Editing Oak Lawn, Illinois (section)

=== Post 1945 ===
After [[World War II]], with veterans returning home and taking advantage of the [[G.I. Bill]], Oak Lawn experienced a major population boom. Beginning in 1949, Oak Lawn Round-Up Days became an annual event and helped to promote the village. It started with 25,000 people, and the Western-themed celebration brought in over 100,000 attendees in 1952. In this year, [[Jack Brickhouse]] was master of ceremonies, and the parade was televised on [[WGN-TV]]. By 1957, Round-Up Days had become too large, and the next year a final scaled-down version was held.<ref name="Oak Lawn Round-Up 1949–1958. Black Oak and After">[http://www.lib.oak-lawn.il.us/documents/BlackOakRoundUp.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928085131/http://www.lib.oak-lawn.il.us/documents/BlackOakRoundUp.pdf|date=September 28, 2011}}, Oak Lawn Round-Up 1949–1958. Black Oak and After. Gordon Welles.</ref>

In the 1950s, a village managerial government began, and a new library and fire station were constructed. By 1960, there were nearly 20,000 residents in Oak Lawn.

On April 21, 1967, a tornado touched down in Oak Lawn that is recorded as one of the worst to strike an urban area. Roughly 900 buildings were damaged or destroyed, and over 30 people were killed.

The town was rebuilt in the coming years, and witnessed further population growth, peaking at 63,500 between 1973 and 1976.<ref name="Oak Lawn: A Century of Growth" /> However, there was a decrease in residents in the 1980s, and an aging population led to the closure of several schools during this time. In response, the village began a process of redevelopment to counteract the decrease. This redevelopment has focused primarily on businesses and structures in the core area of Oak Lawn, around [[95th Street (Chicago)|95th Street]] between [[Cicero Avenue]] and Central Avenue.