location. The term "midway" for a fair or carnival referred originally to the Midway Plaisance , a strip of park land that still runs through the University of Chicago campus and connects Washington and Jackson Parks. [ 59 ] [ 60 ] 20th and 21st centuries Old photography of downtown Chicago The World War I period and the 1920s also saw a major expansion in industry. The availability of jobs attracted blacks from the Southern United States . Between 1910 and 1930, the black population of Chicago dramatically increased from 44,103 to 233,903. [ 61 ] Arriving in the hundreds of thousands during the Great Migration , the newcomers had an immense cultural impact, called the Chicago Black Renaissance, part of the New Negro Movement , in art, literature, and music. [ 62 ] Continuing racial tensions and violence, such as the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 , also occurred. [ 63 ] The ratification of the 18th amendment to the Constitution in 1919 made the production and sale (including exportation) of alcoholic beverages illegal in the United States. This ushered in the beginning of what is known as the Gangster Era, a time that roughly spans from 1919 until 1933 when the Prohibition was repealed. The 1920s saw gangsters , including Al Capone , Dion O'Banion , Bugs Moran and Tony Accardo battle law enforcement and each other on the streets of Chicago during the Prohibition era. [ 64 ] Chicago was the location of the infamous St. Valentine's