I was at the mayor’s office when Dr. King came in. What surprised me the most was – first, the room was filled with ministers, elected officials, his aides, and department heads, and people were talking – but when Dr. King came in, the silence he brought into that room and the command. And he was not a tall man. I was shocked, but I remember the quietness. As soon as he entered the room, it became quiet. And then he sat right across from my dad. They discussed the problems in the city that he came to address. And he said, “Dr. King, we’re willing to work with you, we will work this out.” And they came up with a plan, my dad and him. They announced it.

John Daley, son of Richard J. Daley, interview excerpt, May 9, 2007

It was a tough period in the ‘60s with the open housing marches in the middle 1960s. You had Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. marching on the southwest side, and the mayor was largely responsible for helping to develop the agreement that provided for open housing.

James O’Connor, Executive at Commonwealth Edison, interview excerpt, July 22, 2014

And so I think his inspiration initially on public housing might have been right, to get people into new, in those days, new dwellings, even high-rise public housing. But also it was to make sure that the black and white problem was going to be contained within certain areas. As that public housing disintegrated, you could tell this was not the answer.

Richard J. Durbin, United States Senator, interview excerpt, September 8, 2014

I think that he was against high-rise housing all of the time. He didn’t think that the high-rise housing was a good idea.

Newton Minow, Chair of Federal Communications Commission 1961-1963, interview excerpt, October 2, 2003

The ones that bothered him were the high-rise public housing. He said, “Father, we had this problem and we went to the experts to ask what to do. And they told us to build these high-rise things. It was the biggest mistake I ever made. We would just pile a slum on a slum. And they were just terrible.” But that bothered him tremendously. But he said, “We didn’t know any better.” And most of them are gone now.

Father Gilbert Graham, Daley Family Friend, interview excerpt, November 17, 2003

My mind was boggled by the knowledge that this man had. He had been the mayor for twenty-one years. He knew every neighborhood like he lived there. I can’t emphasize that enough, because it’s impressed on my mind.

Frank Reilly, associate at Daley’s law firm, interview excerpt, July 20, 2010

I was thirty-one when I was elected as the lieutenant governor. Before I went down to take the oath, I went to him and said, “Mr. Mayor, you’ve seen the whole thing. In a lot of ways, I’m just getting started. So if it’s not presumptuous, I’d like to ask you if you have any advice you could give me on how to handle things.” He said, “Neil, don’t forget where you came from.” And that was it. He was talking about values. He wasn’t talking about Rogers Park, or Bridgeport. He was talking about values.

Neil Hartigan, Illinois Lieutenant Governor 1973-1977, interview excerpt, February 19, 2009

He said there were two jobs in the United States. Those were the President of the United States and the Mayor of Chicago.

Patricia Daley-Martino, daughter of Richard J. Daley, interview excerpt, June 12, 2002

If you didn’t come from Chicago, he didn’t want any part of you. He was completely Chicago….You couldn’t complain. Like you’d say, “What a lousy day.” “What’s the matter with it? It’s a wonderful day.” Everything was wonderful in Chicago. I mean, you couldn’t complain about anything, even the weather.

Father Gilbert Graham, Daley family friend, interview excerpt, November 17, 2003