Bookmark It: Chicago Titles, Google Books

By Kate Gardiner in Miscellaneous on Aug 27, 2009 4:20PM

Last night we were messing around with Google Books, in search of something new to read. We were delighted to find more than 15,000 Chicago-oriented titles available for download - ranging from treatises on the history of the Chicago police force (through 1887) to articles pushing tax increment financing as an economic solution.

While we're less than likely to need a report on the Army Corps bridge maintenance schedule from 1921, we were intrigued to see that one of the top hits for "Mayor Richard Daley" was from a Dec. 1970 issue of Jet Magazine. The article claims Daley The Elder told a young, black 4H participant, Oscar Johnson, Jr., he hoped Johnson would some day be mayor of Chicago.

It's no Chicago Underground Library, of course, but it's a cool way to look into the more obscure history of our fair city.