For more than a century, Italian immigrants and their descendants contributed their labor and talent to building the city.  This book focuses on a period from 1890 to 1970, when industry was king in this midwestern metropolis.  Generations of Italians found work in companies such as U.S. Steel, Western Electric, Pullman, Crane, McCormick/Harvester, Hart Schaffner and Marx, and other large industrial corporations.  Other Italians were self-employed as barbers, shoe workers, tailors, musicians, construction workers, and more.  A complex network of family enterprises also operated in the Chicago Italian community.  Small shopkeepers generated work in food services and retail employment; some of which grew into large, prosperous enterprises that survive today.  Finally, Italians helped develop trade unions, which created long-term economic gains for all ethnic groups in Chicago.  Through historic photographs and text, Chicago Italians at Work chronicles the labor and contributions of an urban ethnic community.  
Softcover, 6 x 9, 128 pgs