Editing Waukegan, Illinois (section)

=== 20th century ===
By the 1920s and 1930s, African Americans began to migrate to the city, mostly from the [[Southern United States|South]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Places|url = http://www.waukeganhistorical.org/places/|website = Waukegan Historical Society|access-date = October 10, 2015}}</ref> The town was afflicted with racial strife. In June 1920, an African-American boy allegedly hit the car of an off-duty sailor from nearby [[Great Lakes Naval Base]] with a rock, and hundreds of white sailors gathered at Sherman House, a hotel reserved for African Americans. Although newspaper reports and rumors suggested that the officer's wife was hit with glass from the broken windshield, subsequent reports revealed that the officer was not married.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Racial Clashes, 1920|author = Chicago Commission on Race Relations}}</ref> The sailors called for lynchings, but were kept back by the intervention of the police.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Sailors Riot in Waukegan Race Clash|date = June 1, 1920|journal = Chicago Daily Tribune}}</ref>

Marines and sailors renewed their attack on the hotel several days later. The Sherman House residents fled for their lives as the military members carried torches, gasoline, and the American flag.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = 2 Marines Shot as Sailors and Police Clash: Waukegan Site of New Race Riot|date = June 3, 1920|journal = Chicago Daily Tribune}}</ref> The Waukegan police once again turned them away, but not before firing and wounding two members of the crowd.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Sailors Renew Race Riots|date = June 3, 1920|journal = New York Times}}</ref> The police were not always so willing to protect Waukegan's citizens. The chief of police and the state's attorney in the 1920s, for example, were avowed members of the [[Ku Klux Klan]], facts that came to light when a wrongfully convicted African-American war veteran was released from prison on appeal after 25 years.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Crime Non-Existent, Trial 'Sham,' Court Frees Negro After 26 Years|date = August 11, 1949|journal = New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Ku Kluxers Still Stalking 'Big Jim' After 25 Years|last = Coleman|first = Ted|date = September 24, 1949|journal = The Pittsburgh Courier}}</ref> Labor unrest also occurred regularly. In 1919, a strike at the US Steel and Wire Company – which had acquired Washburn & Moen – led to a call for intervention from the state militia.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = 2,000 in Riot at Waukegan|date = September 30, 1919|journal = The Washington Herald}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = State Militia Sent|date = September 26, 1919|journal = The Daily Gate City and Constitution Democrat}}</ref>

Noted organized crime boss [[Johnny Torrio]] served time in Waukegan's Lake County jail in 1925. He installed bulletproof covers on the windows of his cell at his own expense for fear of assassination attempts.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Torrio Fortifies Jail Cell; Rumors of War|date = June 25, 1925|journal = Chicago Daily Tribune}}</ref>

The Waukegan urban area developed independently of Chicago before being officially incorporated into the Chicago metropolitan area during the [[2000 United States census|2000 census]]. This inclusion took place as a result of [[suburban sprawl]], effectively dissolving the region's identity as self-standing. Despite this, Waukegan has retained a distinct industrial character in contrast to many of the residential suburbs along Chicago's [[North Shore (Chicago)|North Shore]].<ref name=":0" /> The financial disparity created by the disappearance of manufacturing from the city in part contributed to the [[Waukegan riot of 1966]]. Central to this event and the remainder of Waukegan's 20th-century history was [[Robert Sabonjian]], who served as mayor for 24 years, and earned the nickname the "[[Richard J. Daley|Mayor Daley]] of Waukegan" for his personal and sometimes controversial style of politics.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = 'Mayor Daley of Waukegan' Back to Show 'Em Who's Boss|last = Myers|first = Linner|date = June 9, 1985|journal = Chicago Tribune}}</ref>