Today is the birthday of William E. Dever, Chicago’s mayor from 1923 through 1927. It’s not only his birthday, it’s his Sesquicentennial. He was born 150 years ago today—March 13, 1862.

I wrote my doctoral dissertation on Mayor Dever. It was later published as a book, The Mayor Who Cleaned Up Chicago. More than twenty years later, the book is still in print. (Mainly because the first edition never sold out; that can happen with academic works.)

Why bother with an obscure, one-term mayor? I’ve already gone into that, and you can read the post here.

I don’t think the city is planning a special Dever Sesquicentennial celebration. As for me, I’m going to have a beer in honor of my man Dever. That’s probably the most appropriate way to honor this particular honest politician.