Edward Joseph Kelly (May 1, 1876October 20, 1950) was an American politician who served as the 46th

Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of city Government of Chicago, government in Chicago, Illinois, the List of United States cities by population, third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsib ...

from April 17, 1933, until April 15, 1947. Prior to being mayor of Chicago, Kelly served as chief engineer of the Chicago Sanitary District during the 1920s.

Early life and career

Born to Stephen, a police officer and Helen (née Lang) Kelly, he was the first of five Chicago mayors from

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River on Long Is ...

of Chicago's South Side. He did not complete

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

but entered the

labor force In macroeconomics, the workforce or labour force is the sum of people either working (i.e., the employed) or looking for work (i.e., the unemployed): \text = \text + \text Those neither working in the marketplace nor looking for work are out ...

at age ten. Kelly was the chief engineer of the Chicago Sanitary District in the 1920s. He was sponsored by Patrick Nash, the owner of a sewer-contracting company that did millions of dollars of business with the city.

Political career

President of the South Park Commission

In March 1924, Kelly became president of the South Park Commission. Upon his election he declared the end to an era of "Deenen Republicans", a faction of South Side Republicans allied with Robert R. McCormick which had lost control of the South Park Commission in the March 1924 municipal elections. He presided over the completion and opening of

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side, Chicago, Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears from the National ...

, which was built and operated by the South Park Commission. Kelly organized many public ceremonies and events hosted by the venue. He made the venue the site of fundraisers and other events for charities and organizations which were supported by the Democratic Party.

Mayor of Chicago (1933–1947)

Following the assassination of Mayor

Anton Cermak Anton Joseph Cermak (May 9, 1873 – March 6, 1933) was an American politician who served as the 44th Mayor of Chicago from April 7, 1931, until his death in 1933. He was killed by Giuseppe Zangara, whose likely target was President-elec ...

, Kelly was hand-picked by his friend, Patrick Nash, Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, to be the Democratic-backed candidate in the City Council's vote on a successor for Cermak. Together, Kelly and Nash built one of the most powerful, and most corrupt, big city political organizations, called the "Kelly-Nash Machine". Kelly was Mayor of Chicago during the 1933–34 Chicago World's Fair (

Century of Progress A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Exposit ...

) which took place during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

which included the successful playing of the first official

Major League Baseball All-Star Game The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

; Kelly initiated for holding a major sport event for the fair to the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

''. Kelly was famous for banning

Nelson Algren Nelson Algren (born Nelson Ahlgren Abraham; March 28, 1909 – May 9, 1981) was an American writer. His 1949 novel '' The Man with the Golden Arm'' won the National Book Award and was adapted as the 1955 film of the same name. Algren articulate ...

's 1942 book '' Never Come Morning'', a novel, from the

Chicago Public Library The Chicago Public Library (CPL) is the public library system that serves the Chicago, City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It consists of 81 locations, including a central library, three regional libraries, and branches distributed thr ...

; the ban remained in force for decades due to the outcry by Chicago Polonia upon its release. From 1945 until 1947, Kelly served as president of the

United States Conference of Mayors The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. The cities are each represented by their mayors or other chief elected officials. The organization was founded ...

. In 1937, the city received a grant and loan from the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

to begin construction on subways, with a groundbreaking being held December 17, 1938 for the city's first subway. The WPA funding would only partially cover the total cost of the subway (ultimately working out to 3/4 of the total cost). Kelly was also able to obtain WPA financing for projects such as a refurbishment of

Midway Airport Chicago Midway International Airport is a major commercial airport on the southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the city's Chicago Loop, Loop business district, and divided between the city's C ...

and roadway improvements. In 1945, the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college st ...

released a report on

Chicago Public Schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, fourth-large ...

that issued deep condemnation of the politicization of its administration and of unethical practices by its leadership. In response to this, in March 1946, North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools threatened to revoke its

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

of the city public high school. On April 1, 1946, Mayor Kelly created an advisory committee to address the problems in the Chicago Public Schools. The committee was led by Henry Townley Heald, and Kelly pledged that he would follow the recommendations that the committee would issue. The committee approved a majority decision on June 18, 1946, which made recommendations to change the laws dictating the administration of Chicago Public School and called for the resignations superintendent of Chicago Public Schools William Johnson and the entirety of the Chicago Board of Education. Kelly accepted all of the recommendations of the committee except their recommendation that the entire school board resign. However, in the wake of this controversy, many school board members did resign. The individuals to fill the vacancies were selected through recommendations issued by the advisory committee led by Heald. Ultimately, McCahey would retire from the board in May 1947. Kelly's successor, Martin Kennelly, would keep the practice of having a screening committee recommend individuals to be appointed to the Chicago Board of Education. During Kelly's tenure, the city was finally able to unify public transit with the establishment of the

Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of public transport, mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago "L" and List of Chicago Transit Authority bus routes, CTA bu ...

End of tenure

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

, Kelly acquiesced to the Cook County Democratic Party's decision to

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

a candidate with reform credentials for mayor of Chicago, and was succeeded by Martin H. Kennelly. Kelly was serving as Democratic National Committeeman from Illinois at the time of his death.

Death

Kelly died in 1950 at age 74 and was interred in Calvary Cemetery in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

Early life and career

Political career

President of the South Park Commission

Mayor of Chicago (1933–1947)

End of tenure

Death

See also

References

Further reading