Jim Colosimo

James "big Jim" Colosimo was brought to the U.S. at the age of ten. He lived most of his life in First Ward. As a child Jim shined shoes and sold newspapers and by the age of eighteen became a master pick-pocket. It was around this time that he began getting women to whore for him. He would try Black Hand extortion for about a year. He then joined the "white handers"- Chicago's street sweepers, mostly Italians who wore white uniforms. Colosimo then organized his fellow sweepers into a social and athletic club. Soon after that he opened up a pool hall and became collector for the protection the local aldermen sold. In 1905 Colosimo added a saloon to his property and developed a succesfull wholesale trade with prostitutes. Colosimo along with Maurice Van Bever established what was called "a white slave ring" where women from different states would be traded and then sold for about $400. In 1910 he opened "Colosimo's Cafe", where he employed a world class chef and top entertainers. Jim brought home $50,000 a month of personal profit from the Cafe alone. Colosimo continued to prosper in bootlegging and prostitutes along with his partner Torrio. Colosimo's partner would also prove to be his greatest enemy. One day while Colosimo was walking out of his Cafe several men laced Colosimo with bullets, killing him dead.