Capone was often seen as a sort of "Robin Hood" because he gained fame and notoriety for his smuggling and distribution of alcohol during the Prohibition, when the federal government outlawed the sale and consumption of alcohol. However, people also knew that he had brutal methods, frequently killing those that opposed him. Despite this, many people didn't even consider Capone to be a bad person, considering his smuggling an act of bravery. However, Al Capone created this soup kitchen in an effort to "clean up" his image.
Capone's soup kitchen provided jobs for some and food for many more. As people lost their jobs and found themselves unable to eat, they could rely on Capone. His soup kitchen supplied three meals a day for thousands. Unemployed, starving men lined up on the corner of 9th and State Street. This was, of course, quite a peculiar sight.
Al Capone fed over one hundred thousand men throughout the Great Depression at this soup kitchen without expecting anything in return. Because of this, many people wrote and spoke of how Capone was doing more for the poor than the state of Illinois. Whether or not this is true, the public showered praise on Capone for his work with the poor. People would toast to him outside his soup kitchen and tell newspapers of his good heart.
All of this worked very well for Capone. The public support for his soup kitchen was exactly what Capone needed to counteract the bad press he got for his violence, especially in the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929. Most people forgot this in favor of his benevolence, especially because it helped so many people stay alive during the Great Depression. Ultimately, Capone was jailed for tax fraud, but many residents of Chicago still remembered him for his generosity in providing sustenance for so many during the Great Depression.
Men lined up outside Capone's soup kitchen
Sources:
https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/al-capones-soup-kitchen-great-depression-chicago-1931/
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/10/26/during-the-great-depression-al-capone-created-one-of-the-first-soup-kitchens-for-the-unemployed/2/
Wow I never knew that Al Capone actually did good things because of his reputation as a mobster or gangster. This action shows Al Capone had a change of heart or is just faking it to make it. Wither way what Al Capone did was remarkable giving the poor and unemployed something to eat. He even did more than the state of Illinois which shows how much change one person can make. Al Capone trying to clean up his image by giving back with this soup kitchen reminds me of the big juggernauts of the Gilded age Rockefeller, J.P Morgan, Vanderbilt, and Carnegie giving money back to the people and leaving their mark on the world.
ReplyDeleteI found it extremely interesting how Al Capone, like many other individuals that used seemingly unfair tactics, used philanthropy in order to clean up their public image. During the Gilded Age, Andrew Carnegie became a philanthropist during the later parts of his life, donating over $350 million to charities, in order to repair his somewhat bad reputation after the Homestead Steel Strike of 1892. Also during that time period, Rockefeller attempted to fix his reputation as a cold and unforgiving businessman by adopting philanthropist attitudes later in his life. It seems like a recurring theme that many times, business men will attempt to become philanthropists in order to repair their public image.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/hall_of_fame/john_d._rockefeller_sr
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/carnegie/aa_carnegie_phil_1.html
This is something I never knew about and found extremely fascinating. The Great Depression came at the end of the 1920's, a time when people were feeling very empowered, hopeful and excited. When the Great Depression happened, it was devastating and brought out the worst in many people. To see that Al Capone, a well-known gangster and someone who would not be an obvious guess as to who would step up and help people, actually did just that at a time when it was needed the most, is so interesting. The fact that Al Capone opened a soup kitchen to help people who were suffering during the Great Depression shows that this extremely difficult time also had the potential to bring out the best in some other people. Many Americans had recently become obsessed with certain people who were seen as heroes, such as Charles Lindbergh and Babe Ruth. These individuals seemed to be enabling America to reach new levels that reflected the huge ambitions of Americans during the "Roaring Twenties." When the Great Depression began, however, many Americans were forced into a new mindset that revolved more about how to survive, rather than how to accomplish unprecedented goals that were not a necessity. For this reason, Al Capone was able to become a hero for some Americans in a new way, for he helped many of them reach where they needed to be, similar to how the heroes of the previous decade helped Americans reach places they wanted to be. Food and jobs were what Al Capone was providing, and, although less extravagant than what Americans were looking for not too long before, it gave hope to many- a concept that was generally needed the most and could not be given to the same extent anymore by many of the people who had become heroes before.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.charleslindbergh.com/history/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth
It's always interesting to read how different people acted during the difficult times of the Great Depression. It would be interesting to know whether there was any genuine compassion in his action of creating the soup kitchen, or if it was more politically motivated. His actions do represent a larger scale issue that continues to grow in the state of Illinois (i know I lived there for a while). Six of their recent governors have been accused of crimes, with four of them being convicted. This makes Capone's story all the more interesting because of his actions with scattered and questionable morality.
ReplyDeleteI never would have thought that Al Capone would've done such a thing. While reading your article, I also thought about why he would participate in such a thing, like a soup kitchen. His actions could've been driven by wanting to create a political statement or rather for no reason at all but to just help poor Chicagoans. Another such reason, as explored in an article I found, would simply be to clear up his criminal image. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/10/26/during-the-great-depression-al-capone-created-one-of-the-first-soup-kitchens-for-the-unemployed/2/
ReplyDeleteI thought this post was extremely interesting because this philanthropic image of Capone is almost the exact opposite of how I envisioned him, a notorious gangster of the Prohibition. While the documentaries we've seen never went into much detail about Capone, they did mention his arrest in 1931, and the bloodshed he brought to the streets of New York. Similar to Al Capone, Casper Holstein was another gangster that used his power/influence to help the community -- whether to improve his public image or because of an actual desire to help his city is still discussed -- as seen through his sponsorship of literary prizes awarded by Opportunity magazine. Holstein was unique in the underground world because he was a successful African American gangster. If you wanted to learn more about Holstein, I suggest going to the following article: https://www.britannica.com/list/behind-the-scenes-9-infamous-mobsters-of-the-real-boardwalk-empire
ReplyDeleteA source I found interesting (it goes into a little more detail about Al Capone's massacre and his life) is the following: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/26/lawless-prohibition-gangsters-speakeasies