The Great Chicago Beer Riot: How Lager Struck a Blow for Liberty

In 1855, when Chicago's recently elected mayor Levi Boone pushed through a law forbidding the sale of alcohol on Sunday, the city pushed back. To the German community, the move seemed a deliberate provocation from Boone's stridently anti-immigrant Know-Nothing Party. Beer formed the centerpiece of German Sunday gatherings, and robbing them of it on their only day off was a slap in the face. On April 21, 1855, an armed mob poured across the Clark Street Bridge and advanced on city hall. The Chicago Lager Riot resulted in at least one death, nineteen injuries and sixty arrests. It also led to the creation of a modern police department and the political alliances that helped put Abraham Lincoln in the White House. Authors Judy E. Brady and John F. Hogan explore the riot and its aftermath, from pint glass to bully pulpit.

Author: John F. Hogan,Judy E. Brady
Publisher: History Press
Published: 11/16/2015
Pages: 112
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.30d
ISBN: 9781467118903

About the Author
Hogan, John F.: - Chicago native John F. Hogan is a public relations consultant and former broadcast journalist (WGN-TV/Radio). Hogan is the author of three other titles with The History Press: Fire Strikes the Chicago Stock Yards, Forgotten Fires of Chicago and The 1937 Chicago Steel Strike. His wife and co-author, Judy E. Brady, has produced stage activities for Rotary International and been a passionate advocate for anti-discrimination legislation. They reside in Chicago's East Lakeview neighborhood.