Chicago City of the Century Part 1 Mudhole to Metropolis (2003)

City of the Century chronicles Chicagos dramatic transformation from a swampy frontier town of fur traders and Native Americans to a massive metropolis that was the quintessential American city of the nineteenth century The film tells how innovation ingenuity determination and ruthlessness created empires in what was a marshy wasteland and describes the hardships endured by millions of working men and women whose labor helped a capitalist class reinvent the way America did business Along the way this program revels in Chicagos triumphs among them the architectural experimentation that gave the city one of the worlds most distinctive skylines and delves into the heart of Chicagos painful struggles Bringing to life the Windy Citys rich mixture of cultures its writers and journalists its political corruption and labor upheavals this film bears witness to the creation of one of the most dynamic and vibrant cities in the world