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“Peoria Says Goodbye to Merry-Go-Round”

Date: 9/30/79

Citation:

Rick Baker, "Peoria to Say Goodbye to 'Merry-Go-Round'," Peoria Journal Star, Sept. 30, 1979.

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Categories:

1970s & Beyond: “Pryor’s Peoria” After Pryor Peoria: An Introduction Reform This Town! Sin City

Tags:

merry-go-roundprostitutionreform

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  • 1. An Unrepentant Town (1925–1942)

    • Peoria Grand Jury Condemns Dry Terrorism

      Peoria Grand Jury Condemns Dry Terrorism
      –9/30/1925–

      Federal agents were condemned in Peoria for their violent tactics

    • Peoria Busier Than Ever But Much Drier

      Peoria Busier Than Ever But Much Drier
      –9/8/26–

      Early on, Peoria was “the city of high spirits,” a center for the distillery business

    • Peoria Sadly Clamps Lid On For First Time

      Peoria Sadly Clamps Lid On For First Time
      –10/21/30–

      In the wake of kidnappings and murder, the State Attorney ordered Peoria's gambling houses closed

    • “Diamond Lil” Found In Cell; Keeps Silence

      “Diamond Lil” Found In Cell; Keeps Silence
      –12/27/1931–

      Diamond Lil, a black madam in Peoria, was squeezed by the DA but refused to name names

    • Council-Mayor Fight Widens

      Council-Mayor Fight Widens
      –12/17/1941–

      In late-1941 Mayor Woodruff and Peoria's city council feuded over the protection of vice in the city

  • 2. The US Army Joins the Cause of Reform (1942–1944)

    • U.S. Plans To Close City to Men On Leave

      U.S. Plans To Close City to Men On Leave
      –01/28/1942–

      A spike in VD in Peoria led the US public health board to take action

    • Attention Citizens!

      Attention Citizens!
      –3/5/1942–

      The Jaycees led the attack against the red-light district

    • Peoria Vice Hit By Government

      Peoria Vice Hit By Government
      –3/18/1942–

      The Christian Century editorialized against Peoria as “the sinkhole of midwestern vice”

    • Carson Orders Resorts Closed

      Carson Orders Resorts Closed
      –5/8/1942–

      Illinois's State Attorney stepped in where Peoria's mayor did not, attacking the red-light district

    • Plan Fight on Social Disease

      Plan Fight on Social Disease
      –11/19/1943–

      All of Illinois law enforcement was marshalled to stamp out vice in Peoria

    • Two Women Held In Vice Check Up

      Two Women Held In Vice Check Up
      –11/21/1943–

      After the military threatened a further crackdown, Peoria police took action

    • Police Ordered to Enforce Ban

      Police Ordered to Enforce Ban
      –11/30/1943–

      A judge sent a stern message to Peoria's brothel owners and prostitutes

    • City Council Targets Social Diseases

      City Council Targets Social Diseases
      –11/30/1943–

      The city council urged the Mayor to work with the US Army to fight vice

    • Council Votes Cleanup Power

      Council Votes Cleanup Power
      –12/1/1943–

      The health department was empowered to inspect anyone thought to have VD

    • Vice Termed As Sabotage

      Vice Termed As Sabotage
      –12/07/1943–

      Ministers called vice “sabotage” and accused Peoria's citizens of thwarting the war effort

    • Mayor Woodruff: More Penicillin Needed

      Mayor Woodruff: More Penicillin Needed
      –10/10/1944–

      A $1000 order of penicillin was urged to combat the city's growing “social problem”

  • 3. The End of the Woodruff Era (1945)

    • Bluff Outvotes Valley Wards

      Bluff Outvotes Valley Wards
      –2/14/1945–

      A harbinger of major reforms to come, the wealthy bluff outvoted the valley for the first time in 1945

    • Triebel and Madden Win Mayor Races

      Triebel and Madden Win Mayor Races
      –2/14/1945–

      In a stunning defeat for Sin City, Mayor Ed Woodruff was clobbered in the 1945 mayoral primary

    • Woodruff Tells AP That Crusaders Caused His Defeat

      Woodruff Tells AP That Crusaders Caused His Defeat
      –2/14/1945–

      Woodruff's defeat marked the end of an era in Peoria

    • Jury Urges Nine Taverns Closed

      Jury Urges Nine Taverns Closed
      –2/15/1945–

      A grand jury widened the crusade against vice to the taverns frequented by prostitutes

    • TIME Magazine: By the River

      TIME Magazine: By the River
      –2/26/1945–

      Peoria had been “the biggest little wide open town in the Midwest,” but what was next for the city?

  • 4. Reform Hangs Tough (1946–1952)

    • State Names 2 to War on Crime, Vice

      State Names 2 to War on Crime, Vice
      –9/13/1948–

      As violence rose amongst Peoria's criminal elements, the state moved to rein the town in

    • Gamblers Tell Why They Quit Peoria Rackets

      Gamblers Tell Why They Quit Peoria Rackets
      –10/20/1948–

      New Mayor took the profit out of gambling

    • The Cities of America: Peoria

      The Cities of America: Peoria
      –2/12/1949–

      The Saturday Evening Post's panoramic view of Peoria, from its “valley” to its “bluff”

    • Bomb Blasts Peoria Home of Prosecutor

      Bomb Blasts Peoria Home of Prosecutor
      –12/16/49–

      When he refused to let Peoria be an “open town,” the state's attorney had his life threatened

    • Ad Club Joins Fight on ‘Red Lights’

      Ad Club Joins Fight on ‘Red Lights’
      –6/5/1951–

      A new partner in the coalition against vice: the Advertising and Selling Club

    • Old Peoria Was ‘Right’ for Sheltons…

      Old Peoria Was ‘Right’ for Sheltons…
      –4/16/1957–

      The killing of the head of a gambling syndicate, in 1948, gave a huge boost to Peoria's reformers

  • 5. Good Government Comes to Peoria (1953–1955)

    • Which Side Are You On?

      Which Side Are You On?
      –1951-1952–

      Peoria's reformers imagined they were pitted against bossism and corruption

    • Bris Collins’ Tap Raided, Closed; Baseball Pool Czar Fined $1,000

      Bris Collins’ Tap Raided, Closed; Baseball Pool Czar Fined $1,000
      –5/23/1953–

      “Cleaning up Peoria” meant more raids on Bris Collins' place

    • Eleven “All-America” Cities of 1953

      Eleven “All-America” Cities of 1953
      –2/1954–

      Reformed Peoria, an "All-America" City

    • All-America Cities

      All-America Cities
      –2/9/1954–

      “Good Government” comes to Peoria

    • Peoria Mayor Vows to Push Fight On Vice

      Peoria Mayor Vows to Push Fight On Vice
      –5/22/1954–

      Peoria's new reform-oriented mayor was undaunted by the bombing of his home

    • Collins Gets Year, Day On Money Count

      Collins Gets Year, Day On Money Count
      –7/2/1954–

      After 3 years and 2 hung juries, Collins was given the minimum sentence

    • Bris Collins Surrenders to Serve Term

      Bris Collins Surrenders to Serve Term
      –9/11/1954–

      Collins, labeled as the “racket boss of Peoria,” took a one-year prison term

    • Now They’re Proud of Peoria

      Now They’re Proud of Peoria
      –8/55–

      Feminist pioneer Betty Friedan praised World War II veterans for turning around Peoria.

    • The Town That Reformed

      The Town That Reformed
      –10/1/1955–

      Reform meant a new, professionalized city management, but did not go uncontested

  • 6. Sin City Driven Underground (1956–1967)

    • Lipkin Files Bid To Shut 10 Vice Houses

      Lipkin Files Bid To Shut 10 Vice Houses
      –4/24/1959–

      Shutting down brothels was no easy task

    • Survey Shows Prostitution On Rise

      Survey Shows Prostitution On Rise
      –05/07/1959–

      Prostitution was tightly monitored, and even more tightly controlled, in 1950s Peoria

    • Lack of Prosecution Kills Case On Collins

      Lack of Prosecution Kills Case On Collins
      –10/14/59–

      Collins escaped the law, for once

    • Harold’s Club Liquor License Revoked

      Harold’s Club Liquor License Revoked
      –7/21/1961–

      Peoria's Mayor threatened the livelihood of Harold's Club by taking away its liquor license

    • Ex-Peorian Sentenced to 10 years, Fined $10,000

      Ex-Peorian Sentenced to 10 years, Fined $10,000
      –1/27/1967–

      The FBI joined the crackdown on prostitution in Peoria

  • 7. Recalling Sin City from a Healthy Distance (1956–1993)

    • Old Peoria: As Wide Open As The Gateway To Hell

      Old Peoria: As Wide Open As The Gateway To Hell
      –4/14/1956–

      From the newspaper of the All-American city, a guided tour of the old “Empire of Vice”

    • Old Peoria: Fixed Cops, Gang Murders, Kidnapping

      Old Peoria: Fixed Cops, Gang Murders, Kidnapping
      –4/15/56–

      Reformed Peoria looked back at days of gangland kidnappings and murder

    • This Was Peoria

      This Was Peoria
      –4/15/56–

      Editorial looking back to the “liberal” days of Peoria

    • ‘The Good Old Woodruff Days’

      ‘The Good Old Woodruff Days’
      –6/26/76–

      Three decades after the decline of Roarin' Peoria, some still missed “the Good Old Days”

    • “Peoria Says Goodbye to Merry-Go-Round”

      “Peoria Says Goodbye to Merry-Go-Round”
      –9/30/79–

      A well-known hub for prostitution was demolished in 1979.

    • Historic Site (last house of prostitution)

      Historic Site (last house of prostitution)
      –5/8/1980–

      The last remains of Prarie Alley were demolished in 1980

    • Play in Peoria Not Like in Old Days

      Play in Peoria Not Like in Old Days
      –11/2/1980–

      An AP reporter's survey of a century of prostitution in Peoria

    • Barren Land in Southtown Teemed With Brothels

      Barren Land in Southtown Teemed With Brothels
      –10/3/1993–

      Did the lives of prostitutes change for the worse with reform?

Archive created under the supervision of Scott Saul,
in collaboration with The Spatial History Project at Stanford University
and the D-Lab at the University of California, Berkeley.
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