Recent News
Feb 28 7 PM Crystal Lake Library Al Capone and the 1933 Worlds Fair
Al Capone and the 1933 World’s Fair: The End of the Gangster Era in Chicago is a historical look at Chicago during the darkest days of the Great Depression. The story of Chicago fighting the hold that organized crime had on the city to be able to put on The 1933 World’s Fair.
William Hazelgrove provides the exciting and sprawling history behind the 1933 World’s Fair, the last of the golden age. He reveals the story of the six millionaire businessmen, dubbed The Secret Six, who beat Al Capone at his own game, ending the gangster era as prohibition was repealed. The story of an intriguing woman, Sally Rand, who embodied the World’s Fair with her own rags to riches story and brought sex into the open. The story of Rufus and Charles Dawes who gave the fair a theme and then found financing in the worst economic times the country had ever experienced. The story of the most corrupt mayor of Chicago, William Thompson, who owed his election to Al Capone; and the mayor who followed him, Anton Cermak, who was murdered months before the fair opened by an assassin many said was hired by Al Capone.
But most of all it’s the story about a city fighting for survival in the darkest of times; and a shining light of hope called A Century of Progress.Feb 28 7 PM
https://www.amazon.com/Al-Capone-1933-Worlds-Fair/dp/1442272260
History Unplugged Interview on Teddy Roosevelt Heading West to the Badlands
History Unplugged interview on Forging A President How the Wild West Created Teddy Roosevelt
![Hazelgrove-1[1]](http://williamhazelgrove.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Hazelgrove-111.jpg)
![51xH2rc1JEL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_[1]](http://williamhazelgrove.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/51xH2rc1JEL._SX329_BO1204203200_11.jpg)
50 Libraries Scheduled for Al Capone and the 1933 Worlds Fair Pick the One Closest To You
Library Presentations for Al Capone and the 1933 Worlds Fair
William Hazelgrove is the National Bestselling author of ten novels and three nonfiction titles. Ripples, Tobacco Sticks Mica Highways Rocket Man, The Pitcher, Real Santa, Jackpine, The Bad Author, My Best Year, The Pitcher 2, and Madam President The Secret Presidency of Edith Wilson, Forging A President How the Wild West Created Teddy Roosevelt and Al Capone and the Worlds Fair of 1933. His books have received starred reviews in Publisher Weekly and Booklist, Book of the Month Selections, ALA Editors Choice Awards Junior Library Guild Selections Literary Guild Selections, and sold to the movies. He was the Ernest Hemingway Writer in Residence where he wrote in the attic of Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace. He has written articles and reviews for USA Today and other publications and has been featured on NPR All Things Considered. The New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today have all covered his books with features. He runs a cultural blog, The View From Hemingway’s Attic. He lives in Chicago.
Follow William Hazelgrove!