Even though the reform movement had gone through some ups and downs by the mid 1950s, the city’s culture had clearly changed significantly. While some forms of vice–prostitution and gambling in particular–remained prevalent in the city, the widespread corruption, and violence that came with it, was in serious decline.

Here the Peoria Journal Star looked back on the city’s culture of corruption.

(This clipping is part 2 of 4 from a series that the Journal Star ran in April 1956.)