the presence of witnesses. All cases had the payment rejected by landlords. The tenants of the CPTL heavily celebrated the winning of the six-month stay law, with a festival planned for May 12 announced. President of the league Patterson stated, "We intend to make the carnival the biggest event ever known in the history of Chicago tenants... "[the] new laws will protect us from profiteers." This existed within the context of
a supreme court ruling a few years earlier that made it illegal to use
police power to segregate, so in response real estate associations increasingly adopted contracts to enforce and further implement segregation. Racial segregation served as a financial tool under
racial capitalism as a means to extract further profit through economic exploitation, argues academics Amber R. Crowell and Michael Thomas Kelly. Racial segregation served the interests of both. By constructing highly segregated communities, black residents who on average were poorer could be exploited for greater profits based on their economic vulnerability; And by closing off the option of home ownership to Black tenants, higher rents could be charged. In addition the segregation by race impeded the ability for broad base working class solidarity and organizing, coordinating off those considered a potential organizing threat from resources.
Dailey Commission The Dailey Commission which was established on March 23 to investigate the cause of the building shortage and high rents; The contractors had been demanding a reduction in wages for both the skilled and unskilled trades, a 25¢/hour () reduction for the skilled trades and a 30¢/hour () reduction for the unskilled trades. Originally the agreement for arbitration was on the basis of only settling the wage dispute. The organization claimed its purpose was to "protect against strikes, graft, sabotage and boycotting of materials" following the findings of the Dailey commission. Murphy was a popular union official, and in 1920 explained his view on the labor movement as follows: "A man that can't fight don't amount to much [because] they don't use boxing gloves in the labor movement, they use
Smith and Wessons." That such bombings were only indicative of a small portion of workers, who were antithetical to the radical or progressive rank & file unionists that made up the unions. Twenty-three union members were arrested by the police following the bombing, as police suspect the motivation for the bombing was to fight the Landis Award, by bombing Landis award worksites. In addition to these two plants, shortly after midnight the Harp and Partridge Glass plant was also bombed. A day later, the police held a mass raid on unions across Chicago, arresting somewhere between 100 and 400 labor leader reportedly in connection with the bombings. The labor bombings continued in the following years. In 1925 alone, 99 bombings had been reported occurring in the city.
Tail-end of rent strike With the passage of the Kessinger Laws, the activity of tenant strikes wound down in the city. Instead tenants relied on taking their cases to court for the 6-month extension of rent at the previous leases rate. The passage of the laws was actively celebrated On October 11 alone a record 210 rent cases were heard that day. The countrywide housing shortage, caused by WW1 buildup, would also eventually ease. == Aftermath ==