ABSTRACT
West of the Chicago River, in the shadow of the Loop, lies a densely populated rectangle of three- and four-story buildings, containing the greater part of Chicago’s immigrant colonies, among them the area called “the ghetto”. Difficult as it is to set forth adequately the physical characteristics of the ghetto as a natural area, its cultural characteristics are unmistakable. The ghetto is pre-eminently a cultural community. One of the most significant signs of the relationship between the Jews and their neighbors in the ghetto is found in the contacts between the members of the younger generation. The heart of the ghetto is marked by two great thoroughfares: Halsted Street and Maxwell Street. The prosperity of the ghetto fluctuates with the employment and the earnings of the immigrant and Negro laborers in the industries of Chicago.
