Harry F. Chaddick*
Class of 1970
- President Chicago Industrial District, Inc.
You've got to work day and night, seven days a week.
Harry F. Chaddick grew up as a poor boy in a family of nine on Chicago's West Side. He left grammar school at age 14. His parents obtained a working certificate for him and dropped him off on a street corner in Chicago's Loop with instructions to find work. He secured a job at $8 a week as an errand boy in a drugstore chain. He worked hard during the day, and at night he went to school to study business administration.
In 1924, Chaddick entered the trucking business using an ancient rig that he drove himself. He eventually built American Transportation Company into one of the nation's largest motor freight companies. His trucks were some of the first to use two-way radios.
Turning to real estate at age 62, Chaddick became one of Chicago's most dynamic developers, with more than $250 million projects to his credit within the city. Chaddick was the author of zoning ordinances that became a model for many U.S. cities.