Chicago Marching

This history follows Chicago's long record of street protest, focusing on the moments that changed the city's course. The word "protest" can mean lawful free expression or open disorder, and the author traces how residents and city officials have repeatedly reacted to each other across that divide. The timeline stretches from the 1855 Lager Beer Riot to the 1886 Haymarket Affair, the 1963 school boycotts, the Black Lives Matter era, and periods of sharp political polarization.

Rather than simply listing these events, Joseph Rulli asks what drove certain gatherings into violence and what led officials to answer others with heavy force. He looks at the conditions behind each episode to understand why peaceful dissent sometimes became something far more volatile.