Sign-In
Cart
Riot Zone: Chicago 1919
Paperback
Series: Urban Life, Landscape and Policy
General World HistoryRegional: MidwestSocial Movements
ISBN13: 9781439927915
Publisher: Temple University Press
Published: Nov 27 2026
Pages: 224
Language: English
Riot Zone presents a compelling forensic microhistory of the racial violence that exploded in Chicago starting on July 27, 1919, when a Black teenager named Eugene Williams drowned in Lake Michigan after white beachgoers attacked him as he swam with friends. In the days that followed, white gang members terrorized African Americans on the city's South Side and Black Chicagoans armed and defended themselves in response. By the end of the first week of August, when the rioting finally ended, thirty-eight Chicagoans lay dead and hundreds nursed injuries as a result of what became known as America's Red Summer.
The late Christopher Lamberti, with the help of editor Sean Dinces, recounts this sobering history using GIS software to map what occurred. The authors revisit and debunk ideas about the role race and ethnicity played in the riot and its aftermath, showing how the politics of housing and racial conflicts over residential space set the stage for the riots that ensued.
With insights that echo in today's conflicts, Riot Zone proves that there is still plenty to learn about the history of America's ongoing struggle with urban and racial violence.
In the series Urban Life, Landscape, and Policy
Also in
Regional: Midwest
Scandinavians in the State House: How Nordic Immigrants Shaped Minnesota Politics
Bergman, Klas
Paperback
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America
Larson, Erik
Paperback
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
Egan, Timothy
Paperback
The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West
McCullough, David
Paperback
Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie
Marcotty, Josephine
Hage, Dave
Hardcover
Spooky Michigan: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore
Schlosser, S. E.
Paperback
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Larson, Erik
Hardcover
Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa's Historic Greenwood District
Johnson, Hannibal B.
Paperback
The Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States
Johnson, Walter
Paperback
Spooky Great Lakes: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore
Schlosser, S. E.
Paperback
Heart of American Darkness: A Story of Murder and Revolution on the Early Frontier
Parkinson, Robert G.
Paperback
The Dawn of Detroit: A Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom in the City of the Straits
Miles, Tiya
Paperback
Shadow of the Bridge: The Delphi Murders and the Dark Side of the American Heartland
Cain, Áine
Greenlee, Kevin
Hardcover
White Pines and Stone: The Hunt for the Springfield Three
Whitcomb, Christopher
McDermott, Dylan
Hardcover
Girl Without a Country: The Untold Story of a Landmark Fight for U.S. Citizenship
Ramseyer, Rick
Paperback
Wrecked: The Edmund Fitzgerald and the Sinking of the American Economy
Podair, Jerald
Nelson, Thomas M.
Paperback
Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America
Green, James
Paperback
Lake Michigan Gales & Tales: Vanishing Ships, Tragic Wrecks, and Historic Rescues
Passwater, Michael
Paperback
What's the Deal with Dead Man's Curve?: And Other Really Good Questions about Cleveland
Sweeney, Jim
Paperback
One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season
Ballard, Chris
Paperback
Brooding Upon the Waters: A Memoir of Farming, Fishing, and Failure in America's Lost Landscape
Schaap, Howard
Paperback
Spooky Wisconsin: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore
Schlosser, S. E.
Paperback
Spooky Indiana: Tales Of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, And Other Local Lore, First Edition
Schlosser, S. E.
Hoffman, Paul G.
Paperback
It Happened in Michigan: Stories of Events and People That Shaped Great Lakes State History
Burcar, Colleen
Paperback
Shipwrecks and Lost Treasures: Great Lakes: Legends And Lore, Pirates And More!
Varhola, Michael
Paperback
It Happened in Nebraska: Stories of Events and People That Shaped Cornhusker State History
Partsch, Tammy
Paperback
Wilder Weather: What Laura Ingalls Wilder Teaches Us about the Weather, Climate, and Protecting What We Cherish
Boustead, Barbara
Paperback
The Great Black Swamp: Toxic Algae, Toxic Relationships, and the Most Interesting Place in America That Nobody's Ever Heard of
Wensink, Patrick
Paperback
A Keg of Their Best: Brewing in the Beer State Capital--From the Beer Baron Era to Modern Microbrews
Shepard, Robin
Paperback
The Containment: Detroit, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for Racial Justice in the North
Adams, Michelle
Hardcover
The Maid and the Socialite: The Brave Women Behind Green Bay's Scandalous Minahan Trials
Drews, Lynda
Paperback
The Containment: Detroit, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for Racial Justice in the North
Adams, Michelle
Paperback
Where the Moon Stands Still: Revealing the Cosmic Genius of Ohio's Indigenous Earthworks
Graham, James W.
Paperback
The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago
Perry, Douglas
Paperback
Daniel Burnham and Louis Sullivan: Personal Histories of Two Icons of American Architecture
Thoreson, Trygve
Paperback
Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul
Abbott, Karen
Paperback
Dodge City: Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and the Wickedest Town in the American West
Clavin, Tom
Paperback
Chicago's Great Fire: The Destruction and Resurrection of an Iconic American City
Smith, Carl
Paperback
The Nastiest Saloon in Iowa: Murder, Prostitution, and Corruption in the Heartland
Donovan, David P.
Donovan, Rose M.
Paperback
The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit - Updated Edition
Sugrue, Thomas J.
Paperback
The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker
Cramer, Katherine J.
Paperback
City of Champions: A History of Triumph and Defeat in Detroit
Weineck, Silke-Maria
Szymanski, Stefan
Hardcover
When Democrats Won the Heartland: Progressive Populism in the Age of Reagan, 1978-1992
Haala, Cory
Paperback
Murder at Minnesota Point: Unraveling the Captivating Mystery of a Long-Forgotten True Crime
Sauve, Jeffrey M.
Paperback
Evanston Speaks: Oral Histories of Transformation and Triumph from a Progressive City
Hurtig, Elliott
Hardcover
Fishes of the Chicago Region: A Field Guide
Pescitelli, Stephen M.
Willink, Philip W.
Veraldi, Francis M.
Paperback
Can I Get a Witness!: Faith, Family, and Chicago Gospel Music
Gay, Gregory Donald
Dolins, Steven B.
Paperback
Lincoln's Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency
Abrams, Dan
Fisher, David
Paperback
Passing the Baton: The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Music Directors Who Shaped Its Greatness
Huscher, Phillip
Hardcover
We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy
Nesteroff, Kliph
Paperback
Retracing the Dragoon Trail in Iowa: Environmental Transformation Along the Des Moines River
Mason, Kevin T.
Paperback
Glory Days in Tribe Town: The Cleveland Indians and Jacobs Field 1994-1997
Pluto, Terry
Hamilton, Tom
Paperback
Crime & Corruption on the Michigan Railroad: Stories from the Victorian Era
Delaware, Michael
Paperback
Land of the Burnt Thigh: A Lively Story of Women Homesteaders on the South Dakota Frontier
Kohl, Edith Eudora
Paperback