An exclusive glimpse at the newly renovated USO Club in Peoria.
The Club was a major draw for servicemen, boasting the “largest dance floor boasted by any USO in the middlewest” and offering a clean alternative to the red-light district.
Peoria
A digital companion to the biography Becoming Richard Pryor
Open House Held For Peoria’s USO Club
Date: 09/11/1944
Citation:
“Open House Held This Week For Peoria’s Renovated USO Club,” Camp Ellis News, August 11, 1944, p. 5.
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1. The Pryor Family's Home Front
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North Washington Street
–1938–The block, in the red-light district, where Pryor was raised
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Married: LeRoy Pryor and Gertrude Thomas
–12/28/1943–Three years after he was born, World War II spurred Richard's parents to marry
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LeRoy Pryor Receives Section 8 Discharge
–7/25/44–LeRoy Pryor was discharged without honor from the US Army at the height of mobilization for WWII
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The Pryor Family at the Famous Door
–c. 1945–The Pryor family diversified its operations, becoming proud owners of a tavern in the mid-40s
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Ellis Sergeant Slugged, Robbed
–2/13/1945–A black sergeant, flush with cash, was robbed on N. Washington Street — and Richard's father seems to have been the culprit
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LeRoy Pryor Indicted by Grand Jury
–3/1945–A Peoria grand jury indicted LeRoy Pryor for robbing a black soldier
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Gertrude Pryor v. LeRoy Pryor
–1/1946–The divorce papers of Richard Pryor's parents
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2. A City At War With Itself (1941–1942)
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Council-Mayor Fight Widens
–12/17/1941–In late-1941 Mayor Woodruff and Peoria's city council feuded over the protection of vice in the city
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U.S. Plans To Close City to Men On Leave
–01/28/1942–A spike in VD in Peoria led the US public health board to take action
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Attention Citizens!
–3/5/1942–The Jaycees led the attack against the red-light district
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Peoria Vice Hit By Government
–3/18/1942–The Christian Century editorialized against Peoria as “the sinkhole of midwestern vice”
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Carson Orders Resorts Closed
–5/8/1942–Illinois's State Attorney stepped in where Peoria's mayor did not, attacking the red-light district
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3. Wartime Peoria Tips to Reform (1943–1944)
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Peoria Plans
–10/1943–Booming Peoria hoped to keep the growth going after World War II
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Plan Fight on Social Disease
–11/19/1943–All of Illinois law enforcement was marshalled to stamp out vice in Peoria
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Two Women Held In Vice Check Up
–11/21/1943–After the military threatened a further crackdown, Peoria police took action
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Police Ordered to Enforce Ban
–11/30/1943–A judge sent a stern message to Peoria's brothel owners and prostitutes
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City Council Targets Social Diseases
–11/30/1943–The city council urged the Mayor to work with the US Army to fight vice
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Council Votes Cleanup Power
–12/1/1943–The health department was empowered to inspect anyone thought to have VD
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Vice Termed As Sabotage
–12/07/1943–Ministers called vice “sabotage” and accused Peoria's citizens of thwarting the war effort
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Open House Held For Peoria’s USO Club
–09/11/1944–Peoria's USO Club offered a respectable alternative to the red-light district
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Mayor Woodruff: More Penicillin Needed
–10/10/1944–A $1000 order of penicillin was urged to combat the city's growing “social problem”
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4. Sin City, Trounced (1945)
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Bluff Outvotes Valley Wards
–2/14/1945–A harbinger of major reforms to come, the wealthy bluff outvoted the valley for the first time in 1945
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Triebel and Madden Win Mayor Races
–2/14/1945–In a stunning defeat for Sin City, Mayor Ed Woodruff was clobbered in the 1945 mayoral primary
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Woodruff Tells AP That Crusaders Caused His Defeat
–2/14/1945–Woodruff's defeat marked the end of an era in Peoria
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Jury Urges Nine Taverns Closed
–2/15/1945–A grand jury widened the crusade against vice to the taverns frequented by prostitutes
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TIME Magazine: By the River
–2/26/1945–Peoria had been “the biggest little wide open town in the Midwest,” but what was next for the city?
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