February 28, 1970 – Ten thousand demonstrators line
both sides of State Street opposite the Palmer House, jeering French President
Georges Pompidou, as he arrives to address a group at a dinner sponsored by the
Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and the Alliance Francaise. The protestors
voice loud objections to France’s recent announcement that it will sell 100
Mirage jets to Libya. Among the
protestors is U. S. Representative Roman Pucinski who says he considers the
sale of the jets “a unilateral escalation of the Mideast conflict.” [Chicago Tribune, March 1, 1970] Chants
of “Poo, Poo, Pompidou,” “France Oui,
Pompidou No” reverberate over bullhorns as protest marshals work hard to keep
crowds from spilling into the street.
Mayor Daley’s special events director, Colonel Jack Reilly, praises the
orderly protest, saying, “If the city had it this easy in all demonstrations it
would be easy.” As the French delegation
leaves from O’Hare on the following day, an official says that the Chicago
police “’either thru incompetence or design,’ relaxed security to the point
where it was impossible for Pompidou to avoid embarrassment.” [Chicago
Tribune, March 2, 1970] At the airport Pompidou himself, speaking in
French, says that the protestors “placed a stain on the face of America” and
that “the immense majority of the Chicago population … is ashamed of it all.”
The French President is especially upset about an incident that occurred inside
the lobby of the Palmer House in which six individuals jumped in front of him
and his wife and shouted, “Shame, shame on you!” An official says, “The police assured us this
would not happen. They said the lobby would be clear. Yet there were these people, accosting the
president of France on an official visit.
The French delegation cannot understand how this was permitted to
happen. Tempers are running very high.”
February 28, 1955 – The Chicago Housing Authority awards a $7,998,700 contract to Corbeita Construction Company for the first stage of an addition to the Frances Cabrini public housing project just north of Chicago Avenue and east of Larabee. The contract calls for eight high-rise buildings with 859 apartments along with a heating and service building. The chairman of the C.H.A., John R. Fugard, states that a contract will be let later in the year for seven more buildings with 1,066 apartments. The work at Cabrini will be just one part of the biggest program of public housing construction in the city’s history. It is anticipated in 1955 the C.H.A. will break ground at six different sites for 4,500 apartments. All of the projects, which were approved in 1949, will be subsidized by the federal government and will be rented to low income families.
February 28, 1939 -- The Chicago Daily Tribune reports that owner P. K. Wrigley has taken matters into his own hands "in moving the spring flair of Diz (Dizzy Dean) as problem child." When Wrigley's personal representative comes upon the Cub pitcher "pitching full blast at the full pitching distance [he] broke up the display in the name of the Cub owner, following full instructions from the Chicago throne room." [Chicago Daily Tribune, March 1, 1939] Dean, a pitching phenom for the St. Louis Cardinals between 1933 and 1937, was injured by a line drive in the 1937 All-Star game. In 1938 Wrigley paid $185,000 to put the compromised pitcher on the Cubs roster. In September of that year, in what he called the greatest game of his career, Dean pitched the second game of a series with the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning 2-1, pulling the Cubs within a half-game of the league leading Pirates, a team from which the Cubs would wrest the National League championship the next day. Dean pitched Game Two of the World Series, pitching admirably until he gave up a two-run homer to Joe DiMaggio in the top of the ninth, ultimately losing 6-3. He struggled along with the Cubs until 1941 when he retired. Wrigley's interest in protecting his investment was certainly understandable, but ultimately it would not matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment