Gray Wolves (Chicago)
Encyclopedia
The Gray Wolves were corrupt Chicago
aldermen who held office from the 1890s to the 1930s.
The Gray Wolves were led by First Ward aldermen “Bathhouse” John Coughlin and “Hinky Dink” Mike Kenna
, and Johnny Powers of the Nineteenth Ward.
The Chicago City Council
frequently gave franchises to private businesses to maintain public services. Many businesses bribed the aldermen to be awarded such contracts, a practice known as "boodling".
Lincoln Steffens
, a muck-raking reporter from McClure's Magazine was the first to describe these aldermen as gray wolves "for the color of their hair and the rapacious cunning and greed of their natures."
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
aldermen who held office from the 1890s to the 1930s.
The Gray Wolves were led by First Ward aldermen “Bathhouse” John Coughlin and “Hinky Dink” Mike Kenna
Michael Kenna
Michael "Hinky Dink" Kenna was one of the two aldermen elected in Chicago's First Ward, from 1897 to 1923.At the age of ten, Kenna left school and began selling newspapers. By the age of twelve, he had borrowed fifty dollars from a bar keeper and purchased a news stand at the corner of Monroe and...
, and Johnny Powers of the Nineteenth Ward.
The Chicago City Council
Chicago City Council
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 aldermen elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms...
frequently gave franchises to private businesses to maintain public services. Many businesses bribed the aldermen to be awarded such contracts, a practice known as "boodling".
The Ogden Gas Company Scandal
In 1895 the Gray Wolves awarded a franchise to the non-existent Ogden Gas Company to force the existing franchise holder to buy up the rights of Ogden Gas. This and similar schemes resulted in the formation of the Municipal Voters League in 1896 to throw the Gray Wolves aldermen off the council.Lincoln Steffens
Lincoln Steffens
-Biography:Steffens was born April 6, 1866, in San Francisco. He grew up in a wealthy family and attended a military academy. He studied in France and Germany after graduating from the University of California....
, a muck-raking reporter from McClure's Magazine was the first to describe these aldermen as gray wolves "for the color of their hair and the rapacious cunning and greed of their natures."